California Becomes Latest State to Permit RON

California has joined 44 other states and the District of Columbia in passing laws to permit remote online notarization (“RON”). Notaries in California will not be able to perform such notarizations until January 1, 2030, however, in order to give the Secretary of State time to adopt regulations and establish the technology necessary to implement the RON laws.

With the passing of the California law, only four remaining states still prohibit RON: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. While Connecticut has enacted RON legislation, the Connecticut law specifically excludes real estate finance transactions from the types of transactions which may be executed by remote online notarization.