Using more than one RON platform
Yes, you can. The rules we have read speak of the technologies or providers a notary uses, and none limits you to one. What they do ask is that the state knows which ones: many want each platform named before you use it and a change reported inside a deadline. The harder part is yours to run: one journal and every recording, across platforms that each keep their own. Each platform comparison is under RON platforms.
Checked
Fig. 1What each state asks
| State | What you file | When | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania PA | A notice to the Department naming each technology | Before acting; again when you add or drop a provider, and at each new commission | 4 Pa. Code § 167.81 |
| Kansas KS | A notice to the Secretary of State identifying the technologies you intend to use | Before the first remote act; the SOS page says nothing on adding one later | K.S.A. 53-5a15(f) |
| Maryland MD | The remote notary form naming your authorized vendor(s) | Before the first act; a vendor change within 10 business days | COMAR 01.02.08.07A(2)(b) |
| Maine ME | The notice naming each approved provider, with its training certification | Before acting; an amended notice within 10 business days of any provider change | 29-250 C.M.R. ch. 700, § 6(8) |
| Florida FL | Your registration naming the RON service provider(s) (DS-DOC-50) | At registration; an added, changed or dropped provider within 30 days | Fla. Stat. § 117.265(5)(b); R. 1N-7.005(1)(d) |
| Virginia VA | Notice to the Secretary of the Commonwealth of new or changed technology | Within 90 days of using it during the commission | Va. Code § 47.1-7(C) |
| Washington WA | Notice to the Department of Licensing of the technologies | Before the first remote act, and wait for approval | RCW 42.45.200(7), 42.45.280(7); WAC 308-30-030(3)-(7), 308-30-060; DOL 'Get your license' |
| Missouri MO | Your remote registration naming the technology | At registration; again on recommissioning | RSMo §§ 486.1120, 486.1130 |
| Colorado CO | Your notice of intent, selecting at least one approved provider | At approval and renewal; a system or storage provider change within 30 days | C.R.S. § 24-21-514.5(3); 8 CCR 1505-11, Rule 5.2.1; Rule 5.2.8 |
| Nebraska NE | Your approval letter, given to each solution provider to authorize your account | Before you start on the provider's system | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 64-406 |
| Texas TX | No platform notice; updated certificate or seal information to the SOS when either changes | When you replace or change the certificate or seal, for example for a new platform | Texas SOS, Getting Started as an Online Notary |
Louisiana: not found in the sources we read; check the current rule with the Secretary of State. Other states: check your state's current rule.
Why a second platform
A second platform is more than a spare. Two rules show why. In Maine, your remote authority is tied to the provider: a provider's approval runs one year and is renewed each year; your remote authority ends with the provider's revocation or termination unless you are approved on another provider. 29-250 C.M.R. ch. 700, §§ 5(3), 5(4)(D), 6(3)-(4)
In Pennsylvania, the rule plans for a provider closing: a provider that stops offering its technology must tell the Department and every notary who used it in the preceding 10 years at least 60 days ahead, with instructions for exporting journals and recordings. 4 Pa. Code § 167.88(b) Sixty days is enough to move your records, and not much more to find, notify and learn a new platform mid-commission.
The other reason is work. A title company or signing service may require its own platform, and an independent practice usually wants one it controls for its own signers. Platforms that send signings are compared in RON platforms that send you signings, and those that suit your own clients in RON platforms for solo notaries.
Fig. 2One journal, several platforms
Each platform keeps its own journal of the sessions held on it. Two platforms means two partial journals, and neither is your journal: the rule asks you to keep a journal of your acts, not each vendor to keep a slice. The clean way is one journal you control, with every act entered, whichever platform it ran on, and the platform each act used noted in the entry. Colorado asks for that last item outright.
Missouri goes further: Keep an electronic journal of remote online notarial acts and also record them in the permanently bound journal. The electronic journal needs two-factor access, no edits or deletions, a backup, and the ability to capture a signature image plus one biometric identifier. RSMo §§ 486.1180, 486.1190
Journals that live outside any one platform are compared in electronic notary journals; check a single entry with the journal entry check.
Recordings and certificates
Recordings stay where the session ran. With two platforms you have two archives to keep for your state's period, under two contracts, and two export routes to know before you need them. Write down, for each platform, how long it keeps recordings, how you download them, and what happens to them if you close your account. The period each state sets is in recording retention by state.
Your digital certificate can cause friction too. Some platforms issue their own, some take one you bring. The Texas SOS has you report any change of certificate or seal; its certificate page says nothing either way about using one certificate on several platforms (read ), so ask each platform whether it will accept yours. Certificate sources are compared in notary digital certificate providers.
Questions notaries ask
Can a notary use more than one RON platform?
Where the rules we read address it, yes: they speak of the technologies or providers you use, in the plural. Most ask you to name each one to the state, and several set a deadline for reporting a change.
Do I have to tell the state when I add a platform?
In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Maine, Florida, Virginia and Colorado the rule sets a notice for a change of provider or technology, from 10 business days to 90 days. Check your state's current rule.
Do I need a separate journal for each platform?
No. The journal is yours, not the platform's. Keep one journal of all your acts, noting which platform each ran on, and treat platform journals as copies.
Related
- RON platforms for a solo notary, comparedFor an independent notary: own signers, a journal and recording kept for your state's period, and the state lists each is on.
- RON platforms that send notaries signings, comparedPlatforms that route signers to notaries versus bring-your-own-signers platforms, and what each asks of you to join.
- State-approved RON platform finderPick a state that publishes a list and see the platforms on it, as the state writes them.
- Electronic notary journals, comparedStandalone e-journals and platform journals, read against the entry fields states require and whether entries export.
- What state rules ask of a RON platformThe requirement rows every comparison on this site uses, explained once, with the state source for each.