Online Notary for Real Estate Documents

Real estate is the one area where online notarization comes with a condition attached, and the condition is not set by New York. It is set by whichever office will record the document.

Ask the recorder before you book

A deed, mortgage or assignment only does its job once it is recorded. Recording offices decide what they will accept, and their position on electronically notarized documents varies.

So the first call is not to a notary. It is to the recording office, asking whether they accept a document notarized by remote online notarization. In New York City that is the City Register through ACRIS for Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, and the Richmond County Clerk for Staten Island.

A rejected recording costs days and a resubmission fee. The phone call costs nothing.

What is usually straightforward

Plenty of real estate paperwork sits outside the recording question entirely and notarizes online without difficulty.

Affidavits of title. One and the same person affidavits resolving a name mismatch on a deed, which are extremely common at closing. See what title companies ask for. Loan and closing affidavits. Landlord and tenant documents. Property management authorisations. Corporate resolutions authorizing a transaction. Consent letters from a co-owner.

Those are the documents where an out of state seller or a co-owner in another city turns a scheduling problem into a fifteen minute session.

Ready to notarize? Most sessions finish in about 15 minutes.

Start your online notarization

Where it gets more careful

Deeds. Technically notarizable online, practically dependent on the recorder. Confirm first.

Mortgages and refinance packages. The lender and the title company both have policies, and a full closing package often has to be wet signed regardless of what a notary could do.

Anything involving a power of attorney. If someone is signing for an owner under a POA, note that we sign New York powers of attorney in person rather than online. New York State Technology Law § 307 lists powers of attorney among documents excluded from electronic signature. See the explanation.

What a notary does and does not do here

A notary verifies who signed. That is the whole job.

We do not confirm ownership, check title, search for liens, or verify anyone’s authority to convey property. Recording a document does not make it valid either. Those are questions for a title company and a real estate attorney. See notary vs title company.

Getting it recorded

Once signed, a New York City recording usually involves the deed itself, the state transfer tax form TP-584, the equalization form RP-5217, and the applicable city transfer tax return, plus recording fees.

We handle deed and document recording from intake through recorded confirmation, so the notarization and the filing are one process rather than two.

Common mistakes

Signing before the session. The notary has to witness the signature.

Assuming the recorder will accept it. Ask.

Wrong borough, block or lot on the filing, which gets a submission rejected. See how to find a BBL.

A name on the deed that does not match identification, which stalls closings constantly and is fixed with an affidavit rather than a new deed.

Frequently asked questions

Can a deed be notarized online in New York?

Often, but the recording office decides whether it will accept it. Confirm before booking.

Can an out of state seller sign remotely?

A New York notary performs the act under New York law and can serve a signer located elsewhere. Whether the recorder accepts it is the separate question.

Do you record the deed too?

Yes, through ACRIS, including the transfer tax forms.

What does it cost?

Notarization is $25 for the first document and $15 for documents two through seven. Recording is a separate service plus government fees.

Does the buyer sign the deed?

Normally only the grantor signs and has their signature acknowledged. See how to read a deed.

What can be notarized online, and what cannot

Start here, because this is where real estate gets specific.

Routinely done online: deeds, mortgages and mortgage satisfactions, affidavits of title, one and the same person affidavits, quitclaim deeds, contracts of sale, landlord and tenant documents, and most of the affidavit stack that comes with a closing.

Not done online in New York: wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care proxies and do not resuscitate consents, which are excluded from electronic signature by statute. That matters in real estate because a power of attorney is common at closings, and it is exactly the document people assume can be handled by video. It cannot. If a signer is using a power of attorney, that document is executed on paper, in person, and the rest of the package can still go online.

The county question is the real one

A deed does not stop at notarization. It has to be recorded, and the recording office decides what it will accept.

Many jurisdictions accept electronically notarized instruments. Some still want an original with a physical seal, and some accept the notarization but require the document to be submitted through a specific channel. The rule to work by is simple: confirm with the recording office before the signing, not after. Discovering the answer afterward means a second signing.

In New York City, deeds for Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens go through the City Register; Richmond County goes through the County Clerk.

Why lenders and title companies like it

The record an online session produces is stronger than a paper one. There is a recorded video of the signing, a credential analysis result, an identity verification log, a timestamped electronic journal entry, and a tamper evident certificate that breaks visibly if anybody alters the file afterward.

For an industry whose largest exposure is forged signatures and impersonated sellers, that is not a compromise. It is better evidence than a stamp and a handwritten journal line.

Where it genuinely helps

The out of state seller who owns a Queens two family and lives in Florida. The heirs scattered across four states who all have to sign the same estate paperwork. The refinance where the borrower travels for work. The investor closing on three properties in a week. The signer who is deployed or hospitalized.

In every one of those, the alternative is coordinating travel or overnighting paper back and forth, and both cost days the transaction usually does not have.

Getting the signing right the first time

Three things account for nearly every failed session.

Identification. Valid, unexpired, government issued photo identification. Expired is expired.

Signing early. Do not sign the document before the session. The notary has to witness the signature.

Names. The name on the identification has to match the name on the document. If your deed says one thing and your license says another, resolve it first with a same person affidavit rather than at the session. See what title companies ask for.

Also confirm whether witnesses are required, and how many, before the appointment rather than during it.

Pricing and the line we hold

New York caps electronic notarization at $25 per notarial act, inclusive of all costs, so a real estate package is priced per act rather than as a bundled closing fee. See the pricing breakdown.

What we will not do is tell you how to hold title, what your deed means, or whether a document is right for your transaction. A New York notary is prohibited from giving legal advice. We notarize and, if you want, we handle the recording. The legal judgments belong with your attorney.