On April 19, U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mark Warner (D-VA) reintroduced the NAIFA-supported Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act. This bipartisan bill would permit the nationwide use of Remote Online Notarizations (RONs), enabling notaries and signers to complete the process from different physical locations.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the SECURE Notarization Act of 2023 in February by a voice vote. The House bill was introduced by U.S. Representatives Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA).

The legislation would allow businesses and consumers to utilize RON laws to execute critical documents using two-way audiovisual communication. This federal legislation was initially introduced to address physical restrictions in place during the COVID-10 outbreak, to allow consumers and businesses to continue operations in certain transactions.

The last few years have 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. 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. There are currently 43 states that have enacted remote online notarization laws.