The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions issued emergency guidance on remote notarization, allowing for the use of remote notarization until further notice.
The guidance noticed that under current law, a person seeking notarization must appear before a notary public and that certain types of notarized documents must be signed in the presence or conscious presence of witnesses.
“Those statutes don’t specify whether the appearance must be in person. We ‘avoid statutory interpretations that lead to absurd results,’ and it would be absurd to construe those statutes to require in-person appearances in the time of a global pandemic. People’s lives are at stake,” the guidance states.
“Many states around the country already permit notarizations to be performed remotely by trained online notaries who utilize regulated remote notary technology providers,” the guidance continues. “During this unprecedented crisis, Wisconsin will permit them as well. Therefore, until further notice to be given once this crisis abates, for documents requiring notarization, the department will construe the statutory terms ‘appear[] before,’ ‘presence,’ and ‘conscious presence’ to include appearances by remote live audio and video connection. To ensure that your remote notarization will comply with Wisconsin Act 125, you must comply with the steps set forth on DFI’s notary web page.”
Wisconsin-commissioned notaries who seek to perform remote online notarial acts will need to complete training from a DFI-approved remote online notarization provider and use its technology to perform the notarial act.
“Individuals who need documents notarized remotely may use a DFI-approved remote online notarization provider,” the guidance continued. “(Notarize.com and NotaryCam are two approved providers that offer remote online notarization services to the general public at this time.) Note that DFI-approved providers may use out-of-state notaries trained and authorized to perform remote online notarizations. Notarial acts performed by an out-of-state notary public have ‘the same effect under the law of this state as if performed by’ an in-state one.”
In information on the DFI notary public website, the department noted that title companies and others performing real-estate transactions also can use Pavaso or Nexsys for real-estate transactions or DocVerify for businesses.
“Notarize.com, NotaryCam, Pavaso, DocVerify and Nexsys are experienced providers regulated under standards for remote online notarization that meet or exceed the safeguards set by Wisconsin Act 125. These five providers are approved by DFI. Other providers that meet those standards will be approved as well; check back for updates. Please be patient with them in this process – there’s an unprecedented demand for their services right now, and they’re working hard to meet it,” the website states.
The website stated that Wisconsin notaries who want to perform remote online notarizations (RON) must get trained on the standards for remote online notarization through an approved technology provider and use their software platforms to perform the RON acts.
“That’s important, because their platforms are capable of identity-proofing, credential verification, recording and retention, and other safeguards to ensure the integrity of the notarial process,” the information states.
“Notarize.com and DocVerify (for notarizations of any type of document) and Pavaso (for real-estate transactions) are each offering online training opportunities for Wisconsin notaries,” the website stated. “The provider will let us know once you’ve completed training and are ready to begin performing remote online notarizations using their platforms. We’ll keep a list of all Wisconsin notaries who are authorized to perform remote online notarizations and which technology platform you’re using. Once you’re trained with an approved provider, you are authorized to begin performing remote online notarizations using the provider’s platform.”
The guidance stated: “You still need to comply with the legal requirements for the document you need to notarize. A document that needs additional witnesses or an attorney when notarized in person still needs them to be present when the document is notarized online; the only difference is they can now participate remotely via an approved provider’s online platform. Before using remote notarial services for any land transaction, you should check with your title company whether the remote notary provider is approved for insurance purposes.”