AnalysisSenate Bill 753 is the type of legislation the NNA has seen in recent years with some frequency. Legislation will waive the requirement for notarization of a document if it is signed and filed electronically. For example, a 2011 Montana bill waived the notarization requirement for certain vehicle forms if they were signed with an electronic signature. Senate Bill 753 appears to do just that with motor vehicle forms that are involved in a transfer of ownership of a vehicle to an insurer in a total loss claim. The argument for waiving the notarization requirement appears to stem from the fact that the statute does not require the certificate of title in a total loss claim to be notarized. If the certificate of title does not require notarization, why require it of other documents that are involved in the transfer?
The new law says these electronic documents must be signed pursuant to 12A OS 109. Subsection (a) of that statute says that an "electronic record or electronic signature is attributable to a person if it was the act of the person. The act of the person may be shown in any manner, including a showing of the efficacy of any security procedure applied to determine the person to which the electronic record or electronic signature was attributable.” Notarization traditionally has been considered a “security procedure” to show that a signed document was attributable to a person. But the statute would allow any technological process or a method as simple as a phone call to establish attribution (see official comment to Sections 2(14) and 9(a) of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act). Had the Oklahoma Legislature intended notarization of the electronic signature to be required, it surely would have referenced 12A OS 111, the section of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act pertaining to notarization of electronic signatures. It could have also pointed to Oklahoma’s remote online notarization statue as well.
Read Senate Bill 753.