Great news – The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, recently signed off on remote online notarizations (RON), officially making it the 39th state to allow for their licensed notaries to perform live RON transactions.
The only downside to this is I lost my bet that New York would be the last state to move forward with RON. As a native New Yorker, my experience (and innate skepticism) suggested that New York would not be an early tech adopter. However, much to my surprise, not only was New York not the last state to pass RON legislation, but it also beat out California. Go figure. I have a hard time explaining how I lost that bet, too.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m ecstatic. Our initial mission/focus was to streamline the antiquated and stressful New York state closing process and allow all parties to meet online. Just imagine what this means for New York residents:
- No subways or traffic delays
- No need to take a full day off work
- No more battling the elements
- No worries about who was going to take your children to and from school
- Coordinating realistic times for your moving van(s)
RON not only makes the closing ceremony easier for people, but it also has a significant environmental impact. With parties meeting online rather than in person, our carbon footprint is significantly reduced. While there are still those moving vans to consider, RON minimizes the need to print gigantic stacks of paper for borrowers to wet-sign at the closing, not to mention eliminating vehicle emissions since borrowers don’t need to travel to and from the title office to complete the closing ceremony.
Having started with the end in mind, we continue to be the only RON platform to have a “New York State of Mind.” In fact, NotaryCam was born out of the complications I saw in conducting my New York real estate closings after moving to California, and in our nearly ten years in business, New York has always been the “brass ring” in terms of the kind of real estate closing NotaryCam sought to simplify.
Today, we are ready to perform RON transactions to the standards set by New York’s legislation (and all other RON-approved states, for that matter). ALL parties, principals, respective attorneys, real estate agents, etc., are all able to attend the closing ceremony, 24/7/365, from anywhere in the world. Whether you’re still working remote from Portugal, at the 19th hole of the golf course or on your lunch break in your Manhattan office, it’s no problem for NotaryCam.
Coming full circle was just your typical “overnight success” (yeah, right), and I’m so grateful for our team, partners and the government agencies that shared our dream. A huge shoutout of thanks and my eternal gratitude to all for your shared vision and willingness to take the arrows, as all pioneers before us.