OR Administrative Rule 2010 (Protest Penalty)

In 2009, Oregon enacted a law restricting the performance of commercial protests to those Notaries who meet specific qualifications. In Oregon and in many other states, Notary protests have been used in recent years to harass public officials, including judges, corrections officials and law enforcement officials. Furthermore, through the use of protests, certain fringe segments of the population have illegally attempted to eliminate valid debt obligations on mortgages and the security interest of mortgage lending institutions on real property by filing fraudulent documents containing protests. In these scams, Notaries, either knowingly or unknowingly, serve as “Notary Acceptors” on “claims of default” requiring a protest. House Bill 2090 attempts to counteract these unlawful uses of protests by limiting who can actually perform them. Oregon Administrative Rules Section 160-100-0610 contains a lengthy list of actions constituting official misconduct by a Notary and prescribes the penalties for these actions. The new administrative rule creates a new penalty – an official warning – for a first-time offense of performing a protest when the Notary has not met the specific qualifications of ORS 194.070(1). To perform a protest, a Notary must be an officer or employee of a financial institution or investment company, an active member of the Oregon State Bar or serve under the supervision of an officer, employee or member of a financial institution or investment company, or under the supervision of an Oregon State Bar member.

Read the adopted administrative rule (see pages 551-553).