First American Title Insurance Co. expanded remote online notarization (RON) availability with the company’s preferred RON platform, Notarize, for residential real estate transactions.
As state laws governing the use of RON have changed in response to both the pandemic and consumer preferences, First American has accelerated the use of RON, offering title insurance on RON-executed real estate transactions in 32 states, with more states to follow.
“Providing consumers with the much-asked-for option to close their real estate transactions remotely reflects our commitment to leading the digital transformation of the title and settlement industry,” First American Title Chief Operating Officer Chris Leavell said in a release. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the adoption of RON across all our settlement operations and are now initiating and closing more than 1,000 RON transactions per month, in addition to the growing number of RON transactions lenders are initiating. This is an emerging industry norm, and we expect the overall volume of RON transactions to increase further in the months ahead.”
RON adoption has skyrocketed, with Notarize reporting real estate volume growth of 800 percent since 2019. While the adoption of RON is increasing across all types of closing scenarios, including those in which the lender initiates the use of RON as an option, First American said it has seen the greatest interest in RON in the seller-side of residential transactions.
First American Title’s Direct division offers RON closing options to buyers, sellers and borrowers through a centralized team of certified RON specialists. The company’s Agent Advantage team provides title agents with RON capabilities through different options, including partnerships with Notarize and other platforms.
As First American completes additional integrations and launches new innovative technologies, RON adoption is expected to further accelerate.