What states allow e-notarizations or e-notaries?
The status of being an electronic notary is a very new and very misunderstood profession or office. To be an e-Notary, so you can do e-Notarizations, is often a completely different type of commission in many states. Another fact to understand is that e-Notarizations can not (or can not always) be done for Deeds or other documents that effect real property. The biggest issue that bothers notaries about e-Notarizations is that the signer doesn’t always have to appear before the notary to receive an e-Notarization. The first time a signer is notarized, they should appear before the notary, but in some states, the subsequent e-notarizations may or may not require physical presence.
e-Notarizations require the use of an electronic journal (ENJOA). The signature of the signer would go in that journal.
An e-signing is normally done with a physical journal and done in the presence of a notary public. The documents might be signed online, or at least most of them signed online. However, the signer woudl still appear before the notary public and sign a physical journal of notarial acts.
Here are the states that currently allow e-notarizations. The rules for e-Notarizations might be very different from state to state.
California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
states that currently allow e-notarizations: You forgot Pennsylvania.
Comment by Jackie Nixon — August 3, 2012 @ 9:47 pm
California does Not allow e-notarizations. That is quite clear on the Secretary of State’s website.
Comment by Deanna — August 4, 2012 @ 6:05 am
Much better than another post I have seen that indicated no states allow electronic notarizations!
Comment by John — August 14, 2012 @ 7:32 pm
Michigan does not allow E-notary. Our company has been trying to utilize e-notary for a while now. We are very frustrated with the current system.
Comment by heather — December 3, 2012 @ 9:32 pm
“e-Notarizations require the use of an electronic journal (ENJOA)”
That’s not true, at least for California. It’s perfectly fine to provide an electronic notarization while still maintaining a paper journal. I think the problem here is defining the difference between e-notarizations and webcam/remote notarizations. They are not the same thing. Plus ENJOA is not the only electronic journal out there. There are others.
And yes, e-notarizations ARE legal in California… using an electronic seal on an electronic document, but still having the signer personally appear. This is done quite often for legal documents that are filed electronically from law offices to the courts. It’s WEBCAM or remote notarizations that are not allowed in CA.
Comment by Marian — January 10, 2013 @ 7:38 am
There seems to be some disagreement as to what is legal and what is not legal
Comment by John Phillips — September 3, 2013 @ 5:32 pm
Does anyone have recommendations on the best piece of equipment
to purchase to conduct e-signings. Not remote. I believe they are hybrid?
Comment by Linda B — May 5, 2019 @ 5:47 pm