Notary Notes Blog

The latest notary news for Pennsylvania notaries

Notary Public Law (RULONA)

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.

RON: What you need to know about Act 97 of 2020

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PAN Logo

Back by popular demand, PAN’s webinar, “RON: What you need to know about Act 97 of 2020” will be presented again on Thursday and Friday, December 3rd and 4th, at 11 a. m. and 1 p. m. ET. We are pleased to repeat this informative webinar, due to the overwhelming response we received after it first aired!

Governor Wolf’s signature on Act 97 of 2020 amended the notary law (RULONA) making remote online notarization permanent. The PAN Instructors will talk about the basics of Act 97 and what you need to know to comply with the law and properly perform a remote online notarization. As always, 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.

New Webinar – “RON: What You Need to Know About Act 97 of 2020”

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PAN’s latest webinar titled “RON: What you need to know about Act 97 of 2020” will be presented on Friday, November 20th at 11 a. m. and 1 p. m. ET.

Pennsylvania recently passed Remote Online Notarization (RON) into law. The PAN Instructors will talk about the basics of Act 97 and what you need to know to comply with and perform RON. The webinar will consist of a presentation and a period of time for questions 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.

Beware Remote Notarization of Wills, POAs

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Remote online notarization (RON) may not be feasible for estate documents such as wills and powers of attorney. Writing for his law firm’s website, attorney Justin Brown said, “… practitioners should exercise caution as further clarification may be necessary to avoid the ambiguity created in permitting the RON of estate planning documents.”

Read the article at https://www.pepperlaw.com/publications/pa-order-permitting-remote-online-notarization-of-estate-planning-documents-creates-confusion-2020-04-07/

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What Happened to Depositions?

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Prior to adoption of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) in Pennsylvania, notaries had the power to take a deposition. Under RULONA, a notary may certify or attest a deposition, but the specific wording that notaries have the power to “take depositions” is not in the law.

A deposition is one of the ways in which information is disclosed between plaintiffs and defendants. In a deposition, a deponent swears to or affirms his or her intention to tell the truth and responds to verbal questions from attorneys. Depositions are usually taken by court reporters, who are trained and capable of capturing every word of the deposition.

An ordinary notary must be careful not to attempt to take a deposition unless the notary is thoroughly familiar with the laws, rules, and court procedures that apply to deposition.