Colorado and Florida Adopt Provisions Regarding Remote Online Notaries and Providers

Colorado and Florida are recent examples of states updating their rules and regulations regarding notaries public.

Recently, effective March 17, 2022, the Colorado Secretary of State adopted provisions amending the Notary Program Rules, which include:

• a right for providers (including course providers, accredited vendors, remote notarization systems providers and remote notarization storage providers) to respond and cure noncompliance with all lawful requirements;
• a requirement that the Secretary of State notify an applicant of application deficiencies if it denies approval of a provider;
• a requirement that the Secretary of State provide an outline of reasons if it terminates approval of a provider; and
• a right to file complaints with the Secretary of State against an approved provider.

In Florida as part of an effort to implement the legislative directive 117.295, F.S. (requiring that the Florida Department of State’s website publish a list containing each remote online notary public and the remote online notary public’s service provider), the Florida Department of State adopted rules to gather the requisite information.  The rules, effective February 22, 2022, provide that:

• Within 30 days of the effective date, using Form DS-DOC-50, registered online notaries must provide the Department of State the name of the remote online notary public’s service providers, the effective dates during which they used each remote online service provider, and, if applicable, the name of any secured repositories they may have delegated their duties.  Individuals registering as a remote online notary public must provide this information at the time of registration;
• If remote online notaries change, add, or remove a service provider or secured repository, they must submit Form DS-DOC-50 identifying the updated service provider or secured repository within 30 days;
• On or before March 24, 2022, and annually thereafter, remote online notary public service providers must provide the Florida Department of State a self-certification form confirming its audio-video communication technology and related processes satisfy the requirements pursuant to 117.295, F.S.; and
• A remote online notary service provider that delegates any duties related to a secure repository shall submit information to the Department of State regarding these repositories using Form DS-DOC-51 and, if the service provider has already filed its annual certification, shall submit an amended Form DS-DOC-51 within 30 days after making such a delegation.