Iowa notary bond

Iowa does not require a notary bond

Iowa does not require a notary bond. Commissions run three years and applications are filed with the Secretary of State. Iowa notaries are personally liable for damages caused by their notarial acts.

What that means for a Iowa notary

The absence of a bond does not reduce a notary's exposure; it removes the only third party that would otherwise pay first. In a bonding state a claimant recovers from the surety up to the penalty and the surety recovers from the notary. In Iowa the claimant proceeds directly against the notary for the full loss. Real estate closings, powers of attorney, wills and loan documents are where notary claims arise, and the damages in those matters routinely exceed what any individual notary can absorb.

Becoming a notary in Iowa

The commissioning authority is the Iowa Secretary of State, and the commission runs 3 years. To be commissioned, an applicant must apply to the Secretary of State with the fee; no course or examination is required. Iowa adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, and its identification and certificate rules follow the uniform act. Because no bond is filed, the application is complete once the oath, the fee and any required course or examination are done; the notary's first act of risk management is therefore the E&O policy, not a filing.

Identifying signers in Iowa

Because Iowa's notarial acts statute follows the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, a signer is identified by personal knowledge, by a current government-issued identification bearing a photograph and signature (a passport, driver's license or similar credential, unexpired or within the grace the statute allows), or by the oath or affirmation of a credible witness who is personally known to the notary or identified by such a credential. The signer must appear before the notary at the time of the act. Nearly every notary claim in every state traces to a failure of one of these two requirements, personal appearance or satisfactory identification, and in a state without a bond the consequence of that failure falls directly on the notary.

Journal and recordkeeping

Iowa does not require a journal for in-person acts; remote notaries must keep a journal and a recording. Whatever the statute requires, a contemporaneous journal entry recording the date, the act, the signer, the identification presented and the document is the notary's best evidence when a claim is made and its absence is the claimant's best evidence; an underwriter will ask for it first.

Notary E&O insurance in Iowa

Notary Errors & Omissions insurance is the coverage Iowa notaries carry. It pays claims arising from honest errors in official notarial acts, provides a defense, and does not have to be repaid. Limits from $10,000 to $100,000 or more per term are available, with a group form for employers that want every notary in the office covered. Notaries who act as loan signing agents should read the application carefully: notary E&O covers notarial acts, not the separate duties of a signing agent.

Employer notaries

Banks, law firms, title and escrow agencies and signing services in Iowa commission their staff in numbers, and a claim against an employee notary is nearly always brought against the employer as well, on ordinary principles of vicarious liability. The employer's general liability policy does not respond to a notarial error, and there is no bond to absorb the first loss. A group Notary E&O policy naming every commissioned employee is the instrument written for that exposure.

Remote notarization in Iowa

Iowa authorizes remote online notarization for notaries who register with the Secretary of State. No bond is required. Remote acts are authorized for notaries who notify the Secretary of State and use an approved technology. Remote notarizations are used disproportionately for the highest-value documents and for signers the notary never meets in person, which is why an E&O limit at the upper end of the range is advisable for a Iowa notary who takes them up.

Voluntary bonds

Some employers, title companies and signing services require a bond regardless of state law. If you have been asked for one, tell us the amount and the obligee named in the request and an underwriter will place it.

Iowa notary bond questions