Online Notarization Law: Emerging Trend in Information Governance
By Timothy Reiniger
Virginia’s Electronic Notaries Act of 2011 has provided the legal framework for the growing national adoption of “online notarization” – electronic notarization by means of webcam or audio-video teleconference technology – wherein a signer who is located anywhere in the world can lawfully “appear” online before a notary public who is physically located in the state of commissioning. And, on July 31, 2018, the United States Department of the Treasury called for online notarization to be enacted in all states.
Thirty additional states have enacted the Virginia framework, either in whole or substantial part. In addition, both the Uniform Law Commission’s new amendment to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts of 2018 (“RULONA”) as well as the National Notary Association’s Model Electronic Notary Act of 2017 (“MENA”) incorporate the key principles of the Virginia legal framework.
Original article was published in 2018. Click here for this article and related articles.