Hybrid eClosings: Choosing the Right Mix of Digital and Wet Signatures

Hybrid eClosings have become the dominant approach for lenders navigating the transition from paper-based closings to 100% electronic execution. This measured shift reflects the mortgage industry's current reality: digital transformation is underway, but operational readiness, investor requirements, and jurisdictional constraints vary significantly across the market. 

According to Fannie Mae's 2025 survey on eMortgage adoption, 76% of lenders now offer some form of hybrid digital close. These models balance paperless efficiency with compliance requirements, investor acceptance criteria, and state-specific recording rules. Understanding how hybrid eClosings work, when they make strategic sense, and how to evaluate the overall e-eligibility of a loan is essential for lenders planning their digital roadmap. 

What is a Hybrid eClose? 

MISMO, the mortgage industry's standards organization, defines a hybrid eClosing as a transaction that combines electronically signed documents with several printed documents requiring wet signatures. These wet-signed documents may require notarization or recording in a jurisdiction where eNotarization and eRecording are not legally recognized, thus demanding the human touchpoints that distinguish hybrid from 100% digital closings. 

By contrast, a fully electronic closing executes all documents digitally, including the promissory note (as an eNote) and the security instrument, and uses remote online notarization (RON) where jurisdictionally permitted.  

A Strategic Journey Towards Digitization 

As the mortgage ecosystem advances toward full digital adoption, lenders must build strategies that take into account their own readiness as well as varying jurisdictional and investor requirements. Key considerations include: 

1. Operational readiness: Review internal processes, staff training, and technology infrastructure (including vendor integrations), updating as needed to accommodate digitization. 
2. Investor acceptance: Verify secondary market partners’ specific requirements for eNote delivery, custody, and registration before implementing 100% digital workflows. 
3. Compliance: Understand the federal, state, and local requirements for electronic signatures, notarization methods, and document recording practices. 
4. Borrower experience: Integrate eSigning and eNotarization seamlessly rather than layering them awkwardly into existing processes so that digital closings add convenience—not friction—to the mortgage process.  
5. Cost and efficiency: Validate expected ROI by evaluating whether long-term reductions in manual effort, errors, and per-loan costs will justify near-term implementation costs. 

Determining Electronic Versus Wet Signature Requirements 

MISMO's eMortgage Implementation Guide provides a framework for assessing document e-eligibility, but for more specific guidance, lenders can use DocMagic's eDecision tool to automatically evaluate each loan against investor guidelines, jurisdictional rules, and document type requirements to determine just how electronic a closing can be from the outset. 

Our decision matrix centers on four considerations: 

1. Investor acceptance: lenders must verify their investor base purchases eNotes and understand specific delivery and custody requirements before implementing digital promissory notes. Some investors require wet-signatures only for promissory notes while accepting eSignatures on disclosures. 
2. Notarization and recording requirements: With states and counties operating under varying regulations, closings can differ widely. Remote online notarization expands access but isn't universally accepted yet. County-level eRecording capabilities determine whether security instruments can be executed digitally. What works in one state may not be possible in another.  
3. Operational stakeholder readiness: Extending beyond the lender’s own systems, settlement agents, notaries, and warehouse lenders must be equipped and willing to support electronic workflows. A missing link in the chain could force a transaction back to wet signatures. 
4. Document type: Non-recordable disclosures (initial disclosures, closing disclosures) typically qualify for eSignature. Promissory notes can become eNotes when investor acceptance and vault infrastructure align. Security instruments require both county e-recording capability and compliant notarization – the highest bar for full digitization.  

Moving Forward Strategically 

Hybrid eClosings aren't a compromise. They're a strategic choice that acknowledges market realities while building toward full digitization. The process remains dynamic as technology adoption spreads, investor requirements evolve, and jurisdictions expand e-recording infrastructure. 

DocMagic’s eClose Savings Calculator helps lenders understand the specific cost savings associated with digital closing. The calculator models potential savings from transitioning specific documents to eSignature, accounting for reduced errors, faster funding timelines, and the elimination of paper handling costs. With this information, DocMagic can help build an eStrategy that aligns digital expansion with your operational readiness and market position. 

The mortgage industry’s trajectory is clear: digital execution will become standard in the coming years. By adopting a hybrid eClosing, lenders can control the pace of the transition while capturing immediate efficiency gains.