Amrock, who uses Nexsys Clear Sign, to conduct RON Closings recently issued the following statement to all RON Notaries who partner with Amrock:
Amrock has received feedback from our clients stating some RON Closings have taken place on the go, specifically within a car. We are sending out communication to remind all signing agents of the importance of creating a professional digital signing room to conduct your clisongs. Choosing a private, uninterrupted, quiet location is critical to creating the best closing experience for our clients.
It is important for us Notary Signing Agents to address this head on because there are going to be those of us who are either completely RON Notaries who do have a professional stationary workspace and then there will also be those of us who are Hybrid Notary Signing Agents, whom this may cause problems for. One of my own personal immediate responses would be - “What about all of the clients who have asked me to meet in Starbucks in the past to sign their documents because they didn’t want anyone they don’t know in their home?” Shouldn’t what is good for them be good for me too? And, I fear that this will be the retaliation from many if we don’t head this off right here in the beginning. In fact, my marketing students actually chose to address this topic specifically during our classes here at the end of the year because they are all curious about how they will balance their mobile closings with their RON Closings.
Right now, RON is still very new. Even if you are a RON only Notary Signing Agent you most likely either work for Amrock or for Notarize when doing actual Loan Signings as they are the current dominant platforms for RON throughout the country (as of November 2022). Keep in mind that we are talking specifically about closings with loan documents at the moment as most lenders will not yet ensure notes or deeds that have been electronically notarized. As of yet most of us haven’t gotten a feel for what other Title Agencies and lenders are going to expect from you as RON becomes more prevalent. Even with the “Bring Your Own Business” platforms coming at us left and right we generally only see single documents, general Notary work, or only Title Docs. Which means we should be using this early warning sign from Amrock (who is one of the largest Title Agencies for one of the largest Lenders) as a guideline of sorts to ensure that you are ready for the coming trends. By doing so- you will be putting yourself ahead of the curve when grooming your own direct clients for RON and setting the stage for more growth within your own business.
Let’s consider the facts behind this statement in a logical way. Most of us sign our signers in their homes. Meetings for Loan Closings are generally only done at a public place much less frequently. And, when we do sign in public (at least our Notary Stars) are trained not to speak figures or personal information out loud as we would inside someone’s home to ensure private information stays private. When conducting a RON inside a public place like Starbucks you are subject to anyone hearing you go over the documents and seeing your screen. This could be rather alarming to many signers this day and age. And if you are performing from a vehicle it’s impossible to hide the fact that you are in your car- which just looks unprofessional all together. Most RON Platforms do not allow you to use a Green Screen at the moment and to be honest we would advise against this anyway at Notary Stars. Although Green Screens look great in most cases it leads to suspicion of what one might be hiding. And if you ever needed to rely on your own video you may not want to have used one. Remember, we always try to follow the path of least resistance as Notaries and Loan Signing Agents.
Our Current Advice
Treat RON Signings carefully! Always remember that everything you do is being recorded and there is no turning back once the session is complete. The larger companies have access to your recordings when you are done so there is no back peddling if you decide to defy expectations. For now we are advising all Notaries to conduct RON Signings in a secure location, like a home office or private office space, if you are running a hybrid Mobile Notary and RON Notary operation. Make sure you have a good Anti-Viral Program like Norton on your computer in addition to a good Mal-ware program such as MalwareBytes as well. You may also want to consider investing in additional insurance through your General Liability Providers for Cyber Crime Coverage. Although this is not a requirement at this time for RON Closings with the surge of Cyber Crime Notaries who conduct loans are sure to be a target of the future.
If you are currently conducting, or interested in conducting, RON Closings and have not yet trained with Notary Stars consider joining us today. Not only do we over over 150+ hours of page-by-page training on every loan product under the Sun- we also offer excellent training for Remote Online Notarization & RON Safety. Here’s a list of our current playbacks from our RON Training Library you may want to access as a member:
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