The E-Notary's Fallback Video Call
Priya is registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State as an electronic notary and has completed the required training. Her approved remote notarization platform goes down during a scheduled closing. The signer, a Mississippi resident who is traveling in London, needs to sign a deed of trust that must be recorded the next day. Priya decides to use a free consumer video app on her laptop. She watches the signer click through the signature, compares the signer's face to a passport photo, and emails a PDF with an electronic seal. She does not record the session because the app lacks recording. She keeps a handwritten note with the signer's name and date. The signer asks whether the document will be valid in Mississippi and whether the lender will accept it.
1. Did Priya's fallback video call satisfy Mississippi remote notarization requirements? Explain.
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Probably not. Registration as an e-notary is not a blanket permission to use any video tool. Mississippi's remote notarization rules require an approved system that supports the required identity proofing, audio-video communication, electronic journal or record retention, and tamper-evident electronic seal. A free consumer app and a handwritten note do not meet those technical and recordkeeping requirements, and the absence of a session record is a significant defect. The fact that Priya compared a passport photo and watched the signature does not make the platform compliant. She should not represent the act as valid or tell the lender it is recordable without confirming the rules.
2. What should Priya do now, given the next-day recording deadline?
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She should stop and correct the process rather than paper over it. She should contact the approved platform vendor, the title company, and the lender; if the approved system can be restored, redo the remote act with proper identity proofing and recordkeeping. If not, the signer may need to appear before a notary in London, or another properly registered remote notary may perform the act, depending on what the lender and recorder will accept. Priya should preserve her notes and any electronic files, notify her errors-and-omissions carrier if a defective act was issued, and not backdate or create a false journal entry.
3. If Priya had not registered as an e-notary at all, how would the analysis change?
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Without e-notary registration, Priya would have no authority to perform electronic or remote notarization in Mississippi. A traditional notarial act requires the signer's physical appearance before her and a physical seal; an electronic seal and a video call would not be valid substitutes. Registration, approved technology, and compliance with the Secretary of State's rules are preconditions, not optional conveniences. Performing a remote act without registration could expose her to administrative action and could cause the document to be rejected.