R ecently I found myself pulling my hair out with an important real estate closing that nearly fell apart entirely.

It was thanks in part to the fact that one of our sellers lived out of state (in a multi-heir estate situation) and apparently couldn’t seem locate a stinking notary within 200 miles to help get her part of the closing docs consummated.

 In the end we were able to coax her to make the drive for the sake the $34,000 she had coming to her. But truth be told, things were hairy for a bit and it would have royally bitten to have lost the deal simply because she couldn’t get to a notary to get the dang docs signed.

 And here’s where the light bulb turns on. In a recent conversation with my friend and colleague Justin, he illuminated me to the fact that…

 Apparently we can now legally notarize documents online

 Not only that, but it’s reasonably priced and accepted in all 50 states.

 Ha, who knew?!?

 Justin stumbled upon this himself when he found himself faced with a similar situation to me, but in reverse – He couldn’t seem to find a notary within hours of himself.

 You see, for the last 4 months or so Justin’s been actively buying and flipping deals in San Diego and Phoenix, all while lounging beachside with his family in Panama. (If you want to hear more about how Justin’s been winning at investing remotely, you can listen to our entire podcast interview here.)

 While long distance dealmaking is nothing new to Justin, his time in Central America has presented him with the notary conundrum first hand. And that’s when he discovered Sign Now and their crazy, awesome  eNotary service.

e-Signing Vs. e-Notarizing

 eSignatures aren’t anything new really. Documents executed using eSignatures have the same legal validity and enforceability as pen-and-paper contracts and have been recognized in every state for years now. But actually notarizing docs online is a whole different thing and hasn’t been a viable option up to now.

 The Sign Now guys are apparently competitors to Docusign in the eSignature space, but are the first to delve into groundbreaking new territory of actually being an online notary.

Kapow! Ya gotta love a juicy opportunity seized!

Why It Works

Basically this can happen now thanks to two things:

1) As of July 1, 2012 Virginia is the first state to authorize a signer to be in a remote location and have a document notarized electronically by an e-notary using audio-visual conference technology.

2) While many states do not yet have a specific allowance for online notarization, out of state notarizations are valid and must be accepted in all 50 states. This has actually been the case for hundreds of years, and has been tested in courts.

So these guys saw the opportunity and jumped right into offering online notarizations remotely from Virginia, which then must be legally recognized in all 50 states. Kapow! (yes, again)

It’s quick, easy and cheap. The entire process takes only minutes, costs only $14.95 and comes with a money back guarantee (totally unnecessary, but makes a great point).

According to Sign Now, Deron Williams of the NBA recently signed his $98M contract with the Brooklyn Nets using their  iPad app. Pretty nifty, eh?

So take note of this – I’m sure it’ll come in handy the next time an online notary would make your real estate closing a little easier. And a hearty hat tip to Justin for the uncovering and sharing this with me.

What are your thoughts on eSignatures and eNotary? Please rate and share a comment below!