The North Carolina Secretary of State has announced that after review of public comments, Remote Electronic Notarization Act (“RENA”) Phase 3 rules were adopted and have been submitted to the Rules Review Commission (“RRC”). The RRC is a legislatively appointed commission which may request changes to the rules. The RRC will hold a public hearing to review Phase 3 adopted rules on April 24, 2025.
RENA was passed into law on July 8, 2022 (N.C. Session Law 2022-54), spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase of financial activities being conducted electronically. The Act primarily amends Chapter 10B, Notary Public Act, in the North Carolina General Statutes. RENA requires the North Carolina Secretary of State to “adopt rules necessary to administer and enforce” the new remote online notary (“RON”) laws, though the Secretary of State is instead using the term “RENA” to refer to North Carolina’s law.
The North Carolina Secretary of State has divided the rule making process into three phases, with the first two phases already being complete after going through a notice and comment period. Phase One rules concentrated on basics for all notaries and approved technology providers. Phase Two rules implemented sections of RENA focusing on defining terms and revising existing rules on notary commissioning, notary obligations, and notary instructors.
Now, Phase Three rules have been closed to comments, and adopted for RRC review. The final set of rules establishes performance criteria for the technology used to perform remote notarial acts and the licensing and approval process for technology providers. Phase Three rules also cover proper use of technology, ancillary requirement for RENA, and discusses the adoption of statutory requirements applicable to manufacturers and sellers of notary seals.
In addition, the Phase Three rules also satisfy the statutory mandate that the Notary rules must be reviewed by the North Carolina Secretary of State every ten years. The final set of rules were previously published in the North Carolina Register, available to view here. The first two phases of rules that were approved by the RRC are in effect and can be view on the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings website.
DocMagic will provide updated information on North Carolina’s implementation of RON as it becomes available. If you have any questions, please contact DocMagic’s Compliance Department.
