Digital notary platform NotaryCam announced on Wednesday it has been awarded the Remote Online Notarization (RON) Compliance Certification through the Mortgage Industry Standard Maintenance Organization (MISMO) – making it the eighth company to receive the specialized certification.
Originally introduced in April, the MISMO RON compliance certification was designed to assure RON tech providers meet a universal set of standards including credential analysis, borrower identification, capturing and maintaining a recording of the notary process electronically, audio and video requirements, record storage and audit trails.
NotaryCam Founder Rick Triola said the company recognized the need for industry-wide RON standards and that NotaryCam has been a long-time MISMO supporter and collaborator in the development of those standards to promote consistency across mortgage industry practices and state regulations.
“As RON transactions become more commonplace in the mortgage industry, NotaryCam is proud to have earned its MISMO RON Software Compliance Certification, which serves as a signal to all industry participants that they can confidently rely on the NotaryCam platform to securely and compliantly execute mortgage closings remotely,” Triola said.
Prior to NotaryCam’s announcement, eNotaryLog received RON compliance certification on May 27, followed by Notarize on July 2. The third company granted the compliance designation was digital signature servicer Signix and then later Pavaso on Aug. 24.
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At the time of Pavaso’s announcement, Docutech, Heracles Holding and Nexsys were in the process of receiving the certification, which Heracles Holding and Nexsys have since done – as well as real estate tech company Snpadocs.
According to MISMO, Docutech is still currently in the process of receiving the certification.
Since Pavaso’s announcement, and the addition of NotaryCam, the number of MISMO certified RON providers have now doubled in only three months.
States began taking it upon themselves to procure their own policies for RON after what was promised to be a blanket policy in the SECURE Notarization Act failed to make any headway in Congress following its introduction in March.
While some states, like California, have put up more of a battle against the technology, support from the industry has been loud and clear. A panel of experts at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference in October said uniformity in approach is going to be critical to RON’s adoption.
In its most recent earnings report, Zillow revealed more than 60% of its Zillow Offers customers closed on their home through RON. This increase in tech usage is now driving up the company’s earnings, and with this acceleration, Zillow CEO Rich Barton said RON is going to be here to stay even after the pandemic subsides.
A new study by ClosingCorp also revealed borrowers who completed purchase and refinance transactions during COVID-19 were very pleased with their experience – 95% reporting their closings were efficient and 90% expressing satisfaction overall, most of which involved eSigning and remote closings.
“Real estate transactions continue to close during the COVID-19 pandemic because of advancements in digital mortgage technology, including the increased adoption of remote online notarization as a safe and convenient option,” said Mike Fratantoni, president of MISMO and Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist and senior vice president of research and industry technology.
As for MISMO, changes are underway at the executive level with a Nov. 10 announcement that Seth Appleton will take over as its new president starting Dec. 1. Appleton currently serves as the assistant secretary, policy development and research, for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as the principal executive vice president of Ginnie Mae.
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