Maryland notary bond

Maryland does not require a notary bond

Maryland does not require a notary bond. Applicants complete a state-approved course and file with the Secretary of State; the commission is delivered through the clerk of the circuit court. Maryland notaries are personally liable for their errors.

What that means for a Maryland 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 Maryland 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 Maryland

The commissioning authority is the Maryland Secretary of State, and the commission runs 4 years. To be commissioned, an applicant must complete the state-approved course, apply online to the Secretary of State with the endorsement of a state senator or delegate where still required, and, on approval, take the oath and collect the commission from the clerk of the circuit court. 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 Maryland

Because Maryland'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

Maryland requires every notary to keep a journal (the statute's 'fair register') of all notarial acts and to retain it for the period the Secretary of State prescribes. 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 Maryland

Notary Errors & Omissions insurance is the coverage Maryland 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 Maryland 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 Maryland

Maryland authorizes remote online notarization for notaries who register with the Secretary of State. No bond is required. Remote acts are authorized for notaries who register with the Secretary of State and complete the remote course. 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 Maryland 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.

Maryland notary bond questions