05/08/2024
IPEN and RON explained
IPEN and RON aren’t the same thing. While they share some similarities — namely being electronic notarizations — they have fundamental differences.
IPEN (in-person electronic notarizations) means exactly what it says. They are in-person notarial acts. In other words, they require the signer to appear in front of the Notary in the same physical location at the time of the notarization, and be identified by the Notary in the same way as a traditional notarization. The documents are presented in a digital format and signed using an electronic signature. The Notary uses an electronic seal and signature to notarize the document.
RONs (remote online notarizations) are notarial acts that allow the signer to “appear” before the Notary over the internet using audio-visual technology. A RON does not require the signer to be in the same physical location as the Notary. Depending on state law and the service being used, the process involves the system establishing the identity of the signer prior to interacting with the Notary, who also verifies the signer’s identity using the same identification documents that are required for a traditional in-person notarization. The signer “signs” the document electronically and the Notary affixes his or her electronic signature and seal to the digital document. The audio and video of the notarial act is typically recorded.
RON has received more attention of late due mainly to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic when many states had temporary emergency authorization for remote notarizations.
Many of the states that put temporary remote measures into place have since enacted permanent laws. To date, 46 states have RON laws on the books.
However, mortgage industry players and the big banks have been slow to utilize RONs in a widespread way, due to the inherent technical complexity of a RON, the lack of a 50-state operational footprint, concerns in some quarters that remotely notarized documents may not be legally recognized across all state lines and other factors.
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