1.3 Oath, Bond, and Filing Requirements

The 45-Day Window

Receiving the Notice of Appointment from the Department of State does not make you a functioning notary. RULONA gives you a strict 45-day window from the appointment (commission) date to complete the post-appointment steps. If you do not finish all of them within 45 days, your commission is null and void and you must restart the entire application — including the fee, and the exam if applicable.

Within those 45 days you must:

You may not perform any notarial act until these steps are complete. A notarization done before the bond and oath are recorded is improper.

The Surety Bond — and the 2026 Increase

The surety bond is one of the most heavily tested items in this chapter, and the figure changes in 2026.

The RULONA implementing regulations effective March 28, 2026 raise the bond from $10,000 to $25,000. A notary who already holds a current commission on that date may keep using the existing bond until that commission expires; only those newly appointed or reappointed on or after March 28, 2026 must carry the higher $25,000 bond. The bond must stay in force for the full 4-year term.

What the Bond Does — and Does Not — Do

A frequent exam trap is confusing whom the bond protects. The surety bond protects the public, not the notary.

If the surety company pays a claim, it then seeks reimbursement from the notary — the bond is not free insurance for the notary. To protect themselves, notaries often buy separate Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance, which is optional but covers the notary's own losses and defense costs.

The Oath of Office

Before acting, the notary must take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office, swearing to support the Constitutions of the United States and of Pennsylvania and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office. The oath is administered by an authorized official and is recorded alongside the bond and commission.

Where to Record: Recorder of Deeds

Under current practice the bond, commission, oath, and official signature are filed and recorded with the county Recorder of Deeds. (Historically the official signature was registered with the Prothonotary; recording has moved to the Recorder of Deeds.) The correct county depends on your PA connection:

The practical takeaway for the exam: the bond protects the public, the steps are due within 45 days, and recording happens at the Recorder of Deeds in the county of residence or employment.

Working a Bond Scenario

The surety relationship involves three parties, and the exam expects you to keep them straight:

• The principal is the notary, who is obligated to perform lawfully.
• The surety is the bonding company, which guarantees that obligation up to the bond amount.
• The obligee/beneficiary is the public — the people who can recover against the bond if the notary causes harm.

Walk through a claim: suppose a notary negligently notarizes a fraudulent deed and a homeowner loses property as a result. The injured homeowner files a claim against the bond. The surety pays the homeowner up to the bond limit. The surety then turns around and demands reimbursement from the notary for everything it paid. The notary is not protected — the notary is ultimately on the hook. This is precisely why E&O insurance exists and why so many notaries carry it even though it is optional. E&O steps in to cover the notary's losses and defense costs; the bond never does.

Why the Bond Amount Doubled

The jump from $10,000 to $25,000 on March 28, 2026 reflects a policy judgment that the old limit was too low to make injured members of the public whole, especially in real-estate and financial transactions where a single bad notarization can cause five-figure losses. The exam may test the transition rule in either direction, so anchor on the principle: the amount is tied to the date of appointment or reappointment, not to the date a claim arises.

A notary appointed under the $10,000 regime keeps a $10,000 bond for the rest of that term even if a claim comes in during 2026; a notary first appointed on or after March 28, 2026 carries $25,000 from day one.

Sequencing the Post-Appointment Steps

A clean way to remember the 45-day phase is the mnemonic Bond, Oath, Record — secure the financial guarantee, swear the oath, then make it all part of the public record at the Recorder of Deeds. Order matters in practice because the recording office needs the executed bond and the signed oath in hand to record them together with the commission and your official signature.

The Consequence of Missing 45 Days

The 45-day deadline is unforgiving by design. There is no grace period, no late fee, and no extension. If the deadline passes with any step incomplete, the commission is null and void, and the would-be notary must begin the entire process again — new application, new $42 fee, and, if their education certificate or exam authorization has gone stale in the meantime, those too. Because the consequence is so severe, the standard advice is to obtain the bond immediately upon receiving the Notice of Appointment and to schedule the oath and recording appointment well inside the window rather than waiting until day 44.

Treat the 45-day clock as the single most time-sensitive obligation in the commissioning process — more urgent than the exam's six-month window, because a missed exam window only delays you, while a missed 45-day window destroys the appointment outright.