National remote online notary bill reintroduced in Congress

A bill that would permit immediate nationwide use of remote online notarization was reintroduced in the current session of Congress, after failing to gain traction last year.

A number of states have had RON available for several years. Then as the pandemic made physical real estate transaction closings difficult, several jurisdictions permitted it on a temporary basis as they looked to keep commerce going when face-to-face contact was discouraged. Further expansion and movement from a transitory fix to permanent status may take a back burner now that large numbers of Americans have been vaccinated and the pandemic is subsiding.

Use of RON increased 547% during 2020 compared with 2019, an American Land Title Association vendor survey found.

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"There is a need for this approach to notarization throughout the United States," Diane Tomb, the group's CEO said in a press release. "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 as well as other roadblocks, like overseas military service and time constraints."

The Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (also known as SECURE) Notarization Act of 2021 was introduced in the House on June 17, after Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., brought the bill back to the Senate in May.

Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. and Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., introduced the companion legislation in the House. There are 31 co-sponsors from both parties to this legislation.

Sens. Cramer and Warner introduced the original bill in the Senate in March 2020 but no action was taken; a companion bill was introduced in the House at the same time and was referred to committee without any additional movement, according to Congress.gov.

"The legislative process is dynamic, and we continue to look for opportunities to advance the bill," Chris Morton, ALTA's senior vice president of public affairs, said in an emailed statement. "With broad support last year, and again this year, we are hopeful for its enactment."

If it’s passed as currently written, the bill would require any state to recognize notarizations performed by a notarial officer of any other state, among other things.

At this time only two states do not permit RON, California and South Carolina. There are now 34 states with a permanent law permitting RON, with the most recent being Arkansas and Oregon.

Among the states with temporary authorizations, according to the National Notary Association, are: Alabama, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and West Virginia. But both New Mexico and New York might soon join the states with permanent RON laws

New Hampshire, which had granted temporary RON authorization, apparently has allowed that to lapse.