10 standards of practice for remote ink-signed notarizations

Editor’s Note: This article contains information on remote notarization that is no longer current, but the article has been retained for historical purposes. For the most current information on remote notarization please visit our Knowledge Center Remote Notarization page.

Updated 9-4-24 by adding information on permanent paper remote notarial acts.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several states issued temporary authorizations permitting Notaries to perform notarial acts on paper documents using video conference technology, a process Fannie Mae has labeled "remote ink-signed notarization" (RIN). As we will describe below, remote ink-signed notarization is not to be confused with remote online notarization (RON). New York issued the first authorization of this kind in an executive order on March 19, 2020. These authorizations have been issued to mitigate the public health risk of spreading the virus during face-to-face notarizations while at the same time allowing access to notarial services at a time when these services are greatly needed. The authorizations are temporary, typically lasting for the duration of the state of emergency declared by each state's governor or for a certain specified time after the emergency is lifted.

Standards of professional practice

While there is no doubt RINs meet a pressing need at a time as extraordinary as this, video conference notarizations are different from RON and the NNA believes additional mechanisms to ensure the security and integrity of these notarizations are needed. To that end, we have developed ten standards of practice for performing RINs.

Before following these standards, Notaries should confirm that their state authorizes these new types of notarizations. They should follow all requirements in the temporary authorization, state Notary laws, and any supplemental guidance that may have been issued by their commissioning officials. And, they must know the time frame in which they are authorized to perform these temporary notarizations and not forget the date of expiration of the temporary order. Finally, Notaries who perform loan signings should check with their contracting companies to see if they have received approval from the lender to perform the loan signing using RIN.

The ten standards of professional practice for video conference notarization or RIN are as follows:

1. The Notary should make a recording of the entire audiovisual conference, create a backup of the recording and, to protect the privacy of the signer, securely store both.
2. The Notary should record a journal entry of the notarial act and note in the journal that the notarization was performed using video conference technology.
3. The Notary should request the signer to show the front and back of any identification card used to verify the signer's identity and carefully compare the information on the ID to the signer appearing on the video conference using an authoritative reference.
4. The Notary should ask the signer to "pan" the room with the signer's video camera so the Notary can see if there are any other persons in the room with the signer.
5. The Notary should ask the signer to state on camera that the signer is signing the document freely and voluntarily and has the mental capacity or competence to do so.
6. The Notary should ensure the angle of the video camera on the signer's end allows the Notary to view the signer signing the document.
7. The Notary should require the signer to show each page of the signed document and the signer's ID once again to compare the signatures on the ID and document before it is faxed or transmitted to the Notary.
8. The Notary should show the signer each page of the document to ensure it is the same document the signer transmitted.
9. The Notary should ensure the angle of the video camera on the Notary's end allows the signer to view the Notary completing the certificate of notarial act.
10. The Notary should retain and, in order to protect the privacy of the signer, securely store the notarized document the Notary faxed or transmitted back to the signer on the date of the original video conference for comparison purposes if the signer requests the Notary to notarize the original signed paper document later, and destroy it immediately upon sending the original notarized paper document back to the signer.

Temporary RIN vs. permanent RON

Editor’s Note: This section contains information on remote notarization that is no longer current in New York. For the most current remote notarization information for New York and other states with expired emergency orders below, please see our Knowledge Center Remote Notarization page.

The video conference notarization process permitted in many temporary state authorizations is quite different from the permanent remote online notarization (RON) laws enacted in 23 states to date.

In general, RINs use solutions such as GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, or Zoom to satisfy the requirement that a document signer personally appear before a Notary. The Notary verifies the identity of the signer based on existing state Notary laws or by methods specified in the temporary order. Paper documents are signed in pen and ink and faxed or transmitted electronically between the signer and Notary.

RONs, by contrast, use a dedicated platform that integrates in one system a video conference capability, multi-factor methods for verifying the identity of the signer that uniquely apply to remote online notarizations, and an electronic signing room that presents the electronic document in real-time for signing using electronic signatures by the document signer and Notary.

Many of the steps to perform a RIN in the temporary orders and authorizations are generally based on the New York executive order and are described below. These steps may vary for the specific temporary authorizations in other states.

• The Notary and signer appear before each other using a live, real-time video conference solution such as WebEx, GoToMeeting or Microsoft Teams.
• The Notary identifies the signer using the methods allowed under current Notary law.
• The signer signs the document and faxes or transmits electronically the signed document to the Notary during the video conference.
• The Notary prints out the document received from the signer and completes the notarial certificate in pen and ink during the video conference.
• The Notary faxes or transmits electronically the notarized document back to the signer during the video conference.

The New York order and several other state authorizations also allow the signer to physically mail the originally signed paper document to the Notary within a certain number of days of the RIN. When the Notary receives the document from the signer in the mail, the Notary is authorized to notarize that document using the date of the original RIN and mail it back to the signer.

Ongoing applicability of the standards

We expected temporary RIN authorizations to end once the pandemic was over. While the temporary RIN authorizations did expire or were rescinded, several states saw the continuing utility of RIN and began enacting permanent paper remote online notarization laws to replace their temporary authorizations. These permanent paper remote notarizations may mirror the temporary RIN authorizations or supplement them with additional requirements. If your state authorizes Notaries to perform permanent paper remote notarial acts, the ten standards for RIN will apply to these notarizations as well.

Bill Anderson is Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Notary Association.