Title companies in Palm Beach and Broward County handle a large volume of closings, and the documents that move through those transactions have to be right. Not close to right. Right. A notarization defect can stall a closing, trigger a rejection from an underwriter, or require a signer to go through the entire process again. When that signer is in another country or three states away, getting it right the first time matters a great deal.
Remote online notarization, commonly called RON, has become a regular part of how closings get done in South Florida. Title companies that have been working with RON documents for a few years now generally know what to look for. The ones newer to it sometimes run into questions that slow things down. This post covers the practical side of what title professionals in Palm Beach and Broward County need to know.
Florida’s RON Law and What It Actually Requires
Florida has had a permanent remote online notarization law in place since 2020. It sets out specific requirements for how RON sessions must be conducted, what platforms are permitted, and how records must be stored. One point worth keeping in mind: the Electronic Legal Documents Act requires Florida online notaries to complete additional training beyond standard commissioning requirements, because of the stricter security protocols Florida has put in place for online sessions.
When a RON document arrives at your title company, the notarization was performed under either Florida’s law or the law of another state. Virginia is one of the most common sources. Virginia-commissioned notaries are legally authorized to notarize documents for signers anywhere in the world, and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires Florida to recognize those notarizations. This is a settled legal point, not a gray area, and most underwriters in Florida are familiar with it.
What a Valid RON Document Should Show
A properly executed RON document carries a few specific markers that distinguish it from a traditional ink notarization. The notary’s electronic seal should include a tamper-evident certificate. If anyone modifies the document after the session closes, that certificate breaks. Any reviewing party can see that the document was altered after notarization, which is actually more protective than a scanned ink signature.
The document should also reflect that the signer completed an identity verification process. For most certified platforms, that means knowledge-based authentication, where the signer answered questions drawn from public records, and credential analysis of a government-issued ID. If a transaction ever comes into question, the notary platform’s session record contains the full log, including the video recording, the identity verification results, and the timestamp of each action.
When a document arrives without those markers, or when the electronic certificate looks incomplete, that is a signal worth investigating before the closing moves forward.
What Title Companies in Palm Beach and Broward Should Ask About the Platform
Not all RON platforms operate at the same standard. The question that matters most for title professionals is whether the notarization was performed on a MISMO RON certified platform. MISMO, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, sets the technical and procedural benchmarks for remote online notarization. A certified platform has been independently evaluated and confirmed to meet those benchmarks.
The Fund, which is a major title insurance underwriter in Florida, has vetted and listed Remote NotarEZ as a trusted vendor. Secure Insight has also verified the platform. Those relationships exist because the underlying process meets a documented standard, and underwriters are less likely to raise questions about documents that come through a recognized provider.
If your title company receives a RON document and is unsure of the platform it came from, ask. A reputable provider should be able to confirm their certification and provide session documentation if needed.
Common Scenarios Title Companies in South Florida Encounter
The most common situation is a signer who is out of the country at the time of closing. South Florida has a large international buyer population, and Palm Beach and Broward County closings regularly involve signers located in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere. Getting those signers to a U.S. consulate or flying them back to Florida is not practical. A RON session solves that problem, and the notarized document carries the same legal standing as one executed in person.
The second common scenario is a signer with limited mobility or a medical situation that makes travel difficult. Remote notarization covers that case cleanly.
The third scenario is timing. Closings do not always happen on schedule, and sometimes a document needs to be notarized at short notice, outside of regular business hours. Online notary platforms generally offer more scheduling flexibility than mobile notaries, which matters when a closing is already under pressure.
Working with a Reliable RON Provider
For title companies that want to refer their clients to a RON provider directly, rather than waiting for clients to find one on their own, it helps to have a provider you have already worked with. Remote NotarEZ operates with Virginia-commissioned notaries and holds MISMO RON certification. The platform serves Palm Beach and Broward County clients regularly, and the team reviews documents before each session to flag anything that might cause a problem at closing.
That pre-session review is worth mentioning to clients. It means that if there is an issue with the document before the notary meeting, the client finds out before the session, not during it. That small step prevents a significant share of the delays that come up in closing transactions involving remote signers.
Ready to Work with a Certified RON Provider for Your South Florida Closings?
Visit remotenotarez.com to request an appointment or ask a question about a specific transaction. The team is available to review documents before scheduling and can work around the time constraints that closing transactions typically involve.