NAIFA Supports Federal Legislation on Remote Online Notarization

NAIFA joined with coalition partners to submit a letter to U.S. Senate co-sponsors of the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act (SECURE Notarization Act), signaling support for the legislative initiative moving forward. The Act increases access to remote transactions for consumers.

The last year has demonstrated how technology can be leveraged to modernize services across a variety of markets. Notarizations are widely used for real estate, financial services, and other legal documents. Remote Online Notarization (RON) allows the consumer, notary and other parties to a transaction to be in different locations using two-way audio-visual communication to securely notarize documents. This process provides assured consumer access to notarization, allows for flexible scheduling, and affords consumers time to review documents and proceed when they are ready to sign. As of April 2021, 34 states have approved the use of RON under state law.

The SECURE Notarization Act would:

• 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 signers outside the U.S., such as military personnel and their families, to easily and securely notarize documents.
• Complement existing state laws, while allowing states the flexibility and freedom to implement their own RON standards.
• 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).

The SECURE Notarization Act would allow for the immediate nationwide use of RON technology. The legislation provides certainty for interstate recognition of RON and establishes robust minimum standards to ensure strong nationwide consumer protections. Current or future state laws meeting the national minimum standards will supersede this federal law.

NAIFA continues to work with lawmakers to ensure financial advisors have the best tools to serve their clients.