{"id":625,"date":"2019-03-27T06:09:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T10:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=625"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:21:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:21:06","slug":"remote-notarization-of-real-estate-deeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/remote-notarization-of-real-estate-deeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Remote Notarization of Real Estate Deeds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Today, many\nreal estate documents are handled electronically. But it remains clear\nthat notarizing a document, under the laws of all states, means witnessing\na signature in real time. The notary’s witnessing role serves to verify to\nthe public that the person who signs a paper has been personally identified,\nand freely signed the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to be\ndeterred, technology is changing the way society defines witnessing<\/em>. With the\nadvancement of webcam technology and novel legal provisions, notaries\nare remotely witnessing signatures and verifying documents in several states.\nThis new process is known as RON remote online notarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far,\nreviews in the industry are mixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Industry\nExperts Weigh In on Remote Notarization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best way to proceed at the current time, according to the National Notary Association<\/a>, is to\u00a0insist on in-person notarization.\u00a0In-person signing, it asserts, protects the public and the transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the American Land Title Association (ALTA) jointly regard\u00a0remote online notarizations as an attractive consumer benefit. Still, the groups express concerns that different states have taken different approaches and they call for uniform standards to\u00a0be adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notaries themselves point out<\/a>\u00a0that remote notarization goes beyond electronic notarization (eNotarization), which can\u00a0take place in the physical presence of the parties, using\u00a0paper or\u00a0an\u00a0electronic journal. Remote notarization raises special concerns, because the signing happens at\u00a0a distance. The notary cannot pick up and handle physical\u00a0proof of identity belonging to the signers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Wescor Land Title Insurance Company, in partnership\u00a0with Notarize, lauds\u00a0the advent of a fully electronic closing\u00a0process in which there is “no scheduling required that disrupts your life and no driving to the closing<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remote\nNotarization Early Adopters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Several\nstates now allow for remote online notarizations using audio-video conference\ntechnology:<\/p>\n\n\n\n