AnalysisPennsylvania has enacted the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, the twenty-seventh state to have done so since the Act was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2004. The Act contains the stock notarization provision, permitting a Notary to use an electronic signature in notarizing any electronic real property document submitted for recording electronically with a county recorder of deeds. However, it adds that any notarizations performed electronically must comply with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and Notary Public Act. In performing an electronic notarial act, a Notary is not required to place an image of a Notary seal on the electronic document as long as the information within the seal is placed on the document. The Act establishes an electronic recording commission to be comprised of 13 members to publish technical standards for implementing the Act. A member from the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries is to be appointed as a member of the commission. We are pleased that Pennsylvania chose to enact the so-called “security provision,” requiring the electronic recording commission to promulgate standards for electronic recording that render electronic documents resistant to tampering.
Read House Bill 970.