Which HOA documents need a notary, and how do we get them signed, notarized and recorded?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 11, 2026

Which HOA documents need a notary before the county will record them, who signs, online notary options, TX, FL and CO rules, fees and a motion to copy.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

If a document is going into the county real property records, plan on a notary. Texas and Florida clerks record an instrument only when the signature has been acknowledged before a notary, sworn to, or proved by witnesses. Colorado clerks will record an unacknowledged document, but a notarized one is far easier to rely on later. The job has four parts, and boards trip over the first one more than the other three: 1. The board votes to approve the document and names the officer who will sign it. 2. That officer signs in front of a notary, in person or online, with a current photo ID. 3. Someone checks the page against the county's format rules and records it. 4. The secretary files the recorded copy, with its instrument number, in the association's permanent records. A notary confirms who signed. A notary does not confirm that the person had authority to sign for the association, and does not check whether the document is correct. Both of those are the board's problem.

Documents that usually need a notary

Most of what a small HOA records falls into a short list: - Amendments to the declaration, and the certificate that the owners approved them. - Assessment lien notices and lien releases. - Texas management certificates and dedicatory instrument filings. - Deeds and easements, when the association buys, sells or grants rights over common area. - Correction instruments for errors in documents already on record. - Florida preservation notices under the Marketable Record Title Act. Things that stay in the association's own files, such as minutes, contracts, budgets and resolutions, do not need a notary. A bank's signature card or a lender's resolution form may ask for one anyway, so read the form before the meeting. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and some declarations add their own signing rules for amendments. This guide is general education, not legal advice, and a recorded deed or amendment is a good place to spend an hour of the association attorney's time.

Texas, Florida and Colorado rules

Texas. Property Code section 12.001(a) allows recording of an instrument that has been acknowledged, sworn to with a proper jurat, or proved according to law. Section 12.001(b) says an instrument conveying real property can be recorded only if it was acknowledged before an officer such as a notary or signed in front of two or more credible subscribing witnesses, and anyone handing it to the clerk in person must show photo ID. Section 209.004(a) requires the management certificate to be signed and acknowledged by an officer or the managing agent, and 209.004(b) gives the association 30 days after it learns of a change to record an amended one. Government Code section 406.024(a)(5) caps a notary's acknowledgment fee at $10 for the first signature and $1 for each additional signature. Florida. Statutes section 695.03 says an instrument concerning real property must be acknowledged, or proved by a subscribing witness, before the clerk can record it. Section 689.01 requires two subscribing witnesses on a deed or other instrument that conveys an interest in land, and the witnesses may attend by audio-video technology. Section 117.05 caps the fee at $10 per notarial act and makes it unlawful for notaries to notarize their own signature. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-35-106 gives a recorded instrument notice effect whether it is acknowledged, unacknowledged or defectively acknowledged, and treats a defective acknowledgment as proper only after the document has sat of record for ten years. Ten years is a long time to leave a question open, so notarize. Under 38-33.3-217(5), the officer the association designates, or the president if no one was designated, prepares, executes, records and certifies amendments, and 38-33.3-217(3) makes an amendment effective only when recorded. Section 24-21-529 caps the notary fee at $15 per document, or $25 for an electronic signature.

Get the signing authority right first

The county clerk will record a document signed by the wrong person. The problem shows up years later, when a title company or an owner's lawyer asks whether that person could bind the association. Check three things before anyone signs: - The bylaws or the declaration. Many name the president to sign instruments and the secretary to attest. Some amendment clauses name a specific officer, as Colorado's 38-33.3-217(5) does by default. - The vote. The board, or the owners if the documents require it, approves the final text before signing. Signing a draft and approving it later is backwards. - The signature block. The signer signs for the association, not personally. Use a block like this: OAK HOLLOW HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., a Texas nonprofit corporation By: ______________________ Jane Ruiz, President Put the minutes excerpt that approved the document, and the motion naming the signer, in the same file as the recorded copy. That one page answers the authority question for whoever asks next.

In person or online

An in-person notary is the easy default. Banks often notarize for their own customers, and title companies, shipping stores and mobile notaries do it for a fee. Bring the unsigned original, every page, and a current government photo ID. Florida's section 117.05(5) lets a notary rely on certain IDs only if they are current or were issued within the past five years. Online notarization helps when the president is out of town or the signer cannot get to a notary. - Texas. Government Code chapter 406, subchapter C, covers online notaries. Under section 406.110(b) the notary verifies identity by personal knowledge or by remote presentation of an ID plus credential analysis and identity proofing. Section 406.108(c) requires the notary to keep the electronic record for at least five years, and section 406.111 allows up to $25 per online notarization on top of the regular fee. - Florida. Section 117.275 allows up to $25 for an online notarization. - Colorado. C.R.S. 24-21-514.5 allows remote notarization only for an electronic record, requires the notary to be physically in Colorado, and requires the notary to notify the Secretary of State before the first remote act. An online session produces an electronic document. Ask the county clerk how it accepts electronically notarized documents before you book one.

Make the page recordable

Clerks reject documents for format problems more often than for anything legal. Florida spells its rules out in section 695.26(1): - The signer's name printed, typed or stamped directly under the signature, with the signer's post-office address on the document. - The name and post-office address of the person who prepared it. - Each witness's name printed under the witness signature, with the witness's post-office address. - The notary's name printed under the notary signature. - A blank 3-inch by 3-inch space in the top right corner of the first page, and a 1-inch by 3-inch space on each later page, for the clerk. - For a deed or other conveyance, the name and post-office address of each grantee. Texas and Colorado counties publish their own page-size, margin and fee rules on the clerk's website. Treat Florida's list as a good checklist anywhere. If the document creates a new legal description in Colorado, C.R.S. 38-35-106.5 asks for the name and address of the person who wrote it. Attach the legal description as an exhibit, and check the lot and block numbers against the plat before signing.

Motion and a sample timeline

Motion the board can copy: 'Moved, that the board approves the amended management certificate in the form presented, authorizes [name], as [secretary], to sign it on behalf of the association and acknowledge the signature before a notary public, and directs [name] to record it in [county] County and place the recorded copy in the association's records.' For a 70-home Texas association whose manager changed on March 1: - March 3: The secretary drafts the amended management certificate with the new contact name, mailing address and phone. - March 10: The board approves it at its monthly meeting using the motion above. - March 12: The secretary signs at the association's bank branch. The notary fee is $10. - March 13: The secretary records it with the county clerk and pays the recording fee. - Late March: The clerk returns the recorded copy with an instrument number. The secretary files it with the March 10 minutes. That finishes well inside the 30 days that section 209.004(b) allows after the association learns of the change.

Mistakes boards make

- Signing ahead of the notary. In Texas and Florida the signer acknowledges in front of the notary, so sign at the appointment, not at home the night before. - Having a director who is a notary stamp a document that the same director signed. Florida bans notarizing your own signature outright. Pick a notary with no stake in the document. - Forgetting Florida's two witnesses on a deed or easement. A notary alone is not enough under section 689.01. - Leaving blanks. Fill in the date, the dollar amounts and the exhibits before anyone signs. A notary may refuse an incomplete document, and a clerk may reject one. - Recording in one county when the community spans two. Texas section 209.004 and Colorado's 38-33.3-217(3) both require recording in each county where the property sits. - Losing the recorded copy. The clerk's instrument number is the proof that the filing exists. File it with the vote that approved it. Our guide on how to record and release an HOA assessment lien walks through the lien paperwork in detail, and our guide on how to fix an error in recorded HOA documents covers what to do when a mistake has already been recorded.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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