Hill Church Notary and Auto Tags is a notary public office and PennDOT-authorized auto tag agency located at 716 Hill Church Road in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. The business combines two related lines of work under one roof: the full range of notarial acts permitted under Pennsylvania law, and the motor vehicle paperwork that Pennsylvania residents would otherwise handle through a PennDOT facility. Along with cars, trucks and trailers, the office processes titles and registrations for boats, ATVs and snowmobiles through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
The agency can be reached at (610) 473-0767. It is fully bonded and insured, as Pennsylvania requires of commissioned notaries and authorized messenger services.
History
The business was founded by Christine Krause, who took her official oath of office at the Berks County Courthouse in September 2009. The home-based office opened for business on March 22, 2010. In the years since, it has grown from a single-notary operation into a family run agency, with more than one person available to handle appointments and mobile signings. The 2010 founding date places it among the longer-established independent tag services in the Boyertown area, a region where many residents live several miles from the nearest state-run driver and vehicle services center.
Service Area
Hill Church Road sits in the rural stretch of countryside between Boyertown and Bechtelsville, near the Berks and Montgomery county line. Customers come from Boyertown, Bechtelsville, Gilbertsville, Bally, Barto, Oley, Fleetwood and Pottstown, as well as surrounding townships and communities farther afield. Because notary commissions in Pennsylvania are statewide, the office can also serve customers traveling from other parts of Berks, Montgomery, Chester and Lehigh counties.
Notary Services
The office performs all seven official notarial acts recognized in Pennsylvania. These include:
- Acknowledgments
- Affidavits
- Certifications and attested copies
- Oaths and affirmations
- Depositions
- Protests
- Other acts authorized under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts
Notarial fees in Pennsylvania are set by the state rather than by individual notaries. Because the fees are regulated, customers can expect the same statutory pricing they would find at any other commissioned notary in the Commonwealth.
Beyond routine signatures, the office handles documents tied to estate and legal planning, including wills, powers of attorney and health care directives such as living wills. It also performs mortgage closings and mobile ICD-9 signings for lenders, title companies and signing services. Customers preparing estate documents should bring valid government-issued photo identification for every signer, and should not sign the documents in advance, since Pennsylvania law requires that certain signatures be made in the notary's presence.
Mobile and After Hours Notary
For customers who cannot travel to Hill Church Road, the business offers mobile notary visits. This service is frequently used for hospital and nursing home signings, home visits for people with limited mobility, and real estate or loan closings that need to take place at a different location. Appointments can be arranged outside standard business hours, including evenings, weekends and holidays. Customers may text Chris at (610) 413-7947 or Brad at (484) 269-4100 to schedule a mobile appointment.
Vehicle Titles, Tags and Registration
As a PennDOT-authorized agent, the office completes most routine motor vehicle transactions on the spot. Instant title transfers and instant registration renewals mean that customers typically leave the same visit with a registration card and a license plate in hand rather than waiting for mail delivery. Temporary tags and in-transit tags are also issued on site, which is useful for buyers who need to drive a newly purchased vehicle home legally.
For a standard private-party title transfer, customers should bring:
- The vehicle title, properly signed by the seller
- A current Pennsylvania driver's license or photo ID
- Proof of insurance for the vehicle
- The current registration card, if a plate is being transferred
- A bill of sale, which is used to document the purchase price for sales tax purposes
Specialty and Commercial Vehicle Work
The agency handles a broad set of transactions that go beyond basic renewals, including:
- Antique, classic and collectible vehicle plates
- Reconstructed and specially constructed vehicle titling
- Registration weight changes for trucks and trailers
- Farm vehicle and municipal plates
- Duplicate titles, duplicate registrations and corrections to existing records
- Out of state title transfers into Pennsylvania
- Storage auction and mechanic's lien title processing
- Apportioned registrations for commercial vehicles
- Specialty and organizational license plates
Customers bringing a truck or trailer in from another state should be prepared with an unladen weight slip and the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), since Pennsylvania registration classes are weight based. Transactions that cannot be completed instantly, such as certain apportioned registrations and complex title corrections, are submitted through the office's PennDOT messenger service, a more recent addition that lets the staff forward paperwork on a customer's behalf rather than sending the customer to a state facility.
Boats, ATVs and Snowmobiles
Recreational vehicle paperwork is handled in-house through DCNR. The office issues boat titles, boat registrations and launch permits, allowing watercraft owners to complete all three in a single visit. It also processes instant title transfers, registrations and duplicates for ATVs and snowmobiles, which are commonly bought and sold privately in the farm country and wooded areas around Boyertown and Oley.
Practical Information
Appointments are available after hours, on weekends and on holidays in addition to regular business hours, which can be helpful for customers who work daytime shifts. Payments made by cash or check receive a 3% discount, a common practice among tag agencies because card processing fees apply to the agency's own service charges.
Because requirements vary by transaction, customers are generally advised to call ahead at (610) 473-0767 to confirm which documents to bring, particularly for out of state titles, reconstructed vehicles, weight changes or estate-related signings where multiple parties must be present. The combination of notary work and tag service in one office means that transactions involving both, such as a title transfer that requires a notarized power of attorney, can be completed without a second stop.