Colorado Passes RON Bill

June 11, 2020

After four years of collaborating with industry partners, Colorado has passed a bill that allows for remote online notarization (RON) in the state.

SB 20-096, which awaits the signature of Gov. Jared Polis, will go into Dec. 31, 2020. Colorado becomes the 26th state to pass RON legislation. Click here to view a map of states that have passed RON.

“It's taken four years to get our RON bill passed,” said Combs, who is president of the Land Title Association of Colorado and is the state agency services manager for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. “The bill came to fruition thanks to the collaboration of many real estate related industry partners including LTAC, Colorado Association of Realtors, Colorado Mortgage Bankers, and the Colorado Bar Association. The last two years we had very supportive sponsors that helped us achieve the passing of the bill.”

In 2017, LTAC formed a RON subcommittee under its Legislative Committee when RON provisions were first introduced as part of a bill making changes to the Uniform Notary Laws. 

Unlike many states, Combs said Colorado’s RON bill also focuses on concerns over consumer data privacy. 

To perform a remote notarization, the bill:

  • Requires identification of the person be accomplished by personal knowledge or dual authentication of the identity of the person, one of the authentications being presentation and credential analysis of a Government issued ID
  • Requires the Notary be physically located in the state while performing the act
  • Limits the recording to only the act of notarization,
  • Requires the Secretary of State to create rules for technology vendors
  • Requires title companies to give consumers notice that they do not have to use RON to execute their documents
  • Prohibits the use or sale of personal information of an individual by the remote notary or remote notarization system except in specific limited circumstances,

Most of the provisions in the bill were created prior to development of the ALTA/MBA model bill. While it does not follow the ALTA model bill, many provisions are similar.

The bill also extends the use of remote ink notarization in the state through Dec. 31, 2020.


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].