MBA Mortgage Action Alliance Issues ‘Call to Action’ to Support Federal RON Legislation

The Mortgage Action Alliance, the grassroots advocacy arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, issued a “Call to Action” this week in support of recently introduced legislation that would allow notaries in states without enacted remote online notarization laws to perform RON transactions.

Sens. Kevin Kramer, R-N.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., this week introduced S. 3533, the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (SECURE) Notarization Act of 2020, which would authorize every notary in the U.S. to perform RONs, requires tamper-evident technology in electronic notarizations and provides fraud prevention through use of multifactor authentication. A one-page summary of the bill can be found here; for an FAQ section, click here.

Also this week Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., introduced a companion bill, H.R. 6364 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6364).  

Bill Killmer, MBA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs, said the bills’ minimum standards for RON are consistent with those provided in the MBA-ALTA model state RON bill (click here) and Mortgage Industry Maintenance Standards Organization (MISMO) RON standards, which allow use of audio-visual communication devices to notarize documents in a virtual online environment.

“In addition to providing a valuable tool to continue operations during this period of national crisis, these bills are a powerful tool to motivate state legislatures to enact their own RON laws,” Killmer said. “MBA and industry partners are advocating for the inclusion of these bills in an emergency package to provide economic relief during these difficult times.”

To take action, click https://action.mba.org/mba/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=507017&_zs=rPPPA1&_zl=x1ue5. For more information about MAA, click https://cqrcengage.com/mba/?1.