REMOTE ONLINE NOTARIZATION (RON) is as appealing as it is scary for new and existing Notaries. If you are an experienced Notary Loan Signing Agent then you are now having to learn a new way to do your job. And, if you are a new Notary Loan Signing Agent you are being recorded so there is absolutely have to make sure you know what you are doing. The pressure is on all of us regardless of our experience level to stay up-to-date. The age of "Fake It Until You Make It" is over!
Notary Stars as of October 2021 has begun to add up-to-date information regarding RON into its training course but we are taking a different approach than many training companies when it comes to RON. We are airing on the side of caution as we move into conducting RON closings- and we highly recommend before you jump on the RON bandwagon yourself that you get as much education regarding Loan Signings & Your RON platform as possible on and off of Notary Stars.
Title & Lender Restrictions are very important for Notary Loan Signing Agents to understand. In our training course, we help Notary Loan Signing Agents understand what part of a transaction belongs to a Title Agency and what part belongs to a Lender. One thing that Notaries are often unaware of is the entity that drives both Title and Lender Policies (including how documents are signed in-person or electronically), and that entity is called UNDERWRITING. Underwriting is essentially the legal department of an institution that determines the risk associated with the transaction.
NOTARY WARNINGS: When it comes to any and all Real Estate transactions you as a Notary should not suggest a Remote Online Closing to your signers under any circumstances, knowing what you now know. Although RON may be perfectly legal in your State it may be against the policy of the Title and Escrow Office or the Lender involved in the paperwork to use just any platform out there. You must absolutely make sure that you are able to use your (or one of your) RON Platforms before proceeding with a Real Estate Transaction. Conducting a Real Estate transaction on an unapproved platform could at best have you performing a closing unpaid that just needs to be redone- or worse, sued!
Letting your Signing Agencies and Title Agencies know you are RON Capable is very important; however, you can completely invalidate a closing if you attempt to preform a RON closing with your signers without permission from the Signing Agency, Title Agency, or Lender.
For documents outside of Real Estate Transactions you should be disclaiming to your signers, before they sign, they need to ensure the receiving party will accept an electronically Notarized document.
Platform Suggestions are coming at us from all angles but choosing your RON platform choice should not come from anyone but your Secretary of States Office (or licensing office) and your process of deduction. Most RON States are giving suggestions to Notaries on what platforms to use and we suggest you use a suggested platform. This not the time in your career where you want to be cool. However, if you do venture outside of your State suggestions we strongly urge you to make sure your platform is compliant with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, INC. (MERS). This is exactly why we mentioned you need to make sure your RON Platform is approved with your Signing Agency or Title Agency before proceeding with any Real Estate Transaction. Remember: You won't be a hero unless you can actually save the day.
Members of Notary Stars as of January 3rd, 2022 have access to our RON Platform Reviews which may help guide you in choosing your own RON Platform. Please allow time for reviews to build up!
Marketing RON Properly can be difficult. Taking the previously written information in this article it is important to understand that the average consumer will most likely not be searching for Remote Online Notarization (RON) as it's a an industry term. When marketing RON to the average consumer we suggest you have consumer-friendly information on your websites and business cards helping your customers understand you offer VIRTUAL NOTARIZATION as an option.
Important Disclaimers YOU should be giving signers
Amrock has a great Notary Script for Signing Agents which helps guide them. And Notary Stars will be working on a good script for our members in the near future of things you definitely want to say on camera. One thing off the bat we can think of is you need to inform the signers they are being recorded for record retention purposes on behalf of yourself, the title agency, and lender- or for the receiving party if their documents are not Real Estate Related. This is one thing we haven't seen any other training course addressing in their training and it makes perfect sense. Our script course can help you with Loan Documents, but we are working on an adapted RON Script similar to that we've seen so far to aid our members in performing signings with safety (for themselves) through RON.
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