Timothy S. Reiniger, Executive Director for the National Notary Association
| "Ensuring the admissibility and provability of electronic documents in a court of law is one of the most important steps in winning any case, and that is why the use of digital certificates by Notaries can be crucial in litigation."
Speaking before the Mortgage Bankers Association in Phoenix, Arizona, last month, Attorney Timothy S. Reiniger, Executive Director for the National Notary Association, stressed the importance of secure notarizations, particularly in court.
A former successful trial lawyer in California and New Hampshire, Reiniger said that credential-based eNotarizations, such as those performed with the Electronic Notary Seal (ENS™), provide the capability to authenticate electronic documents by identifying the Notary, attributing the Notary's electronic signature, and rendering any alterations to the document detectable.
Reiniger, who was invited to speak at the MBA's "Legal Issues in Mortgage Technology" Conference in November, joined Philadelphia County Recorder of Deeds Joan Decker and representatives from the Property Records Industry Association during a panel discussion on the potential legal aspects of eNotarization and eRecording. The panel reported emphatically that eNotarized and eRecorded documents carry the same legal weight as traditional paper documents.
"For purposes of authenticating documents, use of digital certificates by Notaries is lawful in all 50 states and is specifically required in five states, so why wouldn't an organization looking for a secure national solution require its Notaries simply to use digital certificates?" Reiniger asked. "Electronic documents are worthless if they can't be proven in court. Digital certificates such as the ENS provide the needed capability of testing the authenticity of electronic documents."
|
