Remote Online Notarization (RON} in Florida

Hello Lewis,

I’m thinking about getting RON certified in Florida.
However, I could not find any information about the boundaries physical location of the client.
Can the principal for example be located in Canada or Germany? For example: German couple is planning to purchase property in Cape Coral, but physically located in Germany. With RON, could I notarize their signature needed for the US lender?

I don’t want to pay the money or do the course, if this is not allotted within the scope.
Many thanks.

Yes - venue is Florida…

117.265 Online notarization procedures.—
(1) An online notary public physically located in this state may perform an online notarization that meets the requirements of this part regardless of whether the principal or any witnesses are physically located in this state at the time of the online notarization. A commissioner of deeds registered as an online notary public may perform an online notarization while physically located within or outside of this state in accordance with the territorial limits of its jurisdiction and other limitations and requirements otherwise applicable to notarial acts by commissioners of deeds. An online notarization performed in accordance with this chapter is deemed to have been performed within this state and is governed by the applicable laws of this state.

I did attend the training and I have to say that it was very disappointing. After the course I still had a lot of open questions… In fact more than half of the time you spend looking at an empty screen waiting for the time to run out since the FLTA did not pack enough material into it (you are not allowed to fast forward since the State of Florida requires the training to last 2 hours).

To your question, the course does not really answer it. I just looked through it again and it only mentioned, that the signer does not have to be within the geographical boundaries of the State of Florida. I would have assumed, that the signer has to be on US Territory (incl. military bases, embassies, etc.), but since the FL House Bill 409 and the state required training does not mention anything about it, I would think that Linda’s statement is correct and you could legally notarize documents for people all over the world no matter what country they are in, since the venue is Florida.

I would recommend to wait a little longer before getting RON Certified. Hopefully they come up with a better course at some point. As soon as other providers offer a training, I will certainly do it again.

This chapter is all about the online notarizations and may help answer some of the other questions you have - it’s the actual statute; I went back and looked and, sadly, the new handbook barely scratches the surface of RON - a major fail on the part of our SOS, unfortunately. JMO

1 Like

Thanks for that!
It’s basically what the course covered over 2 hours. And yes you are right, it barely scratches the surface… unfortunately

The above that I posted is just a snippet of what’s in the real law - if you google “Florida Statute Chapter 117” - you’ll get the actual notary law - that outlines RON far better than the so-called handbook they published - which doesn’t do anything. here

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0117/0117ContentsIndex.html

good advice…not only do I whole heartily agree with you, but, methinks Florida is jumping the gun, and have not thought this procedure through. I think over the course of 2020, they will fine tune this RON and I think it is a waste of time to spend a dime on this training/certification/licensing since the state is unsure of what is going on.
Two weeks ago I called the Sec of St office for Florida notary and I could tell by her answers to my questions, that the State of Florida is STILL not comfortable with this, in spite of the fact they passed the law

Hello Lewis. What is Docverify charging to sign up?

Hi: DocVerify has a free initial account and then it goes to $10.00 per month. There are other charges as related to getting the Certification for 4 years. If you go to their site the pricing is found by clicking on tab at top.

Hey Lewis, have you already used DocVerify for Remote Notarizations?

From what I have seen you can’t do RON’s with the professional license for $10/Month. I think you would need the Enterprise License that costs $40/Month and allows you to perform 30 RON’s. More Notarizations would mean more licenses. Did I get that wrong?

This, IMO, makes a whole lot more sense than the $10/month deal - after all, in addition to providing their electronic seal and doc verification, they’re going to be retaining your video for 5 years and keeping your journal. (yes, you need to also keep an electronic journal - my immediate turnoff - don’t like the idea of putting signers’ NPII in the cloud).

Good luck with this - hope there is significant ROI for you.My own opinion is the only ones who will benefit from this are title companies/attorneys/realtors - those with all the equipment and tech in place already - all that’s left is to get a duly commissioned, bonded and insured RON notary on board and they can go all electronic.

I took the DocVerify webinair this Wed. Here are some facts presented. 1) DocVerify is a platform only and charges for use of the platform. It has several levels of subscription but the only level that will allow you to do your own business as a RON is the Enterprise level which is $ 40.00 per month. The other levels allow you to work for others on assignment. 2) DocVerfy allows for online Notarization where you and the individual are required to be in the same location. 3) The presentation focused on using the platform to build your own RON business. They do have the ability to record the notarization and store the same. The strongly recommend that individuals have their own external or cloud based backup due to the extended time that records are to be kept. 4) In addition, if the signing requires notarization of more than one person, they must be done at the same time although not necessarily in the same place. All the preliminary verification must be performed on all signing parties. DocVerify has a contractual arrangement with a verification provider but did not indicate whether this was included in their fee or a separate fee needed to be paid.
I have also checked with NNA regarding Bond and E & O. All these must be brought up to State of Florida requirements which amount to $ 25,000 bonding and $ 50,00 E & O and must be in place for the entire life of the commission.

Regarding Florida E&O & bond - requirement for online notary is $25,000 bond and $25,000 E&O per Florida Statute Section 117.225(6) and 117.225(7)

“(6) Providing evidence satisfactory to the Department of State that the registrant has obtained a bond in the amount of $25,000, payable to any individual harmed as a result of a breach of duty by the registrant acting in his or her official capacity as an online notary public, conditioned for the due discharge of the office, and on such terms as are specified in rule by the Department of State as reasonably necessary to protect the public. The bond shall be approved and filed with the Department of State and executed by a surety company duly authorized to transact business in this state. Compliance by an online notary public with this requirement shall satisfy the requirement of obtaining a bond under s. 117.01(7).
(7) Providing evidence satisfactory to the Department of State that the registrant acting in his or her capacity as an online notary public is covered by an errors and omissions insurance policy from an insurer authorized to transact business in this state, in the minimum amount of $25,000 and on such terms as are specified by rule by the Department of State as reasonably necessary to protect the public.”

A progress report on my experiences with Remote Online Notary. 1) At this point I am on DocVerify and SimplySecureSign. FIrst DocVerify: DocVerify is strictly a platform that allows you to do a number of different online services. It allows for both Online Notary and Remote Online Notary. Being a platform. You are required to make all documents ready for signing. There are a couple of major issues here. First, if you thought you were simply getting a document and filling in a signing; forget it. When doing a signing on DocVerify you should take in the document at least 24 to 48 hours before the actual time of signing. This is due to the need to prepare the document for the signing procedure and then leave enough time to have the signers verify their identities before the actual signing. There is a whole process to learn and follow. There is little person to person support but the online support is extensive. Simply put, you need to know what you are doing. Finally, when doing a notarization you are required to pay (and charge client for) signing and verifications. They have a price list for these bitcoins that you should check first. I am not sure I will continue to use this if the simplysecure is easier to use even though I can make more on DocVerify.
Second experience: I have recently signed up with simplysecuresign.com. This too is a platform but they will prepare the document for signing and your relationship with them is similar to the current Independent contractor relationship. They provide you with a training session which you can take a number of times. They apparently operate in the same way as most of the mobile companies.I have not done any signings with them yet but will report later. They prepare the documents for the signing process.

1 Like

Thank you Lewis - I think this is the first, most extensive, explanation of this process we’ve heard yet.

Firms up my resolve that I’m not going to do them - just not worth the grief for me. Sounds to me that loan signings in this process will be extensive and way way too involved - tell me, what company gets you the docs 24-48 hours in advance? None of them - lucky to get docs 2 hours ahead of time.

Good luck with this - you have my best of wishes - and my condolences! :slightly_smiling:

1 Like

The signer does not have to be in the United States or its territories. The notary MUST be physically located in Florida at the time of signing and notarizing. The signer(s) MUST be US citizens or Permanent Residents; also known as “Green card holders”. They may not be foreign nationals. They will need apostilles which cannot be done online. They are issued by governments.

1 Like

I would like to keep in touch with you, please keep us posted I just finish all the requirement of the RON but have no clue how to start!

You are correct. Too easy and did not cover what you will need to know. I pd for bump notary ins, took course/test; passed but stalled as it is too much for an individual to pay for Ron platform- especially if you’re limited on fees. Why doesn’t FL come up with reasonable fees for individual Ron notaries. Court reporters do not need it due to emergency order but sure they would if reasonable. Limiting fees? Free trade, I say.
No flaming, nothing but good discussion please :mask:

Standard traditional notarizations are $10/notarization; RON notarizations are $25/notarization. Sadly, although this sounds like a nice fee, unless you’re sitting at your computer doing them back to back to back all day, the expenditures for it just don’t pay off. And if you get a RON assignment through a service, you only get a portion of that $25 yet you’re still out the cost of the platform.

I won’t do them. No thanks.