Executive Order Is a Win for Digital Closings
President Trump's March 13 Executive Order directs federal housing agencies to promote remote online notarization, e-signatures, and e-notes to modernize and expand digital mortgage closings, a move praised by Proof, a company that has long advocated for these technologies to make homebuying faster, more accessible, and less costly, with implementation guidance from HUD, VA, USDA, and FHFA forthcoming.
On March 13, President Trump signed an Executive Order to expand access to mortgage credit and address the regulatory barriers that have made buying a home harder and more expensive than it needs to be. The administration was commended for this leadership.
Section 7 of the order is especially important to Proof and its work to make homebuying more accessible. It directs HUD, the VA, USDA, and FHFA to promote remote online notarization, e-signatures, and e-notes, and to move away from paper-based closing requirements that add cost and delay to one of the biggest transactions in a person's life.
Borrowers can already close digitally today, and these steps will meaningfully expand that access across the government-backed programs that serve the most American homebuyers, building on decades of work to bring the closing process into the digital age.
Proof has spent over a decade advocating for exactly this. From the earliest online notarization laws to sustained engagement with federal housing regulators and the GSEs, Proof has worked to make remote online notarization a mainstream, trusted part of how Americans close on homes. This Executive Order reflects the direction that work has been pointing toward.
"We have long believed that the mortgage process can be faster, more accessible, and less expensive for everyone involved, and this Executive Order is an exciting step toward making that a reality," said Pat Kinsel, CEO of Proof. "The administration's commitment to promoting remote online notarization and digital closing practices across federal housing programs is a win for borrowers, lenders, and the housing market."
The next step is implementation. HUD, the VA, USDA, and FHFA will each need to develop guidance that puts Section 7 into practice. Proof looks forward to being part of that process, as it has been throughout the broader effort to make remote online notarization accessible, secure, and widely adopted. The company will continue to advocate for approaches that are practical, consumer-friendly, and grounded in the fraud protection and consumer safeguards that digital closings require.
Read the Executive Order here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/promoting-access-to-mortgage-credit/
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