Notary Notes Blog

The latest notary news for Pennsylvania notaries

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The Department of State’s Disciplinary Actions – August 2021

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The Bureau of Election Services and Notaries took the following disciplinary actions against notaries public in August 2021:

  • An Erie County notary was convicted of a felony and an offense that involves fraud, dishonesty, and deceit.
    • This notary permanently and voluntarily surrendered his notary commission.
  • A Philadelphia County notary failed to require personal appearance, failed to maintain a notary journal, and failed to record a specific notarization in her notary journal.
    • This notary was suspended for 24 months, with three months active suspension followed by 21 months of the suspension stayed in favor of probation; levied an administrative penalty of $1,500; probation assessment fees of $1,050; and must complete six hours of notary practice and procedure course(s).
  • A Westmoreland County notary failed to require that the individual making a statement or executing a signature on a record appear personally before her.
    • This notary permanently and voluntarily surrendered her notary commission.
  • A Westmoreland County notary was guilty of Forgery – Unauthorized Act in Writing, a second-degree felony, and Theft by Unlawful Taking-Moveable Property, a third-degree felony.
    • This notary is prohibited from reapplying for appointment and commission as a notary public for four (4) years. This notary is subject to disciplinary action under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, 57 Pa.C.S. §323(a), in that Respondent lacks the honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability to hold the office of notary public, based on Respondent’s plea of guilty to two felonies that involve fraud, dishonesty or deceit.

Do you need a refresher on your notary knowledge? You can sign up for our notary and motor vehicle courses here.

You can also find several educational videos on our YouTube channel.

The Department of State’s Disciplinary Actions – July 2021

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The Bureau of Election Services and Notaries took the following disciplinary actions against notaries public in July 2021:

  • A Cambria County notary failed to keep an accurate chronological register of all official acts done by her by virtue of her notary office by failing to record in her register the notarization of a vehicle title and failed to maintain a journal of notarial acts performed that contained all required information by failing to record the full name and address of each individual for whom notarial acts were performed and a description of the type of notarial acts performed.
    • This notary was suspended for three months, immediately stayed in favor of probation; levied a civil penalty of $250; a probation assessment of $150; and must complete six hours of remedial education.
  • A Chester County notary failed to require personal appearance, failed to include any notarial language on a document she stamped and signed, failed to record a specific notarization in her journal, and failed to record all required information in her journal.
    • This notary was suspended for 12 months, immediately stayed in favor of probation, must complete six-hours of notary practice and procedure course(s), levied an administrative penalty in the amount of $500; and probation assessment fees in the amount of $600.
  • A Crawford County notary failed to properly maintain a journal of notarial acts, by not recording all notarial acts and for other notarial acts, not recording the time of the notarial act; a description of the type of notarial act performed; and the fee charged.
    • This notary had their notary public commission revoked.
  • An Erie County notary notarized a vehicle title which had previously been signed by someone not in his presence, failed to maintain a journal in which he records in chronological order all notarial acts that he performed, and failed to provide BEI investigators with copies requested of his journal.
    • This notary was suspended for 18 months, 12 months of active suspension, followed by six months stayed in favor of probation; levied an administrative penalty of $500; a probation assessment of $300; and must complete six hours of remedial education.
  • A Lehigh County notary failed to require the individual executing the signature on a record to personally appear before her and failed to make an entry in her journal contemporaneously with the performance of a notarial act.
    • This notary was suspended for six months, immediately stayed in favor of probation; levied an administrative penalty of $250; a probation assessment of $300.
  • A Mercer County notary failed to require the individual executing the signature on a record to personally appear before him.
    • This notary permanently and voluntarily surrendered their notary commission.
  • A Montgomery County notary failed to require that individuals personally appear before him when he notarized a deed with their signatures and failed to correctly maintain a journal of all notarial acts performed by failing to include in his journal the full name and address of each individual for whom notarial acts were performed.
    • The notary permanently and voluntarily surrendered his notary commission.
  • A Philadelphia County notary failed to require personal appearance, to record a specific notarization in her notary journal, and to record all required information in her notary journal.
    • This notary was suspended for 12 months, immediately stayed in favor of probation; levied a civil penalty of $500; and probation assessment fees of $600.
  • A Philadelphia County notary notarized a signature on a deed when the signer was deceased at the time the notarial act took place, failing to establish the identity of all parties to the instrument to be notarized, failing to keep and maintain an accurate chronological notarial register, and failing to give a certified copy of her register to any person applying for the same.
    • This notary had her notary public commission revoked.
  • A Philadelphia County notary notarized a signature on an Indenture transferring real property when the grantor was deceased at the time the notarial act took place, failing to establish the identity of all parties to the instrument to be notarized, and failing to keep and maintain an accurate chronological notarial register.
    • This notary had her notary public commission revoked.

Do you need a refresher on your notary knowledge? You can sign up for our notary and motor vehicle courses here.

You can also find several educational videos on our YouTube channel.

The Department of State’s Disciplinary Actions: June 2021

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The Bureau of Election Services and Notaries took the following disciplinary actions against notaries public in June 2021:

  • A Lycoming County notary was suspended for 24 months, immediately stayed in favor of probation, must complete six-hours of notary practice and procedure course(s), was levied an administrative penalty in the amount of $2,000; and probation assessment fees in the amount of $1,200; because they failed to require the personal appearance of two individuals on a specific occasion, failed to require personal appearance generally, failed to maintain a complete notary journal with all required information, and maintained an electronic journal in a non-tamper-evident format.
  • A Philadelphia County notary had their commission revoked based on failure to maintain security over their stamping device by keeping the seal in a box in an easily accessible spot in their workplace, from which the stamp could be accessed by any other person; and failure to properly maintain a journal of notarial acts, by not recording the time of the notarial act; a description of the type of notarial act performed; the issue date of the form of identification used to verify customer identities; and the fee charged.
  • A Philadelphia County notary had their notary public commission revoked based on failure to require the personal appearance of a document signer on several occasions; failure to securely maintain their notary stamping device; failure to notify the Department that her notary stamp was lost or stolen; allowing another individual to use their notary stamp; failure to record in their notary register the character of the notarial act performed and receiving fees for their notary services in excess of the fees fixed by the Secretary.

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.