After You’re Commissioned in Pennsylvania: Next Steps

You passed. Here is what to set up before and after you start notarizing in Pennsylvania, from official sources.

Record within 45 days or the commission is void

Within 45 days of appointment, record your bond, oath of office and commission with the recorder of deeds in the county where you keep an office, and register your signature. Miss the deadline and the commission is null and void, so you would need to reapply and get a new bond.

Get a $25,000 bond, and consider E&O

The bond protects your customers, not you. You must repay the surety for any claim it pays. Errors and omissions insurance is optional and protects you.

Stamp and journal

You need an official rubber-stamp seal (an embosser is optional and can't replace it). Keep a journal of every notarial act, either a bound paper register with numbered pages or a tamper-evident electronic journal. Report a lost or stolen stamp or journal to the Department within 15 days.

Give itemized receipts

Charge no more than the regulated fees and give an itemized receipt. Fee changes are pending: proposed rulemaking 16-66 (comment period closed September 30, 2026).

When you leave

Unless you renew, deliver your journal to the recorder of deeds within 30 days of resignation or expiration, and disable your stamp.

Loan signing as a side income

Some notaries also work as notary signing agents, handling loan document signings for title, escrow and signing companies. Those companies set their own requirements, often including a background check, E&O insurance and sometimes a private certification. Those come on top of your state commission and are not state rules. Demand and pay vary widely by area, and in some places attorneys traditionally handle real estate closings. The notarial fee itself is still capped by Pennsylvania law, so check Pennsylvania Department of State guidance before charging any travel or service fees.

Keep studying the rules

The full question bank is a good refresher on fees, journal rules and prohibited acts before your first notarization.