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Digital Certificates Ensure 'Admissibility'
In Court By Nevin Barich
nbarich@nationalnotary.org
December 04, 2006
Timothy
S. Reiniger, Executive Director for the National Notary
Association
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"Ensuring the admissibility and provability of electronic
documents in a court of law is one of the most important steps
in winning any case, and that is why the use of digital
certificates by Notaries can be crucial in litigation."
Speaking before the
Mortgage Bankers Association in Phoenix, Arizona, last
month, Attorney Timothy S. Reiniger, Executive Director for the
National Notary Association, stressed the importance of secure
notarizations, particularly in court.
A former successful trial lawyer in California and New
Hampshire, Reiniger said that credential-based eNotarizations,
such as those performed with the Electronic Notary Seal (ENS™),
provide the capability to authenticate electronic documents by
identifying the Notary, attributing the Notary's electronic
signature, and rendering any alterations to the document
detectable.
Reiniger, who was invited to speak at the MBA's "Legal Issues
in Mortgage Technology" Conference in November, joined
Philadelphia County Recorder of Deeds Joan Decker and
representatives from the Property Records Industry Association
during a panel discussion on the potential legal aspects of
eNotarization and eRecording. The panel reported emphatically
that eNotarized and eRecorded documents carry the same legal
weight as traditional paper documents.
"For purposes of authenticating documents, use of digital
certificates by Notaries is lawful in all 50 states and is
specifically required in five states, so why wouldn't an
organization looking for a secure national solution require its
Notaries simply to use digital certificates?" Reiniger asked.
"Electronic documents are worthless if they can't be proven in
court. Digital certificates such as the ENS provide the needed
capability of testing the authenticity of electronic documents." |