The Department of State has suspended the personal appearance requirement for Pennsylvania Notaries in the case of certain real estate transactions. This suspension of personal appearance only applies in the specific cases outlined below and only if you are currently an e-Notary in the Commonwealth.
For personal real estate transactions, Governor Wolf has approved a temporary notarial rule suspension granted only for real estate transactions that were already in process (e.g. agreement of sale completed for residential property and only mortgage closing needs to take place).
For commercial real estate transactions, the Governor has approved a temporary suspension of 57 Pa.C.S § 306 for both transactions that were already in process as well as new transactions during the emergency period.
These suspensions of regulatory statute under the Emergency Management Services Code last for the duration of the declared disaster emergency.
All notaries who are using audio-visual technology as an alternative to personal appearance must:
- become an approved Pennsylvania electronic notary (free application can be found here)
- use an e-notary solution already approved by the Department that offers remote notarization technology
- indicate in the notary certificate the notarial at was performed by means of communication technology.
Read more about the suspensions of regulatory statute on the Department of State’s notaries webpage.