Pennsylvania notary signing agent rules in 2026 — the working NSA's guide

Pennsylvania moved to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) in 2013 and tuned it again in 2017 and 2020. The result is a rulebook that reads cleanly on paper but trips up working NSAs in three predictable spots: the mandatory pre-commission education and exam that most other RULONA states don't actually enforce; the journal-of-notarial-acts requirement that is more like California's than like Texas's book-of-acts; and the realty-transfer-tax Statement of Value that lands in front of every Pennsylvania borrower at closing and rarely gets called out by the signing service. Philadelphia and Allegheny County volume keeps Pennsylvania one of the steadier signing markets in the Northeast — here's what a working NSA needs to know about working it in 2026.

Commission, bond, and the part Pennsylvania actually enforces

• Apply through the Department of State, Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation. Application, education proof, exam result, bond, oath, and recording — all funnel through DOS, but the oath and bond also go to the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the notary maintains an office.
• Four-year commission term under 57 Pa. C.S. § 321. Same length as California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Nevada. Renew through DOS before the term expires; a lapsed commission means a full re-application, not a renewal.
• $10,000 surety bond required under 57 Pa. C.S. § 321(d). The bond protects the public, not you — carry an E&O policy separately. See our E&O guide for the bond-vs-E&O distinction.
• Mandatory pre-commission education. Under DOS regulations a new applicant must complete three hours of approved notary education before the application is filed, from a DOS-approved provider (the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries, NNA, and several others are on the list). Renewing notaries also take a refresher under DOS rule.
• Mandatory exam. A passing score on the DOS-administered notary exam is a condition of commissioning. This is the requirement Pennsylvania actually enforces — DOS will not issue a commission without it, and it is the single biggest reason new PA notaries don't get to first signing on the schedule they expected.
• Resident or non-resident endorsement. Pennsylvania residents apply normally. Non-residents who maintain a place of employment or practice within Pennsylvania can apply for a Pennsylvania notary commission as well — this is the cross-border path used by working NSAs who live in NJ, DE, or MD and routinely accept Pennsylvania signings. The DOS form treats it as the same commission with additional address documentation.
• 18 or older, U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, able to read and write English, no disqualifying convictions under 57 Pa. C.S. § 321.
• Record the commission with the county Recorder of Deeds. Within 45 days of receiving the commission you must appear before the Recorder in the county of the notary's office, take the oath, file the bond, and register the signature. Miss this 45-day window and DOS will require you to redo the process or the commission can be voided.

Pennsylvania doesn't look hard on paper, but the education-exam-record sequence takes weeks. New NSAs underestimate the time and miss the 45-day post-commission recording window. Treat the recording trip as part of the commissioning process, not an afterthought.

The Pennsylvania notary stamp

Under 57 Pa. C.S. § 317 and DOS regulations, a Pennsylvania notary stamp must produce a clear, photocopy-reproducible impression containing:

• The notary's name exactly as commissioned
• The words "Notary Public"
• "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"
• The municipality (city, borough, or township) and county where the notary maintains an office
• The commission expiration date
• The state Keystone symbol (required by DOS regulation on the inked stamp)

The inked rubber stamp is the recordable mark. An embossed seal is permitted as a supplement but is not a substitute. Lost or stolen stamps must be reported to DOS in writing before the notary performs additional acts.

The journal — required under RULONA § 319, audited in practice

Pennsylvania's journal rule under 57 Pa. C.S. § 319 sits between California's strict regime and Texas's lighter book-of-acts. The journal is mandatory for every notarial act, electronic or in-person, and a working PA entry should include:

• Date and time the notarial act was performed
• Type of notarial act (acknowledgment, jurat, oath, affirmation, copy certification)
• The title or type of document and the date of the document if dated
• The signer's printed name and address
• The signer's signature in the journal (PA does require this — it is not optional)
• The type of identification presented and a description sufficient to identify it (issuing agency, ID number or last four where appropriate, expiration) — or the statutory basis for personal knowledge of the signer
• Fee charged for the act
• For an electronic notarial act, the technology used and the form of identity proofing

No thumbprint required. Unlike California and Nevada, Pennsylvania does not require a thumbprint in the journal for real-property documents or POAs. That said, some Pennsylvania E&O carriers credit a thumbprint or recommend one for high-risk POAs, and a number of working PA NSAs voluntarily collect one on POAs to a non-titled third party. The statute neither requires nor prohibits it.

Paper journal or DOS-approved electronic journal. Most working PA NSAs use a bound paper journal. DOS recognizes electronic journals that meet the rule's tamper-evident requirements; if you are also commissioned as an electronic notary, your journal must capture the electronic acts as well.

Retention. The journal is retained by the notary for ten years from the date of the last entry under DOS rule, and on expiration or resignation must be either deposited with the Recorder of Deeds or maintained per the rule's alternative storage provisions. Don't throw a journal away when it fills up.

See our journal entries guide for the state-by-state contrast.

Identification rules

Pennsylvania's ID rule under 57 Pa. C.S. § 307 accepts the standard RULONA documentary-evidence set:

• Personal knowledge of the signer
• A current government-issued identification credential bearing the signer's photograph and signature
• A verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to the notary who personally knows the signer

On loan signings the package's instructions are controlling and uniformly demand current government photo ID — Pennsylvania driver's license, REAL ID, state ID, US passport, US military ID, or a permanent-resident card. Expired IDs are not acceptable on lender signings even if the statute leaves theoretical room.

Witnesses — Pennsylvania is not a two-witness state for deeds

Like California, Texas, Illinois, and Nevada (and unlike Florida, Georgia, Connecticut, and Vermont), Pennsylvania does not require additional non-notary witnesses on deeds. A notary acknowledgment is sufficient for recording. The PA-specific gotchas:

• Deeds and mortgages — acknowledgment by a Pennsylvania notary is sufficient for recording. No statutory witness requirement.
• Note, TIL/CD, right of rescission — neither witnessed nor (often) notarized. Read the package for any lender-specific Witness lines.
• Marital property and tenancy by the entireties. Pennsylvania is a common-law property state with tenancy by the entireties — non-titled-spouse joinder is not a community-property requirement, but lender policy frequently asks for a spousal acknowledgment on the mortgage where one spouse is not on title. The package will surface this; don't improvise.
• Subordination and condo riders sometimes carry witness lines from lender or title-policy template — when the package has a Witness line, get a witness.

See our state-by-state witness rules map for the contrast against FL, GA, and the other actual two-witness-deed states.

Statutory fee schedule and what you can actually charge

Pennsylvania's notary fee schedule sits in DOS regulation rather than in the statute itself, and the schedule is set per act, not per signature. The 2024–2025 schedule (carried into 2026 absent a new DOS amendment) caps:

• Acknowledgment — $5 per individual signature
• Jurat (oath or affirmation) — $5 per signature
• Copy certification — $5 per copy
• Protest — higher per-protest amount under DOS rule
• Travel charge — permitted as an additional clerical/agent fee, separate from the per-act cap, when agreed in advance with the signer
• Electronic / RON fee — DOS rule allows a higher per-act amount for electronic notarizations

For context against the other big NSA states:

The DOS schedule is the per-act cap, not the price of the job. Pennsylvania NSAs invoice the signing service or title company a single trip/signing fee (see our fee guide), with the per-act statutory amounts living inside that number for journal-and-statute purposes. The travel charge is explicitly outside the per-act cap when agreed in writing with the signer in advance; for a signing where the signing service is the counterparty, the trip fee in the engagement letter satisfies this.

The PA-only document: the Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value

Pennsylvania imposes a Realty Transfer Tax of 1% at the state level and (typically) an additional 1% at the local level — Philadelphia is famously the outlier with a combined rate north of 4% inside city limits. The piece a working NSA sees at every Pennsylvania closing is Form REV-183, the Statement of Value, which accompanies most non-arm's-length deeds and often appears in refinance and second-mortgage packages where the deed of trust is being recorded and any side-conveyance is present (relative-to-relative quitclaims and trust transfers being the common case).

• REV-183 is not notarized. It's signed by the transferor or transferee under oath and is filed with the deed at the Recorder of Deeds. The borrower sometimes assumes it needs your seal — it does not, unless the package explicitly calls for an acknowledgment block (rare).
• Watch for the "Statement of Value not required" exception. Many residential refinance packages don't include one because the deed isn't changing hands. The signing service's instructions are controlling on whether REV-183 belongs in the package or not.
• Realty Transfer Tax is collected at recording, not at signing. You're not handling money. But the form's presence is a frequent source of confused borrower questions — explain it as a state-tax informational filing tied to the recording office, not to the lender.
• Philadelphia's Real Estate Transfer Tax is filed on a separate city-specific form for in-city closings — Form 82-127 — when applicable. Most packages will include the right form for the property's county and municipality.

Remote Online Notarization in Pennsylvania

Act 97 of 2020 amended RULONA to authorize permanent Remote Online Notarization in Pennsylvania, and DOS implemented the rule in 2020–2021. For working NSAs:

• You must register as an Electronic Notary Public with DOS in addition to holding a traditional commission, and register the technology platforms you intend to use. DOS publishes the list of accepted platforms — most national RON systems (Notarize, Pavaso, OneNotary, NotaryCam, Stavvy) are configured for PA.
• The platform must meet RULONA's credential-analysis, knowledge-based- authentication, and audio-video-recording requirements as adopted by DOS rule.
• Audio-video recordings of RON sessions must be retained for ten years from the date of the session under the same retention rule that governs the journal. The platform stores the file, but the regulatory responsibility is yours.
• The notary must be physically located in Pennsylvania at the time of the RON act. The signer can be physically located outside the Commonwealth (and outside the U.S., subject to the standard RULONA limits on use of the resulting document).
• Pennsylvania's separate per-act RON fee under the DOS rule is higher than the in-person cap. Confirm current numbers with DOS before you bill.

For platform-side mechanics common across states, see RON for traveling NSAs.

Pennsylvania-only quirks to keep on the radar

• Tenancy by the entireties as the residential default. A married Pennsylvania couple taking title together holds the property as tenants by the entireties unless the deed says otherwise. This is a creditor-protection regime distinct from joint tenancy and from community property. The mechanics matter to title and to the lender; on the signing table, watch for both-spouses-must-sign deeds and mortgages even where only one spouse is the named borrower.
• Philadelphia and Allegheny County are dense and slow. The Philadelphia Recorder is materially slower than most other PA counties for eRecording turnaround and confirmation. The signing service's scan-back deadline will reflect this; don't miss it. Allegheny (Pittsburgh) is faster, with Erie, Lancaster, and Montgomery counties on the higher-volume tier. Title coordinates the recording — you don't touch it.
• The non-resident endorsement is real and common. Working NSAs commissioned in DE, NJ, MD, OH, and NY who routinely accept Pennsylvania assignments can maintain a PA commission as a non-resident with a Pennsylvania office address. The most common error is failing to keep the PA office address current — DOS treats a stale address as a commission-compliance issue.
• Direct-communication requirement. The notary must communicate directly with the signer in a language they both understand. Pennsylvania doesn't have a California-style hard list, but the duty is identical: a family member translating from the next room is not sufficient.
• Apostille and authentication for documents going abroad come from the Pennsylvania Department of State directly. The DOS office in Harrisburg is the single point of entry; expedited service is available.
• Civil-penalty exposure under § 329. The DOS has authority to suspend or revoke a commission and impose civil penalties for RULONA violations. The journal is your primary defense in any DOS inquiry — accurate entries with the required fields close most complaints at the first letter.
• Reverse mortgages and HECM packages. Pennsylvania's elder population is one of the largest in the country. Reverse mortgages and HECM closings turn up more often here than in faster-growing states. The signing rhythm is slower, the counseling-confirmation paperwork is part of the package, and a borrower who changes their mind during the rescission window is more likely than on a standard refinance. Read the package carefully.

Quick-reference card

Source: 57 Pa. C.S. § 301 et seq. (Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts as amended by Act 97 of 2020), Pennsylvania Department of State notary regulations and Notary Public Reference Manual, and the Pennsylvania Realty Transfer Tax Act. Confirm with the Pennsylvania Department of State before any signing.

How Signbrief handles Pennsylvania packages

Most of the Pennsylvania friction at the table is about the journal-and-spousal- joinder combination — the package can have eight notarized documents, several of which trigger a spousal acknowledgment because of tenancy by the entireties, plus a Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value that the borrower expects you to explain. Signbrief parses the signing-instructions PDF and flags:

• Whether the closing is in Pennsylvania and therefore subject to RULONA journal rules and the DOS fee schedule
• Each notarial act's type for journal pre-fill (acknowledgment vs jurat)
• Spousal-acknowledgment lines that the tenancy-by-the-entireties framework may surface even when the spouse is not a named borrower
• The Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value (REV-183 or Philadelphia equivalent) so you know whether to expect it and how to answer the borrower's question
• The signer count and ID requirements per signer
• Documents that may be candidates for eNotary or RON if the package allows it
• Scan-back deadlines, with the Philadelphia-county slower-recording-turnaround buffer surfaced separately

This is the pre-flight read that's slow to do by hand on a Pennsylvania package and almost impossible when edocs arrive an hour before the appointment. $29/mo founding plan while beta seats are open. Join the early-access list.

Related reads

• Nevada notary signing agent rules in 2026 — the working NSA's guide
• Illinois notary signing agent rules in 2026 — the working NSA's guide
• The notary journal — what to record at every loan signing
• Do you need a witness for a notary signing? State-by-state rules for NSAs
• RON for traveling NSAs — what changes when you add remote