A borrower who has moved to Florida, a seller settling an estate from out of state, a lender in another time zone: New York closings regularly involve people who can’t be in the room. Since 2023, New York law has offered a way to handle that signing without a flight. It works well, as long as everyone on the file agrees to it before closing week.
What changed
During the pandemic, New York allowed remote notarization through temporary executive orders. It was a workaround: documents were signed on video, then printed, wet-signed and sent back. Those orders ended in June 2021.
The permanent version is Executive Law § 135-c. It authorizes electronic notarization by New York notaries who register with the Department of State. The Department opened that registration at the start of 2023.
How it works
- The notary must be a registered New York electronic notary and physically located in New York during the session.
- The signer does not have to be in New York.
- The session takes place over live audio-video. The recording, along with a record of the identification the signer provided, must be kept for ten years.
- The notary’s electronic signature must be unique to the notary, verifiable, under the notary’s sole control and attached to the document.
What it means for lenders and out-of-state borrowers
Remote notarization can remove the hardest part of an out-of-state closing: getting a signer in front of a New York notary. But the law allowing it doesn’t mean every party on a file will accept it. The lender, the title underwriter and the recording office each have their own requirements, and they need to line up for the specific documents on that file.
Questions to settle before closing
- Does the lender allow remote notarization for this loan, and for which documents?
- Will the title underwriter insure the transaction with remotely notarized documents?
- Does any document on the file still require a wet-ink original?
- Which notary and which platform will handle the session, and who schedules it?
Settled early, remote notarization turns a multi-state closing into a routine one. Raised the week of closing, it becomes one more thing that can push the date.
Planning a closing with a signer outside New York
United American Title Agency is licensed in New York and Florida and coordinates closings where the borrower, seller or lender is in another state. Share the parties, their locations and the target date, and we can confirm what each side will need well before closing day.
Explore our services for lenders or contact United American Title Agency at (718) 441-2027 to discuss your next closing.
Sources: New York Executive Law § 135-c; New York Department of State, electronic notary registration announcement, January 31, 2023; Morrison Foerster, “New York Authorizes Remote Online Notarizations,” February 2022. This article is general information, not legal advice.