Bob Broeksmit, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), issued the following statement on the passage H.R. 1059, the SECURE Notarization Act, by the U.S. House of Representatives:

“MBA is pleased the House has once again passed legislation unanimously to create federal minimum standards to allow notaries in all states to perform safe and effective remote online notarization (RON) transactions.

“The bill’s minimum standards for RON are consistent with both the MBA-ALTA model state RON bill and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) RON standards and will help protect against fraud and make the mortgage closing process more convenient for consumers. The bill also complements existing state laws by providing state officials with the flexibility and freedom to implement their own RON standards.

“We thank Representatives Kelly Armstrong and Madeleine Dean for re-introducing this bipartisan legislation and House leaders for bringing the bill to the floor promptly for an expedited, suspension calendar vote. MBA will continue its work in the Senate to seek consideration of a companion measure as soon as possible.”