Tennessee Passes Remote Online Notarization Bill

There are many reasons to love Tennessee: the incredible country-music scene, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the delicious southern cooking. And of course, Dollywood.

Today, there’s another reason to love the Volunteer State: Tennessee has just voted to bring a centuries-old practice into the modern era.

We’re happy to report that yesterday, Tennessee State Legislature passed the remote online notarization bill, empowering every Tennessee notary public to conduct notarizations online. With the overwhelming passage of HB 1794/SB 1758, the bill is now headed to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s desk to be signed into law.

This legislation was brought to the General Assembly by the Tennessee Land Title Association to enable documents to be electronically signed and authenticated by a Tennessee Notary Public. It was sponsored in the House by Rep. Andrew Farmer and Rep. Mike Carter and in the Senate by Sen. Brian Kelsey.

Tennessee joins a growing number of states to pass online notarization bills, including Indiana, Texas, Nevada, and Virginia. With the passing of this bill, which was modeled after the bills passed in Virginia and Texas, the state brings an antiqued process of finding a notary into the digital era. With Notarize, millions of Americans can legally notarize documents, online. And now, Tennessee notaries can soon join the movement.

Once the bill goes into effect July 1, 2019, notaries in Tennessee will be able to serve customers in 49 states, regardless of where they’re located at the time of the signing. This will finally give TN notaries a way to meet the expectations of consumers and businesses who rely on notarizations in the digital economy – from any device and any location, at any time.

Since we launched Notarize just two years ago, we’ve completed tens of thousands of electronic notarizations on our platform, everything from powers of attorney to full mortgage documents. We’re supporting life’s most important transactions by providing an easy-to-use, secure, and compliant platform, 24x7. In fact, we've been rated the #1 notary platform on the market today.

“We’re thrilled Tennessee has voted to allow its notaries to perform notarizations online. We’ve served thousands of transactions for people in Tennessee to date and are excited to welcome Tennessee notaries to the Notarize platform as the law goes into effect. The best experience occurs when local notaries can serve local transactions and we’re thrilled to give Tennessee notaries to tools to meet their customers online," Pat Kinsel, Notarize CEO.

Here at Notarize, we’ve been leading the effort to update antiquated state laws and modernize the notarial process. Our goal is to create a more efficient and secure experience for consumers and the organizations that rely upon notarized documents.

In Tennessee, we’re proud to have collaborated with the Tennessee Land Title Association and leading land title agencies, the TN Bankers Association, Realtors, Credit Unions and others to advocate for this legislation and we thank them for their leadership. Lawmakers and other stakeholders agree and we’re thrilled to begin working with Tennessee notaries to help bring notarizations into the digital era.

Tennessee is extra special for us here at Notarize. It was in Nashville that we first had the opportunity to present to the National Association of Secretaries of State, which ultimately led to their adoption of Standards this February. We can’t wait to set up shop in Tennessee.