The Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation announced the list of approved vendors for the new state electronic notarization initiative.
The approved certified vendors are:
- DocVerify, of Irvine, Calif.
- Electronic Document Logistics, Inc., of Raleigh, N.C.
- Information Assurance Corp., of Wilmington, Del.
- Simplifile, of Provo, Ut.
- World Wide Notary, of Vernon, Tex.
The announcement was made during the 2010 Pennsylvania Recorders of Deeds Association Conference, in Pittsburgh, PA, on June 15.
To become an electronic notary (e-notary) under the new initiative, any commissioned notary in good standing must apply to the Department of State (DOS) for approval. The DOS approves or rejects the application and notifies the applicant in writing. If approved, the applicant is also notified by E-mail.
The approved e-notary applicant appears in person at one of the 19 participating Recorder of Deeds (ROD) offices to be identified. Once the applicant is identified, the ROD staff updates the approved e-notary’s record in the DOS online portal system.
The e-notary is notified via E-mail to log onto the DOS Web site to select an approved electronic notarization vendor. Notification is then sent, via E-mail, to the selected vendor.
The e-notary works directly with the vendor to pay for and obtain a digital certificate. Once the vendor issues a digital certificate, the vendor updates the e-notary’s record in the DOS online portal system. This process must be completed within 45 days of the approval date by the DOS.
Upon issuance of the digital certificate, the e-notary is capable of notarizing electronically up until the current expiration of their commission or a lesser amount of time, depending on the selected vendor.
According to the DOS, 316 e-notary applications have been received and approved since Jan. 30, 2008.
Participating County Recorders of Deeds for Electronic Notarization are:
- Allegheny County (Department of Real Estate)
- Beaver County
- Berks County
- Blair County
- Bucks County
- Centre County
- Chester County
- Lackawanna County
- Lancaster County
- Lebanon County
- Lehigh County
- Luzerne County
- Monroe County
- Montgomery County
- Northampton County
- Perry County
- Philadelphia County
- Snyder County
- Westmoreland County
