In November, we will be celebrating the 5th anniversary of our very first remote online notarization–a Florida resident (and a witness) met with our certified and professionally trained Virginia notary and notarized a legally binding transaction.
It was nerve-wracking, exciting and absolutely amazing! Since then we have logged thousands of demos, meetings, travel miles, etc. convincing the defenders of the status quo that this was legal, real and the future. We get it – change is hard but also there was very little incentive for anyone, especially legal, to go out on a limb. But as entrepreneurs, we understand that is where all the fruit is.
Today I’m pleased to report that online notarization is going mainstream. The Uniform Law Commission has heard and answered the requests from many stakeholders to draft legislation for states to adopt and allow their respective notaries to join VA, MT, OH, Nevada and Texas notaries who can perform online notarization. There is a real possibility that another 35 states will adopt similar legislation as well in 2018. The American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) formed a coalition to draft standards while the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has been hard at work for the past year to offer guidelines.
Source Media held the first ever Digital Mortgage conference in Dec 2016 and repeated, 9 months later, last week in SF. Both well attended with over 1000+ in attendance and 1300+, respectively and more than 80 live demos from the most innovative companies disrupting the Industry – the top vote and winners were………. Online Notary Closings. We were honored to receive Best of Class 2016 for our live demo with a notary 3000 miles away from the stage and only wished we could have presented to this exciting audience (alas, contest rules-no repeat demos)
As I was quoted during that exhilarating 8-minute demo, “Although we completed the first and only online RE/Mortgage closings as of now, in the next 3-4 years most, if not all, would all be completed whenever and wherever in the world the borrowers/buyers/sellers wanted to close.
Our technology is years ahead and, combined with the most experienced and trusted team of notaries (have now performed over 90% of ALL the online notarization’s all over the United States and over 70 countries) the time is ripe to elevate your brand and your overall consumer experience. Built by closing agents for closing agents – let’s make a difference, together!