OR Notary common mistakes
OR Notary · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Notarizing a signature when the signer is not physically present and no compliant remote process is used-for example, a spouse brings the document and says the signer signed it at home.
Candidates equate notarizing with checking the signature against the document and overlook the personal-appearance requirement; pressure from the signer's family reinforces the shortcut.
What to do instead
Before any act, confirm the signer is in your physical presence or, for RON, on the approved audio-video session; if not, refuse and explain that the signer must appear.
Accepting a photocopy of an ID or an expired driver license and recording only the name, rather than examining a current, government-issued photo ID.
Candidates memorize 'check ID' but not the quality and currency requirements; they also want to be helpful when the signer left the ID in the car.
What to do instead
Examine the original, current, government-issued photo ID; confirm the name matches the document and record the ID type, number, and expiration in the journal.
Continuing to notarize after the commission expiration date printed on the stamp has passed because the renewal application was mailed.
Candidates confuse application submission with valid commission status; the expiration date is small and often not calendared.
What to do instead
Treat the expiration date as a hard stop; calendar renewal well before expiration and do not perform any notarial act until the new commission is issued.
Failing to notify the commissioning authority of an address or legal-name change, then signing certificates under the old name or address.
Notaries think their commission automatically follows a move or marriage; the update requirement is not tied to a visible event.
What to do instead
Report name and address changes within the required time; update the stamp and journal to match the new commission record.
Using an acknowledgment certificate for a document that requires a jurat, or vice versa, such as stamping an acknowledgment on an affidavit.
The forms look similar and both contain 'sworn' language; candidates focus on the stamp rather than the act being performed.
What to do instead
Identify the act first-acknowledgment versus jurat-then select the Oregon statutory short form that matches the act.
Signing and stamping a jurat without actually administering an oath or affirmation to the signer.
Candidates treat the jurat as a paperwork step and assume the signer's signature alone makes it sworn.
What to do instead
Verbally administer the oath or affirmation and only then complete the jurat; if you did not administer it, do not use jurat wording.
Keeping no journal or making entries days later from memory, omitting the ID details and the type of notarial act.
The journal feels administrative; candidates believe the certificate is the only record, and busy notaries batch entries.
What to do instead
Record each act contemporaneously in a bound journal: date and time, signer name, address, ID type and number, act type, and fee; never backfill from memory.
Using an embosser alone or a stamp missing required elements such as the notary's name, 'Notary Public-State of Oregon,' commission number, or expiration, and stamping over certificate text.
Candidates treat any seal as sufficient and are unaware that Oregon requires a photographically reproducible ink stamp with specific content.
What to do instead
Obtain a compliant ink stamp with all required elements, keep it legible, and place it in the designated area without covering certificate wording.
For electronic or RON notarizations, using a generic video call and emailing a PDF without an approved electronic notarization system, identity proofing, or session recording.
Candidates transfer in-person habits to online tools and assume any e-signature platform satisfies electronic notarization rules.
What to do instead
Use only a system that meets Oregon electronic and RON requirements, including credential analysis, identity proofing, recording or retention, and tamper-evident sealing; test the workflow before the appointment.
Applying only a pasted graphic of a signature and a scanned stamp image to an electronic document without a compliant electronic seal or vendor-backed digital certificate.
Candidates think an image of a stamp is the same as an electronic notarial seal and do not understand tamper-evident technology.
What to do instead
Use an approved system that applies the electronic signature and seal with tamper-evident technology, and retain the electronic journal or record as required.