The Out-of-State Seller and the Video Call
Dana is a Kentucky notary public whose four-year commission is active. Her stamp shows her name, 'Notary Public,' 'Commonwealth of Kentucky,' and her expiration date. She has never registered for electronic or remote notarization and does not subscribe to an approved remote platform. A title company emails her a deed of trust signed yesterday by Marcus, a seller who is in Texas. The title company asks Dana to 'notarize the signature, scan it back, and put the original in the mail.' Marcus calls Dana, says he has known her for years, can text a copy of his Texas driver's license, and can be on a video call. The deed contains an acknowledgment certificate. The closing is tomorrow. Dana wants to help and wonders whether personal knowledge plus a video call is enough. Analyze whether she may proceed and what she should tell the title company.
1. May Dana perform the acknowledgment by video call and return a scanned copy? Explain.
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No. A Kentucky notarial act requires the signer's personal appearance before the notary. Personal knowledge and a copy of a driver's license do not substitute for appearance. Remote notarization is an exception available only to a notary who has complied with Kentucky's registration or notification requirements and uses an approved communication technology; Dana has not. She also cannot 'notarize' a copy of a signature in a transaction she did not conduct under an authorized remote session. For an acknowledgment, Marcus must appear and acknowledge the signature. Because he is in Texas and Dana is not authorized to act remotely, she cannot lawfully complete the certificate by video. She should decline, explain the appearance requirement, and offer lawful options: Marcus appears before a Texas or other authorized notary, or Dana performs the act only after Marcus is physically in Kentucky and appears before her. The original deed should not be mailed to her for signature-only notarization.
2. If Dana later registers for remote notarization, what steps and records would a compliant remote acknowledgment require?
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She would need to complete Kentucky's remote or electronic notary authorization, use an approved platform with the required identity proofing and audio-video recording, verify Marcus's identity by satisfactory evidence, and confirm he is in a permissible location. She would perform the acknowledgment in real time and ensure the certificate indicates that the act involved communication technology, as Kentucky requires. She must make a contemporaneous journal entry including the date and time, type of act, signer's name, identification method and details, and any other required information, and retain the recording and journal under Kentucky's retention rules. A pre-signed scan alone would not be enough; the remote session must satisfy the personal-appearance substitute.