Notary Notes Blog

The latest notary news for Pennsylvania notaries

Know-How

Notary Penalties Webinars

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We will be holding three webinars titled Notary Penalties April 29th – 30th! Our instructors will be discussing the top three reasons notaries have been penalized by the state in 2021. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Each webinar is free and will be an hour long. These webinars are not state-approved and do not provide credit towards any state-mandated education. You will not receive credit for attending. The attendance limit is 300 people per webinar.

For these webinars, you will have to register beforehand. Click the webinar dates below to register for the webinar you would like to attend:

Thursday, April 29, 2021: 3 – 4pm

Friday, April 30, 2021: 11am – 12pm

Friday, April 30, 2021: 3 – 4pm

We look forward to seeing you!

The Dos and Don’ts of Petitions

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As election season approaches, you may be asked to notarize petitions. It is easy to make a mistake when notarizing a petition. We want to help you perform your notary duties with confidence.

Don’t notarize a petition you have signed as an elector or if you are the candidate filing it.

Do read the instructions on the petition and related materials. The Department of State provides information and links to forms and instructions on their website, including deadlines for filing. Be sure to read and follow the instructions so you can avoid problems at the last minute when the petitions must be filed. The circulator(s) and the candidate have responsibilities in this process that must be fulfilled.

Don’t notarize a petition for a family member. If notarization is required, have an impartial third-party act as the notary. If you are related to the candidate you should decline to notarize their petitions, because your relation to the candidate raises the possibility of a direct or pecuniary interest.

Do draw lines through any unused signature lines that are left on the petition. This prevents signatures from being added to the petition after the notarization.

Don’t notarize for an individual you have not properly identified. Make sure the proper notarial wording is on the petition. You must follow the law for every notarization you perform

Do refer questions to your county election officials or to the Department of State. As a notary, you cannot give legal advice.

 

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.

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.

What is it like becoming a notary through PAN?

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Many new members may wonder: what is it like to become a notary public in Pennsylvania as a PAN member?

My name is Angel Dulick, and I am the social media coordinator for PAN. I did not have any notarial experience before accepting a position with the association. Like many, my employers asked me to become a notary. This experience helped train me to be able to assist PAN members in answering their questions and concerns. I would like to share what I learned with other PAN members going through the same process.

The first step was to send in my notary application and take the notary education. Due to COVID-19, the education course is available online. PAN’s online education was extremely informative. It was three hours per the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA). I also took PAN’s three-hour in-person notary seminar with our instructor, Jon. In-person education was interactive and instructive. After taking the course online and in-person, I believe that both are informative and helpful in preparation for the exam. I took the practice exams and reviewed the RULONA Reference Sheets available to members, then I was ready to take my exam.

Scheduling the exam was simple. An email was sent to my inbox once the state received my application. A little over two weeks later, I received an email from Pearson VUE to schedule my exam.

Once scheduled, I received a confirmation email for my appointment. According to the email, I was to bring two forms of ID and a printout of the email provided. The place I went for the exam did not require me to bring the email, but each testing site is different. Each location will have a different plan in place for checking people in and what they require from each person. The email suggested I arrive 15 minutes prior, but I would suggest going earlier. Each location has its procedures in place for COVID that take more time.  I took my exam at the Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, PA.

At this location, they had me sign in, then present my ID to the person administering the test. I brought my driver’s license and debit card as my identification. They then took my photo and locked up my personal items including my phone, car keys, and wallet. You are not allowed to have anything on you in the testing room.

I was then set up on a computer to take the exam. It took about 20 minutes of the allotted 60 minutes for me to finish. You can go over the questions several times before submitting the exam. Once I finished, the person administering the test told me my score, gave me a printout of it, and sent me on my way.

Once I passed, PAN was notified that I was approved to be appointed and are currently in the process of giving me my $10,000 notary bond. Once I receive that bond, I must get sworn in within 45 days.

The process was made very easy by working with PAN, and the exam went smoothly for me due to the questions PAN provides on all their practice tests and training. If you are considering becoming a notary through PAN, do it! The association takes away the stress of doing it all yourself.

Notary Record Keeping Webinar

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PAN’s webinar “Notary Record Keeping” will be presented on Thursday and Friday, December 10th and 11th, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET. Learn how important it is to keep proper records to protect you and your customers.

The PAN Instructors will talk about the current record keeping requirements and how they differ from the old record keeping requirements. There will be a live question-and-answer session following the presentation.

Click here to register.

We have up-to-date information about how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is affecting notaries on our Notarization and Coronavirus blog.

PAN recommends using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers to view the webinar. The webinar service allows more people to register than there are available virtual seats. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis for registered participants.