How many of you have heard of HR 3808?

Has anyone heard of this bill trying to quietly make it's way through congress? I like to stay informed and from time to time dig around for content for my blog and general market knowledge. Well I've been tracking this for a bit and I finally came across some interesting information concerning this seemingly enigmatic bill.

It's official name is the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009 and it has silently made it's way quickly and silently to the president's desk. This bill passed the house back in April in what's called a"voice vote" which means without debate. This type of vote is used when a bill is considered non controversial. The Senate passed it swiftly with a unanimous vote this past Sept. the 27th.

According to it's official summary it's intent is this, "To require any Federal or State court to recognize any notarization made by a notary public licensed by a State other than the State where the court is located when such notarization occurs in or affects interstate commerce." This doesn't sound so bad does it? I mean as REALTORS® it would be nice to have out of state notarizations to be recognized by all courts because we sometimes deal with out of state buyers and it would be expensive and incovenient for someone to have papers notarized in another state.

So why did this bill get my attention? Well at hand is the issue of "robo signing' which is basically a computer doing the signing similar to a stamped signature. The other is the signing of documents by and individual that hasn't reviewed the file. All of this ties into the recent decision by some major banks to stop foreclosures in order to review their procedures after allegations that they haven't been following proper reviewing procedures thus bringing into question the legality of some foreclosures. Another thing I find ironic is the desire of banks to process documents electronically so as to reduce the backlog of foreclosures. I would take this to include the use of electronic signatures as well, but haven't banks been recently stopped accepting the use electronic signatures by REALTORS®? I'm curious to see where all of this goes but I find it a bit a bit intreguing how swiftly and quietly this piece of legislation, that I'm sure few have heard of, has made it through congress. I'll keep you posted.