Before the District of Columbia commissions you as a notary, you must file a $2,000 assurance — a surety bond — with the Office of the Secretary. Ours bundles $10,000 of E&O coverage and is $50 flat. The bond issues the moment you pay — no credit review of any kind, not even a soft pull.
















Notary bonds are the simplest thing in surety. Here's the entire process:
Your details and an effective date. That's the application — no financials, no credit fields, no follow-up scavenger hunt.
Notary bonds are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. At most, 1–2 business days.
Your executed assurance arrives by email, ready to submit with your Office of the Secretary notary application or renewal. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
A notary bond is a public-protection assurance. Before the District commissions you, you post a $2,000 surety bond so that anyone harmed by a notarial error — a signature you didn't actually witness, an act of negligence or misconduct — has a financial backstop to recover against.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety, and the District of Columbia, with the public as the protected parties. The bond protects the public, not you — that's why ours bundles $10,000 of errors & omissions coverage, which does protect you against the cost of an honest mistake.
The surety must give the Mayor 30 days' notice before canceling the assurance, and must notify the Mayor within 30 days of paying a claim. We track your term and notify you 60 and 30 days before expiration so your commission never lapses over a missed renewal.
These are the actual issuing fields — the application collects no credit information, because this bond doesn't need any.
Start the application →$50 flat, E&O included, no credit review, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.