NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 7, 2020 — NotaryCam® Founder and CEO Rick Triola today hailed the efforts of the American Land Title Association (ALTA), Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and National Association of Realtors (NAR) to provide guidance and standardization for states seeking to temporarily authorize the use of remote online notarization (RON) for real estate closings. To date, all but seven states have some form of RON legislation or executive order in effect.
“NotaryCam has observed first-hand for some time the simplicity, security and convenience RON brings to the real estate closing ceremony, and while we wish the circumstances surrounding this joint effort were quite different, we applaud these trade groups for banding together to provide states with the necessary language to fortify the legal underpinnings of remotely executed notarial acts and provide real estate professionals with a measure of standardization regarding the particulars of these orders,” Triola said.
“Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 22 states had passed RON legislation, and even fewer had those laws in effect at that time. Thus, the majority of states had to pass temporary executive orders to allow the notarial act to be completed remotely in some form or fashion, many of which only authorized remote ink notarization (RIN) rather than RON,” Triola continued. “While RIN provided a necessary stopgap early on, it is not a scalable or sustainable solution, particularly for real estate transactions. With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise and a vaccine still a distant possibility, states would be well advised to extend and expand their current orders to make RON the de facto method of document notarization for the near future.”
The MBA has developed a RON Resource Center, which includes the model executive order as well as a sample letter for governors explaining the benefits of RON and an FAQ on the model state executive order. To access the resource center, visit https://www.mba.org/audience/state-legislative-and-regulatory-resource-center/remote-online-notarization.