electronic acknowledgment

COVID-19 Update (3/25/20): Emergency Legislation Filed To Allow for Remote Notarizations

By Richard P. Howe, Jr., Registrar, Middlesex North Registry of Deeds

As young people who have known nothing but digital commerce enter the home ownership market, the conveyancing community in Massachusetts will face increased pressure to leave paper behind in favor of purely electronic closings. The statutory basis for this technological transition has been in place since 2004 with the adoption of MGL c.110G, the Massachusetts Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Since then, all registries of deeds in the commonwealth have implemented electronic recording systems. Still, some uncertainly remains, especially regarding acknowledgements.

Earlier this year I wrote about electronic acknowledgement statutes in other jurisdictions in “Remote electronic acknowledgments,” published in the March 2017 edition of REBA News. In the same article, I explained why registries of deeds in Massachusetts should record documents electronically acknowledged outside of Massachusetts, but not record those electronically acknowledgement within Massachusetts. The primary basis for that opinion was that Massachusetts law requires a notary to affix a notary stamp to an acknowledgement, and that our law provides no electronic equivalent of that notary stamp.

With the demand for electronic acknowledgements looming but not yet fully upon us, now is the time to amend our notary statute to accommodate new technological practices. The starting point for such an amendment should be a shared understanding of the purpose of an acknowledgement, particularly with regard to real estate documents.

In colonial Massachusetts, registries of deeds and the requirement that real estate documents be acknowledged arose simultaneously. The purpose of the registry was to provide a public record of who owned what land as a means of curtailing secret sales that muddled ownership and created uncertainty in real estate transactions. The purpose of requiring deeds to be acknowledged before recording was meant to curtail fraud, either in the guise of a forged signature or of an actual signature that was later denied by its maker.

Conceived in the seventeenth century, the rationale for these rules, and the rules themselves, persist today. Registries of deeds perform the same core function of making public real estate ownership records, using new technology to do it.

So what is the core function of an acknowledgement? Primarily, it is to assure the public that the person who signed a document is who he or she purports to be. In Massachusetts, a notary does this by personally witnessing the signing of the document while positively identifying the person who signed it. The notary attests to this by signing the acknowledgement clause, printing his name and the expiration date of his notary commission underneath his signature, and then affixing his notary stamp to the document.

MGLc.222, s.8 requires a notary stamp to include “the notary public’s name exactly as indicated on the commission; the words ‘notary public’ and ‘Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ or ‘Massachusetts’; the expiration date of the commission in the following words: ‘My commission expires _____’; and a facsimile seal of the commonwealth.”

Not to minimize the importance of the facsimile seal of the commonwealth, but I am not sure how including that on an inked stamp that anyone, anywhere may purchase in any name from multiple vendors adds appreciably to the authenticity of a document or the signature upon it. To me, the basic reason for requiring a notary to include identifying information such as a printed name and a commission expiration date in the acknowledgement clause is to help identify and locate the notary if questions arise about the document.

While the notary stamp does require those two bits of information, so does the notary clause itself, which seems to make the notary stamp superfluous. Perhaps it would be more useful to assign each notary public a unique identifying number, much like an attorney’s BBO number, and require that number to be included in the acknowledgement clause in lieu of a stamp. Such a unique number would expedite the identification of the notary and his whereabouts. It would also be easy and inexpensive to implement, both on paper and in electronic form.

In reviewing electronic acknowledgement statutes already adopted elsewhere, it seems that many states have created a dual commission regime, one for regular notaries, the other for electronic notaries. Other places require notaries to invest in sophisticated (and presumably expensive) technology that renders the electronic document being acknowledged tamper-proof. Perhaps the tasks assigned notaries in other jurisdictions are more complex than those in Massachusetts, but both of these practices – a dual commission system and requiring sophisticated software of electronic notaries – greatly exceed anything now required or expected of notaries in this commonwealth.

In crafting rules for electronic acknowledgements in Massachusetts, we should strive to duplicate the functions now being performed by our notaries while allowing those functions to be performed on tablets and computer screens, not just on paper. Complex and expensive systems are not needed to do this, and such additional requirements would needlessly delay our ability to keep pace with the evolving expectations of those we serve.

Dick Howe has served as register of deeds in the Middlesex North Registry since 1995.  He is a frequent commentator on land records issues and real estate news.  Dick can be contacted by email at [email protected]

Reprinted with permission from the REBA Blog.

{ 0 comments }

images-13An excited young couple about to close on their first home walk into into the closing attorney’s office. The day before they received via secure email all of the loan documents to review and approve with their personal attorney. The closing attorney arrives without any paper, armed only with a laptop attached to a digital signature pad. The sellers are not present as they have already signed the deed and other documents electronically the day before over the secure electronic closing system. The couple quickly review the closing documents on the attorneys’ laptop, clicking an “I Agree” button acknowledging receipt and review of each document. The couple sign the digital signature pad, and the captured signatures are automatically applied to all of the signature blocks of the documents. The closing attorney electronically notarizes all documents requiring witnessing or notarization. The closing is over in 15 minutes, and the couple walks out with a CD-ROM containing all the signed closing documents and the keys to their new home. The closing attorney then electronically records the deed and mortgage with the registry of deeds, funds the loan, and makes all of the disbursements. The executed loan documents are then electronically transmitted to the lender and digitally archived.

This is not an imaginary scenario. Electronic closings (e-closings) are happening now, and they are the future of real estate conveyancing. I believe that electronic closings will change the way lenders, title companies and closing attorneys do business.

The advantages of an e-closing system are numerous and include:

  • More convenient and efficient closing process for home buyers and sellers.
  • Automated delivery of electronically signed loan documents directly to post closing – eliminating costs and time. Fund the loans faster, in as little as 48 hours.
  • Drastically improve the efficiency of real estate transactions with reduced contract-to-closing times.
  • The Green Factor: Eliminates thousands of paper documents. Buyers receive the entire signed closing package on CD.
  • Reduce shipping and closing costs.

Electronic closings are very slowly moving into Massachusetts. (Attorneys, who must conduct most real estate closings in Massachusetts, are notorious late adopters of new technology). Since July, without much fanfare, the Middlesex Registry of Deeds in Cambridge, Hampden County Registry in Springfield, and Plymouth Registry of Deeds have adopted electronic recording capabilities. Hopefully, the other registries follow suit.

TitleHub Closing Services LLC, in Massachusetts, is on the cutting edge of e-closing technology.

Electronic closings are a great selling point to customers mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions. Here is a recent article about a credit union in Michigan successfully offering electronic closings.

{ 6 comments }