The SECURE Notarization Act of 2025: What It Means for Orlando Notaries and Residents
- Olivia Sterling
- Oct 29
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Are you doing business, buying property, or handling legal affairs with someone in another state? If so, you've likely wondered about the legal complexities of out-of-state paperwork. A new piece of proposed federal legislation, the SECURE Notarization Act of 2025, aims to erase that uncertainty by setting a national standard for remote notarizations, ensuring your Florida-notarized documents are accepted nationwide. Here’s what Orlando residents need to know.
💡 Key Takeaways
Primary Goal: To ensure a document notarized in one state (like Florida) is legally recognized across the country for interstate commerce.
Focus: Proposes federal minimum standards for Remote Online Notarization (RON).
Key Security Standards: Requires tamper-evident technology, multi-factor identity verification, and maintaining a secure audio-visual recording of the notarization act.
Relationship to State Law: The act would complement, not replace, Florida's existing notary laws, creating a national baseline for acceptance.
Current Status: The bill is still under consideration in Congress and has not yet been signed into law.
The Challenge: A Patchwork of State Laws
Currently, each state sets its own rules for notarization, especially for Remote Online Notarization (RON). While Florida has been a leader in authorizing RON, a document notarized online by a Florida notary might face hurdles in a state with different, or non-existent, RON laws. This lack of uniformity can delay important transactions, from closing on a vacation home in the Carolinas to finalizing a business contract with a company in California.
What is the SECURE Notarization Act?
The "Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act," or SECURE Notarization Act, is a proposed piece of federal legislation. Its primary goal is to create a national minimum standard for remote notarizations that affect interstate commerce.
If passed, this act wouldn't replace Florida's existing notary laws. Instead, it would establish a legal "floor" of security standards. As long as a remote notarization meets these federal standards, it would have to be recognized as valid in all other states, smoothing the path for national transactions.
Key Federal Standards Proposed by the Act
The act focuses on creating a secure and reliable framework for remote notarizations. It proposes several key minimum standards that a notary must follow:
🖥️ Tamper-Evident Technology: The electronic document must be created and stored in a way that makes any future changes or tampering immediately obvious. This ensures the integrity of the document after it has been signed and notarized.
🗝️ Multi-Factor Identity Verification: To prevent fraud, the notary must verify the signer's identity through a robust, multi-step process. This typically includes:
Presenting a government-issued photo ID for remote inspection.
Answering a series of personal questions from a third-party data source (known as knowledge-based authentication).
Analyzing the security features of the ID itself using credential analysis technology.
🔊 Secure Audio-Visual Recording: The entire notarization process must be recorded and stored in a secure electronic journal. This audio-visual record serves as definitive proof of the transaction, capturing the signing and the confirmation of the signer's identity and intent.
How This Affects You in Orlando
For Orlando residents and businesses, the SECURE Notarization Act offers certainty and convenience. It means that a document you have remotely notarized here in Florida for a national business deal, real estate transaction, or legal matter will be recognized across the country without question. It modernizes the notarization process to match our increasingly digital and interconnected world, ensuring your important documents are secure and legally binding, no matter where they need to go.
The SECURE Notarization Act of 2025 represents a major step toward modernizing the notary profession and providing the legal certainty needed for our digital economy. While it is still a bill working its way through Congress, its passage would be a significant win for consumers and businesses in Orlando and across the nation. Stay ahead of national notary law changes. Check back on our website for SECURE Act updates and notary news.
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