Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Fall 2020 - 14

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Remote Online Notarization:
Is the Mouse Mightier
Than the Pen?
By Charles A. Rick, Esquire

he office of notary public is an institution in Pennsylvania
with roots tracing back to 1791 when Governor Thomas
Mifflin named Isaac Craig, a Pittsburgh glassmaker,
the Commonwealth's first notary. As is often the case with
institutions, changes to practices and customs occur slowly.
Pennsylvania's custom of requiring "wet signature" notarizations
where a signature was valid only if signed in-person before a
notary had been the norm until recent months.
However, even change-resistant institutions that have
survived more than two centuries sometimes bow in the face
of global pandemics. With residents ordered to stay in their
homes this spring under COVID-19 restrictions issued by
Gov. Tom Wolf, pressure mounted to utilize technology and
improve the efficiency of notarizations and prevent important
legal documents from being stuck in limbo. The Pennsylvania
Department of State responded with two memorandums. The
first memorandum, issued March 25, temporarily permitted
Remote Online Notarizations for personal real estate transactions
initiated before Pennsylvania's COVID-19 emergency declaration
as well as commercial real estate transactions in progress both
before and during the health emergency. Just a week later, a
second memorandum temporarily permitted Remote Online
Notarizations for estate planning documents. Finally, Gov. Tom
Wolf signed into law Senate Bill 841 on April 20, permitting
most documents to be notarized by Remote Online Notarization
while Pennsylvania remains under an emergency declaration
order.

Remote Online Notarization is a process in which notaries
electronically authenticate electronic documents, executed with
e-signatures by the parties while they are visually and audibly,
but not physically, in the presence of a notary. A notary views
their computer screen or mobile device and the signer views a
separate computer screen or mobile device simultaneously even
if the notary and the signer are miles apart. While often viewed
as a convenient and significant improvement over in-person
notarization, this new process has stirred apprehension from both
signers and notaries. Limited consumer education on the process
undoubtedly fuels this apprehension. And it may help explain
why Pennsylvania still has not joined 23 other states that always
allow Remote Online Notarizations. If state lawmakers cannot
send legislation to the governor's desk making Remote Online
Notarizations permanent, our Commonwealth will return to the
days of wet signatures 60 days after the termination or expiration
of the governor's emergency declaration.

Indeed, remote online notarizations have positive and negative
effects. The concierge-style service eliminates costly and timeconsuming travel for signatories and notaries. Our modern
world is one in which industries increasingly rely on electronic
transactions for greater efficiencies and eliminate printing and
storing reams and reams of paper documents. Remote Online
Notarization can help reduce errors, such as omitted or illegible
notary seals. The ease of planning your estate from the comfort
of your home, buying a home or car from your living room or
replacing lost or stolen passports without sitting in traffic make
permanent online notarization appealing to many.
continued on page 16

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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Fall 2020

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