Notary Notes Blog

The latest notary news for Pennsylvania notaries

General

Lawrence County Passes $5 Fee for Local Use

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Lawrence County passed an ordinance to implement the $5 Fee for Local Use that affects April 2021 vehicle registration renewal notices. The ordinance takes effect April 1, 2021.

Under Act 89, a county may pass an ordinance to implement a fee of $5 for each vehicle registered to an address located in that county. The $5 county fee is collected annually by PennDOT at the time a vehicle is initially registered or when the registration is renewed.  This $5 county fee is in addition to the registration fee.

PennDOT maintains a list of participating counties on the fact sheet, “Fee for Local Use – Participating Counties,” available on the Driver and Vehicle Services website. Agents must check the fact sheet each time they complete Forms MV-1, MV-4ST, MV-120, or MV-140 for a customer requesting issuance, renewal or transfer of registration for any vehicle to verify if the customer’s county of residence is participating in the “Fee for Local Use.” If the county is participating, the agent must enter the $5 county fee in the appropriate section of the form.

The fees PennDOT collects are returned to the participating counties for transportation purposes or to be allocated by the county in accordance with Section 9010(c) of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.

Notaries Don’t Need to Return Bonds

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PAN has learned, in further discussion with the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds, that counties have the capability to scan and send notary bonds to the Department of State electronically. Rather than destroying the paper copies of the bonds after scanning them, recorders return the paper copies in the mail along with the notaries’ commissions.

If you received a paper copy of your bond with your commission, keep the copy with your commission. You do not need to return the paper copy to the recorder’s office.

Personal Delivery Devices

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Act 106, signed into law on November 1, 2020, has amended the definition of “Pedestrian” in Title 75, The Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. The act takes effect January 30, 2021.

Under Section 1, §102, the definition of a “pedestrian” is as follows:

  1. an individual afoot.
  2. an individual with a mobility-related disability on a self-propelled wheelchair or an electrical mobility device operated by and designated for the exclusive use of an individual with a mobility-related disability.
  3. a personal delivery device.

Act 106 also allows for a “personal delivery device” (PDD) to operate on roadways, shoulder/berms of roadways, and in pedestrian areas. The definition of a personal delivery device is a ground delivery device that:

  1. is manufactured for transporting cargo or goods;
  2. is operated by a driving system that allows remote or autonomous operation, or both; and
  3. weighs 550 pounds or less without cargo or goods.

Since Act 106 places PDDs within the definition of a pedestrian, PDDs are not considered a vehicle and not required to be titled and/or registered as a vehicle under the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.

Five Simple Notarial Mistakes to Avoid

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Notaries are expected to uphold certain standards and act in accordance with the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA). Even the most minor mistakes can cause notaries a loss of commission, fines, or legal consequences. Here are five common mistakes that notaries made in 2020, so you can avoid them in 2021.

  1. Failing to keep a proper record of their notarial acts. Every notarial act that you perform must have an accurate, complete entry in your notary journal. Learn more about how to create a proper notarial journal entry in this video.
  2. Failing to require personal appearance. Unless you are a remote notary, you must require in-person appearance from the customer. Personal appearance is the first step to performing a notarization. If the customer is unable to come in person, you can refuse service or refer them to a remote online notary.
  3. Failing to maintain custody and control of your notary stamp. As a notary public, you are responsible for securing your notarial stamp. When you are not using your official stamp, put it with your notary journal in a secure place that only you have access to.
  4. Failing to include proper notarial language or venue. Notary wording must be present for you to notarize any document or perform any notarial act. If there is no notary wording present, you must add it. There also must always be a venue including the state and county where you and the customer are standing when the notarial act takes place. If there is no notary wording, inform the client and ask to add it to the document. If they do not allow you to add the proper wording, you must refuse to notarize.
  5. Failing to be familiar with the duties and responsibilities of a notary public. As a notary in Pennsylvania, there are certain duties and responsibilities that you must be familiar with to be able to do the job properly. Familiarize yourself with what is expected of you as a notary, how to perform notarial acts, and what your limitations are. PAN offers several options for obtaining the 3 hours of state-mandated education that will teach you what you need to know about becoming a notary in Pennsylvania, and how to notarize documents.

Being familiar with your duties and responsibilities to the public is the best way to keep yourself safe from legal consequences and losing your commission.

PAN Cancels Live Seminars for February 2021

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Out of concern for the health and safety of our customers and our instructors, PAN has made the decision to cancel our live seminars scheduled for February 2021.

Our instructors are planning to conduct live online seminars as soon as possible.

We are currently in the process of contacting everyone who is registered for one of the canceled seminars. Registrants will be able to reschedule their seminars for a future date, register for online education, and register for live online seminars once they are available at no additional cost.

If you have questions or need more information, please call PAN’s Customer Service Department at 800-944-8790.

PAN Celebrates 66 Years – How it All Came to Be

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Today, the Pennsylvania Association of notaries celebrates its 66th anniversary. PAN was the first notary public association in the country, established in 1955. We would like to reflect on how PAN began with two brothers, a free pamphlet, and an old recipe box.

Two brothers, Earle and Sam Aronson, ran an insurance agency, E. R. Munro and Company, in Pittsburgh, PA. They executed several surety bonds, including 10 percent of the notary bonds in Allegheny County. Until the law changed in 1953, notaries were only appointed to serve in particular counties, not states. People would often have a lot of questions about their powers, duties, and limitations as a notary. There was no reliable source to help notaries, even though the notary public law was revised in 1949 and rewritten in 1953.

The Aronsons decided to help the people themselves by writing a pamphlet that addressed some of the problems that arose in the everyday business of the notary. The Practical Guide for Notaries Public in Pennsylvania was printed in 1946 and distributed as part of their insurance and surety direct mail ads. At the time, the pamphlet only cost pennies to print and send out with their advertisements.

Competitors convinced the state that the brothers were violating certain insurance regulations by including the pamphlet with insurance advertising. The rules specified that nothing over one dollar in value could be given away for free. This false perception helped the brothers come up with an amazing idea for the pamphlet: they could sell it. Why couldn’t they offer the bond, an information service, notary equipment, and the pamphlet all in one package? From there, PAN was officially born on January 11, 1955.

the original recipe box

The first membership package included dues, bond, the Practical Guide for Notaries Public in Pennsylvania, and a newsletter. The public responded immediately, and they began receiving orders right away. Earle borrowed a recipe box from his wife and filled it with 100 responses from the public. His wife never got the recipe box back, it is still in the Association’s building to this day.

Notaries that were purchasing PAN’s services began recommending the Association to their coworkers and businesses began to notice the benefits of having an expert to consult when their notaries needed answers. The association gained 715 members in the first year. 

As time went on, the Association began offering other services such as classes offered by mail order or night school, Errors and Omissions Insurance, and a manual to help notaries with motor vehicle and driver licensing forms. The Association even began making their own notary equipment in-house, which is still the case today.

Earle and Sam have since passed on, but two of Sam’s sons, Marc and Tod, continue to follow their philosophy today. “Focus on the notary. Offer the best service, the best product, and the best prices.”

We are honored to have been able to serve notaries and the public in Pennsylvania for so many years.