The House of Representatives passed the SECURE Notarization Act. What it means for RON & You!
On the heels of a unanimous vote by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, The SECURE Notarization act of 2022 (H.R. 3962) was passed by the House of Representatives and the RON genie has come one step closer to being fully out of the bottle. Remote Online Notarization could soon be accessible to ALL of the U.S.
The times are changing with technology.
Passing the House on July 27th, the piece of legislation now only needs to get through the Senate. Companion legislation (S.1625) has already been introduced by Senators Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia).
In the House, it was introduced by Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). It had 12 cosponsors in the House amongst 435 members. To compare, in the Senate, it has 10 cosponsors amongst 100 members. Again, we see bipartisan support.
8 states are currently not allowed to do Remote Online Notarization (RON): California, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, plus the District of Columbia. If it passes in the senate, finally, they would all be enabled to start.
These 8 states account for approximately 22.7% of the population in the United States. Correspondingly, that’s a lot of notarizations and businesses.
We thought we’d break down what this all might mean for those in the industry. For most states and people, things will seemingly remain the same, but make no mistake, this will be a large happening.
As Notaries:
In states where RON wasn’t previously legal, this would put pressure on Mobile Notary businesses to expand their offerings. While some clients will prefer the personal touch of meeting in person, others will be forced to bend to the pressing realities of high gas prices, expensive commutes, and inconvenient time wasting organization practices.
Notaries will also have to deal with increased competition rushing online from their newly legal states. The playing field will finally be even for Notaries and RON’s located across the country. Previously, California Notaries had easier claim to their territory. Now, they will have to defend their own businesses at home, but also be offered the opportunity to hop online and compete in the ever growing digital marketplace. Accordingly, we should see a dramatic shift within local industries in some of these locations.
For Businesses:
Businesses are responsible for 1 billion notarizations/year in the United States. If 22.7% of people were now allowed to use RON, simple math would say this would make 227 million new documents eligible to be notarized remotely every year. However, a lot of this work was already legal for out of state notaries to perform remotely within the disallowed states.
Each state has presently its own notary laws. Some of these states had already implemented out of state RON’s into their practices. Many other businesses have been waiting for clarification on these laws.
The SECURE Notarization Act solidifies national minimum consumer protection standards. Of course, these standards will be consistent across the United States. Most states are already meeting a lot of these national standards, but this still creates assurance for businesses who are on the fence about integrating the RON technology into their business plans and API.
Also, it makes it easier for RON platforms to standardize their software to fit business needs.
As Title Companies:
Needless to say, many Title Companies had big interest in H.R. 3962 passing. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) had been pushing for national baseline standards for RON.
Expect more companies to look to move their Closings even more online if they hadn’t already gotten started. Closing with Remote Online Notary offers superior ID Proofing, Data & Document Encryption, and allows Title Companies to get their clients to sign on the dotted line faster.
It’s a fabulous time for a lot of Title Companies to embrace Remote Online Notary White Label Solutions.
American Land Title Association (ALTA) CEO Diane Tomb was quoted as saying that, with this bill passing, “the U.S. House took a major leap toward establishing a more modernized notarization system that doesn’t leave anyone behind.”
Where is the lie?
Arkansas Representative Steve Womack said,
“Remote online notarization will make it easier for Arkansans and Americans, especially those in the military or living in rural communities, to safely and securely complete needed documents. By leveraging transformative technology, we are streamlining transactions for consumers and bringing important processes into the 21st century.”
Womack.house.gov
BlueNotary couldn’t agree more.
CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Robert Broeksmit, CMB, President said this in regards to the passage of the SECURE Notarization Act by the U.S. House of Representatives:
“MBA is grateful the House has passed this legislation that creates federal minimum standards to allow notaries in all states to perform safe and effective remote online notarization transactions, making the mortgage closing process more convenient for all consumers–including our nation’s military families.”
“Importantly, the bill’s minimum standards for RON are consistent with both the MBA-ALTA model state RON bill and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization RON standards and would complement existing state laws by providing states with the flexibility and freedom to implement their own RON standards,” Broeksmit said.
Newslink.mba.org
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