05/19

Remote Online Notarization & ALTA Support

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) have reintroduced the bipartisan bill, The Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (SECURE) Notarization Act of 2021 (Senate Bill 1625)  that would allow for immediate nationwide use of remote online notarization (RON) – this would allow the notary and signer to complete the transaction in different physical locations.

This bill is supported by the American Land Title Association (ALTA), the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Realtors.

What would the SECURE Notarization Act do, exactly?

ALTA lists them on their article, here:

• Authorize every notary in the U.S. to perform RON.
• Create national standards requiring use of tamper-evident technology, multifactor authentication of a signer and retention of an audio-visual recording of the notarial act.
• Allow signer outside the U.S., such as military personnel and their families, to easily and securely notarize documents.
• Create national standards requiring use of tamper-evident technology.
• Follow a similar structure of complementary state/federal legislation, such as the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

Diane Tomb, ALTA”s Chief Executive Officer, explains, “The SECURE Notarization Act allows businesses and consumers the ability to execute critical documents using two-way audiovisual communication. Current requirements for a signer to physically be in the presence of a notary are often impractical and sometimes impossible due to social distancing limitations resulting from the spread of COVID-19, as well as other roadblocks for in-person signing, like military service overseas and time constraints.”

The 2021 ATLA Advocacy Summit (currently virtually underway) will discuss this bill further and encourage members of Congress to support the bill.