The Voice • October 2016
On August 28th, 2016, legislation within Missouri was passed that allows for public notaries to work in a new manner: electronically. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act permits acceptable use of electronic seals and signatures on official documents, it states that “if a signature or record is required to be notarized, the requirement is satisfied.” [1]
The proper procedural requirements of the public notary will remain the same, only now the notary will be permitted with the use of electronic seals and signatures on electronic documents. [2]
For land recording offices this means that accepting eRecordings, especially Model III, will be even more beneficial. With Model III eRecording, a physical paper document is never used within a real estate transaction. With this legislation in place, a public notary is able to perform their duties without the need for the physical document, taking the process one step closer to a truly paperless transaction. This legislation has passed and is now legal within Missouri, but the official regulations and requirements still need to be finalized.
Other states that currently permit eNotarization: AR, CO, IA, IN, MN, NC, OR, PA, VA, WV (In these states the notary is required to register as an electronic notary. Some states may require additional training). [3]
Sources
[1] http://www.missourinotary.com/notary_laws.asp
[2] http://members.usnotaries.net/faq.asp?FaqSubCategoryID=126#FAQ1322
[3] https://www.fanniemae.com/content/fact_sheet/eclosings-emortgages-myths.pdf
