Sponsors (9)
Introduced March 3, 2025 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress March 3, 2025
The bill makes interstate and remote electronic notarizations broadly legal and more usable—speeding commerce and providing clearer federal acceptance—while shifting burdens onto notaries, governments, and vulnerable populations through new compliance, privacy, and access requirements that may increase costs and legal complexity.
Millions of people and businesses (remote signers, small businesses, real-estate and financial customers) can complete notarizations across distances and State lines using audio‑visual and electronic methods, saving travel time and speeding transactions.
Federal and state authorities get clearer rules and presumptions so notarizations made under State law or this Act are more readily accepted in courts and interstate transactions, reducing delays and disputes over validity.
Remote notarizations require stronger identity verification (two distinct third‑party methods or credible witnesses) and preservation of recordings/signature metadata, improving traceability and lowering some types of fraud and forgery risk.
People without reliable internet, devices, or certain identity records (rural, low-income, some immigrants, people with disabilities) may be excluded because the law requires specific sight‑and‑sound technology and stronger identity-proofing.
Notaries, small businesses, and governments face meaningful compliance, training, storage, and administrative costs (e.g., multi‑year audio‑visual retention, new endorsements, updated systems), imposing financial burdens especially on smaller providers.
Mandated retention of audio‑visual recordings and additional identity data raises privacy and data‑security risks for signers if those records are breached, mishandled, or demanded inappropriately.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal rules allowing interstate electronic and remote notarizations with identity, recording, and record‑retention standards and requires courts and States to recognize them.
Allows notaries to perform electronic and remote notarizations that occur in or affect interstate commerce, sets national minimum standards for identity verification, audio‑visual recording, and electronic record integrity, and requires federal courts and other States to recognize valid notarizations from another State. It preserves state authority to set additional rules, prevents forcing notaries to use unfamiliar technologies, and restricts certain false or deceptive advertising by non‑attorneys (for example, representing they can provide legal or immigration services).