Out of sheer necessity when the pandemic hit, RON and other digital closing solutions saw a massive uptick in use. However, Nathan Bossers, president of Boston National Title, said the changes and acceleration the industry saw during this time still isn’t enough.
“Two years ago when the lockdown first started happening and there was real fear in the marketplace that lenders weren’t going to be able to sign a loan, I think everyone rushed to the RON and as a potential solution and began to educate themselves on the process,” Bossers said. “…But the adoption has not followed quite as quickly as we would have thought at this point. There are some lenders doing it, but most of them haven’t been able to adopt a digital mortgage closing solution.”
Of course, RON isn’t the only road to a more digital mortgage, as hybrid closing options are becoming increasingly popular. In-Person Electronic Notarization (IPEN), for example, is performed with the borrower and notary physically present, but some of the closing documents may be eSigned, and the notary can then record this information on paper or electronically. Bossers said this solution was largely overlooked.
“That was largely because the technology wasn’t really there,” Bossers explained. “But that’s changed. In the last year, a company called EscrowTab has released a new software technology that allows you to do an IPEN closing on a tablet. And it’s a process that is tried and true and battle-tested in the mortgage industry. It doesn’t disrupt the current process of mortgage.”
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