Posted by Becca_FL on 10/1/07 12:20pm
Msg #214043

Attention Florida notaries re: HB 1305 and ENS

I don't want Marlene's post to get buried so I am reposting it. If you are a Florida notary and are considering an ENS, please read this. I have deleted the link that Marlene posted and replaced it with the one below.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/07laws/ch_2007-257.pdf

The eNotarization program in Florida is due to start January 2008 with the passage of House Bill 1305, signed by the governor on June 28.


Anyway, the Secretary of State is planning an Initiative to "ease" the state's notaries into electronic notarization, similar to Pennsylvania's. XYZCompany locked Pennsylvania into an Initiative using only the XYZ Electronic notary seal (ENS) program and locking out any other vendors to date. We are in the 2nd year of the Initiative, with over 400 notaries paying XYZ for the privilege of receiving a digital certificate from them, only to be severely restricted in being able to use it.

To date, there have been only 2 known electronic notarizations performed in Pennsylvania using XYZ's digital certificate: One was a non-real estate email transaction using World Wide Notary's DigiSign software (www.wwnotary.com), and the other was a cash purchase real estate transaction orchestrated by XYZ and highly publicized as being a "successful" demonstration of the Initiative for real estate closings.

Over 400 Pennsylvania notaries acquired another commission ($40) for eNotary approval, registered with an approved eNotary registrar, and purchased a digital certificate through XYZ ($24.95), only to sit on their hands while XYZ and the state extended the Initiative into a 2nd year while glitches are worked out in the system. There are several serious glitches with the eNotary Registry and with the digital certificates expiring at different times from the notary commissions.

If you do not want your eNotarization star hitched to XYZ's wagon, you need to be vocal with your Secretary of State in allowing competition at the table from the start so that you end up with the best system possible. The Florida SOS should also be encouraged to talk with other states about their Initiatives. It might look like the easiest thing for the Secretary to let XYZ set up a program for them - they do all the work, after all, but - as you all know - it might not be the best thing for the state's notaries.

On the other hand, you need to seriously consider the risks and benefits of eNotarization for your business - expensive start-up costs (no matter what vendor you go with) and complicated procedures and equipment that just might put the borrower back into the lender's/title company's office to complete the closing. Become an informed consumer on this issue.