NO Drop boxes Please!

I know allot of you use drop boxes (Fedex,UPS,etc) to drop your doc's. And before you say it, I know some of you have no other options that are close to you. In this case your options are limited. You are forgiven :). Maybe you have had issues with this or maybe you haven't. But regardless it is something to consider, if at all possible please don't drop your packages in drop boxes. Because. If it goes bad and the docs get lost and you have no documentation It can cause you a great amount of grief, stress and aggravation and in the end it could cost you a valuable client. To prove my point, here is one story of several that has been shared with me. I had a notary just the other day call in to 123notary. From her tone she was obviously very upset. It seems she had completed a signing successfully and had dropped her docs on a Friday in one of those infamous drop boxes of Fedex and it was now Tuesday and (she gets that dreaded call) the title company still hadn't received them. (I thought to myself, this is going to be bad.) When the notary and title went to track them, there was no tracking information available. To make matters even worse there was a substantial amount in a cashiers check also in the missing package. The assignment that had been given to the notary was the purchaser of the property. SO now everyone is upset and confused as to what to do. Now in my mind I'm thinking why in the world would you drop a set of docs in a drop box especially with a large amount in a cashiers check. This to me is is a disaster waiting to happen. The first thing I let our notary know is that unless absolutely necessary you should always hand your packages to a driver (and ask him to scan them or take them to hub or service center, have them scan them and get a receipt. This way YOU are off the hook. Which brings me to another point...PLEASE remember when you are required to fill out the shipping labels you should always list their name as the shipper and the recipient. This serves two purposes. One, if it gets lost it will go back to them not you. And Second, if they (the hiring party) doesn't pay their bill then you won't get the bill.. If you put your name in the sender's section and they don't pay their bill it will without a doubt go to you... Until next time! Be safe! Carmen

The signing from hell......

The Signing from hell…. I have been a notary signing agent for many years now and for the most part I have enjoyed it tremendously. I love the freedom and independence that it affords me and I enjoy meeting wonderful new people from all walks of life. As with most jobs there are good and bad days. This is the tale of one of those bad days. Probably the worst day as a signing agent ever-for me that is. The story begins Get ready for a hell of a story. Here we go. I got a call late on a Friday afternoon from one of my title company schedulers (Fidelity National Title) for a job on the following day, a Saturday. I gladly accepted. I received the confirmation and then proceeded to call the borrower to verify time and place. Saturday came and I made my way over to the borrower’s home. When I drove up to the borrowers home the first thing I noticed was the house was VERY run down, and I couldn’t help wondering to myself if the bank knew what they were doing in granting a loan for this property but who am I to judge. Going up the stairs… So I parked and then proceeded up the stairs to the house and could see and feel that the whole house was crooked, like on slant. It was obvious It had once been a single family house that somebody who obviously didn’t have a contractors license had chopped it up and made some what I call make shift apartments out of it. And you could actually see the termites crawling on various pieces of exposed wood. But again it is not my place to judge. So I went to what looked like the only real front door (as there were several) and knocked. I heard what I thought was an animal with paws approaching the door. The Signer and his long clicking toe nails! But to my surprise it was a young man. But not just an ordinary man but a man with the longest toe nails I have every seen (that is what I heard coming to the door the clicking of his toe nails hitting the floor as he walked). He was also the filthiest person that I have seen as well who living in a house and not on the streets. He was wearing dirty boxers and a dirty torn tee shirt. Then to top it off there was a smell that I cannot to this day describe. While I stood motionless in disbelief and shock, I heard a sweet woman’s voice saying ‘is that her, is that the lady…tell her to come on up…please come on up’…and I cannot tell you why but I went into the door way and accened up a dark stairway and I heard what I assumed was the young man that opened the door who now was behind me start turning about 4-5 locks one by one and as they clicked and locked behind me and I became terrified..truthfully I thought I was going to see my maker that day but I kept on climbing the stairs and the further I ascended up the stairs the stench got worse. The air was so thick… I could have cut it with a knife… I could hardly breath. There was absolutely no ventilation. The air was so thick I could have cut it with a knife. And I thought to myself I must have lost my mind. To this day I still cant explain why I didnt just turn around when the front door first opened and just leave. When I reached the the top of the stairs it was very dark and as my eyes started to adjust there was more horror. Dishes and trash pilled everywhere and there were two extremely dirty mattresses one on the floor which the young man who had let me in proceeded to ly down on and cover himself up with a dirty blanket and the other which was sitting up on a mattress frame was the lady who I presumed had called out to m. She was sitting on the edge of the mattress with two swollen legs that resembled tree trunks with clearly to me looked like flesh eating disease. There was an abundance of open sores and I’ll just leave it at that. She then says to me that they had just painted the floor and I was to sit in that area…I said excuse me….and she then pointed to a 10 foot corner that had a coach that clearly had been freshly painted…I thought to myself I must be in the twlight zone or on one of those candid camera tv shows…. The signing begins.. I sat down and asked for the documents (they had been overnighted to the borrower; it was one of those WAMU deals, and I guess it it obvious now why they went out of business…lol) and the signers ID. She looked puzzled but asked the young man to get up and look for the requested items….he reluctantly got up and looked for a few minutes but to me it didnt seem that he was really looking or knew what he was looking for. He was wandering around aimlessly and then told the lady that he could not find them. She accepted this and all I’ll say is that I was so grateful that the ID and and loan docs couldn’t be found…I immediately got up let them know I had to go for I had another appointment and if the missing items came up please call so we could re-schedule another appointment (yes, I lied) and then with the young man in front leading me out I proceedded to the stairway and headed down the steps. No ID? No problem, let’s reschedule.. time to go!!!! Thankfully he had the unlocked those locks and he was opening the door when I reached the foot of the steps. I thanked him and bolted through the door gasping for air as I went. I really didnt realize how much I was shaken up until I reached my car. I fumbled for the key, opened the drivers door, sat behind the drivers seat and began trembling. I could still smell that dreadful smell. Dear god, I had brought it with me. Before I could compose myself, in a state is horror, I once again heard those clicks of those toe nails and looked up to see the young man at my passenger side car door excitingly letting me know that he had found the loan doc’sI could hear him saying “Oh Miss, Oh miss I got what you need” and me being the quick thinker I am, I asked him had he found the ID as well. He looking disappointed said oh no…and walked back to his house. All I could do was just sit there and try to regain my composure. Soon after however I felt sick to my stomach and I opened the door leaned my head down towards the street concrete and everything that had been in my stomach come up….After about 15 minutes I started the car up and went home. I opened my front door and stripped down and left it all outside. Clothes, briefcase and all. I took a long hot shower and washed the clothes I had been wearing. After this I immediately sat down and sent Fidelity a very long recap of all of these events and told them NOT to send a request that I go back…ever. When Monday came I got a an apology via email from Fidelity and that was the end of it. I never heard one thing about it ever again. Shortly after however, I did receive my full fee of 150.00. Of this I was thankful. I was polite through the whole ordeal! In closing, there is one thing I want to add. Although I was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. The borrower and who I presumed was her son, never new for one minute that I had issues with any of what I described here. I was cheerful, kind and professional throughout all of it. Until next time… Carmen

The lady and her husband....

Sometimes I just don't get what some folks are thinking!!! Seems a notary accepts a signing for the same day that her husband was being released from the hospital. But rather than not accepting the job or making other arrangement for her husband she decides to pick him up and take him to the signing with her. And of course she feels that she cant watch him if she leaves him in the car she drags him to the front door Introduces him to the borrowers explains that he has just been released from the hospital and she had no other choice but to bring him along. The man is on a oxygen and from other information that I was able to get out of her he was not well at all. So not thinking any thing about this behavior she drags him on in the borrowers living room sits her husband down in an arm chair and tells them lets get to it. She doesn't want to rush them but she has to get her husband home. I am listening to this story and I am think "WHAT, Is she serious??? I asked her, Do you see anything wrong with your behavior? She says, "No, what was I supposed to do? It is obvious she has no clue. She felt that she had no other options. I saw a couple but hell it was to late now. Damage had been already been done. It seems that the borrowers had complained BIG TIME...ummm, duh...I asked her, 'Did you think for one minute that they wouldn't". She actually didn't think so. Its funny how folks seem to think they can say and do anything they want but are surprised that there are consequences for their behavior. I asked why did she just find someone to take her place, She said bottom line she need the money.... So needless to say she lost a very valuable client. Thanks for reading Be safe! Carmen

No, you can't give it back....

Recently, I have gotten quite a few calls regarding fees that the notary sees on the borrowers HUD's. These are relatively new notaries and they are bewildered and troubled at some of the notary fees that they see. Some of the fees are upwards of 250.00 and I assure them that this is nothing unusual. What is troubling to them is that they are getting 80-90 dollars (often times less) and after seeing the HUD they now want more money and/or want to give the job back. Out of the several calls I get regarding this topic, I had one new notary in particular who was VERY angry. She did not understand completely how this fee thing worked or even how to distinguish one caller from another. In other words she didn't know if it was a signing service or a title/escrow company on the line let alone what questions she should be asking. So I had to spend some time with her educating her on the differences between a signing service call and title company call. She was totally lost. Once I explained it throughly, and although she now understood the differences she still wanted to get the money listed on the HID or give the job back. I told her she could NOT do this. I told her,that It was not professional and unethical. She must keep her word by not tarnishing her reputation. She had agreed to the price and she should keep her word no matter what. Her reputation was now at stake. I also told her that she should consider this a bought lesson. The best kind in my opinion...:) I went on to tell her that now that she understands how this notary gig works, she needed to sit down and crunch some numbers to see what fees she will be most comfortable with. This way whatever she sees on the HUD/settlement statement it wont concern her because she will have gotten what she feels is a fair price for her services. As I told her, If I am getting what I feel I deserve, I don't bother or care about what numbers I see elsewhere. Not my problem... Until next time..... ~Carmen

Where and when did it all go wrong?

The longer I stay in this business the more I see things that just don't sit right with me. For example, I for the life of me don't understand why we as notaries don't demand more from the companies that use our services. Doesn't it strike anyone other than me odd that when we work with various companies they demand a copy of our commission, E and O insurance (usually with very high limit), copies of insurance and drivers license and anything else they can dream up, but they in turn DON't supply ANY information about who they are (well, except for their contracts about don't do this and don't do that). Is this because we don't ask and/or demand this information? And why don't we ask? Are we afraid? After all, WE are providing a service, WE use our time, cars/gas, paper/printer, ink, supplies, etc, and then extending credit to them. We jump through all of these hoops without ever really knowing if we are going to get paid. Unfortunately for us, we work on a wing and a prayer. As I often say, we don't know any of these companies from a can of paint. Sure, as a last hope, we can go to 123notary.com and other sites (which I recommend highly due to no other options) and search the forums to see what other notaries experiences may have been but that is really not the efficient way of doing it and that does not guarantee payment. When and how did this become an acceptable standard that we jump through hoops to work with folks that take our jobs, dictate our fee and to add further insult NEVER are required to prove their credit worthiness?!? I mean anyone running a service orientated business (like we do) would typically ask a potential client to supply them with payment either in advance or immediately after the services were rendered. If they needed to establish credit with the company an application for credit would be in order and perhaps a profit and loss statement as well as their credit report. This would show whether they are credit worthy and have the means to pay. And if they didn't pay us after an agreed amount of time we would have the necessary information to help in collecting the debt. This is just the way a business should be run. Unfortunately for us it is just the opposite and it is time for us to do something about it. We need to change the way we do business. If we don't pay more attention to who we work for and how we handle our payments from them they are going to be more instances where we won't be paid. Just something to think about! Until the next time....be safe! ~Carmen

Look em' up before you go!

I often get calls regarding different companies that many of you work with or are contemplating working with. Usually you are wondering whether they pay or not. Other times it is to let me know something that a company may be doing that is unusual or that they just don’t pay at all. But here as of late in the span of a week. I have received two calls where the notary has went out to do a job with a company that they did not check out first. Now there is nothing unusual about this because they could have caught them off guard and/or they didn't have time to check. But what is unusual is that these particular individuals decided not to bother checking one way or the other and now that they are being stiffed on want myself or Jeremy to call on there behalf and demand payment for them. Now most of you know me, I never mind helping any of our members but this is really not either myself or Jeremy's place to call. As a competent business owner, because that is in fact what we are as traveling notary signing agents, it is the notaries responsibility to make sure of the companies worthiness before you work with them-certainly not after. And as unfortunate it is that hat there is now a problem it is ultimately the notaries burden at this point. As my mother use to say is a lesson learnt that you will never forget. Remember when you get a job PLEASE check the company out throughly. You can search our forums and some of the other directories to find out If there is information on them. If you find no information on them then you need to decide whether you want to take a risk or not. If you happen to accept a job and find out later (before you actually do the assignment0 that they have a bad reputation then by all means let them know and return the job back to them. It is very sad that this is our only option because if were were really operating our business wisely we would have credit applications, require a profit and loss and require them to provide references. After all we are the ones doing the work and providing credit as well…… Until next time... ~Carmen

What to do when the phone stops ringing....

For some of you the phone has stopped ringing altogether...dead silence. "What am I going to do?" you ask yourself and me as well.... Market, market, market and then market some more. In the dead times this is what you should be doing especially if you are full time traveling notary/CSA and want to keep it that way. Most people I speak with don't want to work an 9-5 and many of you told me that they would rather 'die' then go back to that same old 9-5 routine. :) I understand completely. We all love the freedom and independence that the notary profession gives us. And even though our lifestyles are unique the flexibility of a traveling notary is usually there for all of us. (Which would account for its popularity, I assume) You cannot sit on your laurels and think because you have paid advertising in place that that is all you need to be successful. With interest rates starting to climb and applications for loans significantly down signings are beginning to dwindle. If you are in an area where there are no state restrictions on travel fees then you need to think about general notary work. Get out there to those convalescent facilities, hotels, hospitals, etc. have a card or flyer to give them. You may offer them a referral fee or perhaps you want to offer a discount on services. Hand out flyers and/or business cards to everyone. Make sure you have a website and be sure to link it to all the places that you advertise. Call ALL the companies that you have previously worked for and let them know you are thinking of them and are still available for all of their notary needs. And last but not least. Make sure all your listings/advertising is up to date and current with all the services you provide I personally take Paypal and credit cards. This is an added benefit to potential clients. Also list any credentials you may have. These are just a few suggestions. If you have more then please comment and share. Until the next time! Be safe! ~Carmen

Look I know the signing services provide a service and it is hard work but come on....It's almost 2013. Where did some of these folks come from? What is wrong with certain companies that hire us? They have all these rules and demands. Don't answer your phone in a closing. Don't call the borrower before you go, the appointment is all set. Then you get here then the borrowers didn't have a clue that you were coming. In fact sometimes they don't even know the loan is ready to be closed. Then they have the nerve to offer a whooping fee of 70.00 for printing, faxing back, travel and time. And whats with all the last minute cancellations? (After I have turned away several other jobs that may have went through) Who pays for this? But what is even more unsettling is that some of you are taking these 70.00 jobs. At this rate believe me you are working for FREE. I mean lets face it, everything is going up but our pay. Gas, paper ink, advertising, etc. But the fees are constantly going down. I was doing signings for 75.00 over 6 years ago. Today some of these signing companies are offering even less than that (and they want more duties from you) and it costs us way more to operate but they still are insisting we take lower pay. Now I'll be first to say that it is your business and you are calling the shots, and making all the decisions for what best for your business. And it may sound as if I too am telling you what to do. But, I just don't see how anyone can make a decent living taking this type of low paying work. I think that if you crunch the numbers you'd see that you are more likely than not operating at a loss. I truly believe that if we collectively stand our ground and refuse these low paying jobs it would make it better for all of us. But unfortunately, this probably will happen. There is always someone that will take these jobs regardless of what I or anyone else tells them. Some feel that they need the work so badly that 'some' work is better than 'no' work. Personally, I want to work smarter not harder. As most of you all know I believe in making what I am worth. Remember that without us most of these loans WOULDN't get closed. Now, before anybody starts up, I am NOT talking about price fixing. I am talking about getting paid a fair amount that matches the work being performed. Many service orientated businesses have guideline as to what to charge and they are pretty close to others that are of the same profession.. If we don't stop and think about the effect of what we do not only has on us but on others and this profession ....very soon it wont even be worth the effort. Until next time! Be safe! ~Carmen

A Notary gets dragged into court!

I love it that you guys share your stories and/or experiences with me. I feel that not only are they interesting they need to be told. They also serve to educate all of us of whats happening out here and also make us think. This is one of those stories. I was speaking with one of our long standing notaries about their renewal and some other matters which led him to tell me this story which I feel it is very important, because although through no fault of the notary we need to remember to do our jobs to the best of our ability and to always be on the lookout for fraud.
It seems that this notary had received a summons to court and had been going to trial for the past few days and he was not at all pleased. I cant believe it because as far as I know it it not that often a notary gets called into court. At least for me it is something that I don’t hear about too often.

It seems that a loan signing assignment had been given to him which he completed with no problems but it had turned out many months later that the person that had appeared before him and the person that had signed the loan documents was not the true borrower named on the documentation nor was it his property. The culprit was the son. So, I guess it is safe to say, the son desperately needed money for god knows what and had initiated a loan in his fathers name using the father’s property using his fathers name. I thought to myself “What kind of person does this”? Did the son actually think he was going to get away with it? I mean the note would possibly be changing as well and some of the other things like maybe the lender, etc. What did he think his father would not notice? DId he think he wouldn’t get caught??? or did he even care.

I guess for some folks desperate times calls for desperate measures. So now our notary had to spend precious time for which he wasn’t compensated for in court because of someone else’s crime. The notary was required to produce his journal and had to ID the son as the one who had impersonated his father.
I asked the notary how the ID looked he said it was not a fake as far as he knew. He told me that nothing was out of the ordinary. And the signing went smooth.

Now, the notary did absolutely nothing wrong in this case and it was out of his control but it got me to be thinking that sometimes we can become too comfortable in our job and our duties.. So the moral of this story is that we need to be paying attention at all times because there there is always somebody out here trying to pull a fast one….check those id’s carefully and document everything in your journal. And if your state doesn’t require you to keep a journal then you should. It may save you a whole lot of trouble if a ‘situation’ should ever arrive. The notary had his journal and all of the proof that he needed so he was in the clear.

Be Safe

Carmen

Death and The Notary

I have heard that it it best to get some things done sooner rather than later but this one takes it to another level….

Some borrowers won’t let even a death in the family stop them from a refinance transaction. I had a notary that received a job from one of his trusty signing companies. He confirmed everything and prepared his documents. On the day of the signing he received a last minute call stating that the borrower had a death in the family but they were going to proceed with the closing at the agreed upon time.

So, our notary arrived at the house as scheduled not only to find that there indeed was a death; the female borrower had sadly lost her mother. It was apparent that she was distraught and he could see that she had been crying, but she insisted that she wanted to proceed anyway. So our notary pulled out the tools of the trade and got ID’s logged in and proceeded to start to pass the docs down the assembly line for signature and initials. However about ever two or so docs the door bell would ring a family member and/or friend would start to come bearing food, gifts of condolence. So as the visitors would come the female borrower would stop the signing and get up go to the door greet her quests as they came to pay their respects. They would offer their sympathy and condolences and then tears would begin to flow again. ANd she would come back to the signing table and begin to sign again. Needless to say this went on for over two hours. Boy, all I can say is the signing agent on this one was a trooper. It seems that the motivator for this borrower to sign no matter what was a 30 year fixed at 3.8 or so. I guess who could blame her. Life does goes on….

So It seems a great interest rate no matter what the circumstances (good or bad) will never stop some borrowers from signing loan docs.

Until next time!

Be safe!

More on ID's

I love it that you guys share your stories and/or experiences with me. I feel that not only are they interesting they need to be told, serve to educate all of us of whats happening out here and also make us think. This is one of those stories. I was speaking with one of our long standing notaries about their renewal and some other matters which led him to tell me this story which I feel it very important because although no fault of the notary we need to remember to do our jobs to the best of our ability. To always be on the lookout for fraud.

It seems that this notary had received a summons to court and had been going to trial for the past few days and he was not at all pleased. I cant believe it because as far as I know it rare. It seems that a loan signing assignment had been given to him which he completed with no problems but it had turned out many months later that the person that had appeared before him and the person that had signed the loan documents was not the true borrower named on the documentation nor was it his property. The culprit was the son. So, I guess it is safe to say, the son desperately needed money for god knows what and had initiated a loan in his fathers name using the fathers property using his fathers name. I thought to myself “What kind of person does this”? Did the son actually think he was going to get away with it? I mean the note would possibly be changing as well and some of the other things like maybe the lender, etc. What did he think his father would not notice? DId he think he wouldn’t get caught??? or did he even care. I guess for some folks desperate times calls for desperate measures. So now our notary had to spend precious time for which he wasn’t compensated for in court because of someone else’s crime. The notary was required to produce his journal and had to ID the son as the one who had impersonated his father.

I asked the notary how the ID looked he said it was not a fake as far as he knew. He told me that nothing was out of the ordinary. And the signing went smooth.

Now the notary did absolutely nothing wrong in this case and it was out of his control but it got me to be thinking that sometimes we can become too comfortable in our job and our duties.. So the moral of this story is that we need to be paying attention at all times because there there is always somebody out here trying to pull a fast one….check those id’s carefully and document everything in your journal. And if your state doesn’t require you to keep a journal then you should. It may save you a whole lot of trouble if a ‘situation’ should ever arrive. The notary had his journal and all of the proof that he needed so he was in the clear.

The Husband and the Stolen License

A few years back when I was working full time as a signing agent. I was called by LSI to do a loan signing scheduled for the following day. I proceeded to make contact with the borrowers and confirmed time and place. There were 3 borrower’s. The mother, her son and his wife. I made sure that all three would be present for the closing and I was assured that they would be. As planned, I met with them the following day at our scheduled time and the mother and the son were present. I hadn’t seen the wife as yet but assumed she was in the other room and would appear shortly. The son gave me 3 ID’s. One for each of them and they were all current. I set up shop and proceeded to write the identifications in my notary journal. I got everything logged in and then I told the son and mother that we were ready. I asked how soon would the wife of the son be joining us. The mother looked dumbfounded. The son immediately spoke up and said that his wife was a notary in California just like me and that she had given him ‘permission’ to sign for her. I said “Excuse me! Are you serious” I continued by telling him “And If your wife was a notary as you say she would know that that is fraud and totally not allowed under any circumstances to have another sign for someone that is not present.’ He told me that was not what his wife had told him I informed him again that the wife HAD to be present or there was no signing would be take place. I asked him for the wife’s phone number so I could call her. And to my shock and disbelief, he stated that he didn’t have it…I thought to my self that although I couldn’t quite place it something was terribly wrong here. I excused my self and went outside and I called the title company immediately and they said to pack it up and they would try to get in touch with the wife and get back to me with a new signing date.

So as requested, I packed it up and went back to my office. This whole thing was so very odd to me. And I will admit it was troubling. I began to search through the paperwork, I looked at the 1003 no luck and just by accident on some junk doc’s I found a couple of numbers for her jotted down in the corners. I then proceeded to call her. I introduced myself and began to tell her about the loan and what had happened at her husbands and mother-in laws home. But guess what! She had NO IDEA of what I was talking about. You could tell that she didn’t really believe me either. It was obvious that she had no clue that there had been an appointment earlier and that they were refinancing without her. (Turns out that this was the mothers house and she had many years ago graciously put all of their names on it, in case something happened to her). She (the missing wife) told me that she had had no communication with her husband for a couple of weeks and that they were separated and she had made it clear to him that she was planning on a divorce. I went on to tell her that her soon to be ex had given me her ID and told her what he had said about him signing her name for her. She told me that was impossible and that I couldn’t have had her ID because she had lost it and had applied for a new one. So I told her that I had held somebody’s id with her name on it in my hands. I then began describing the picture I saw and then I read her the details from the license (because remember I had written it in my notary journal; that journal can be a life saver). I had even remembered her hair color. It was her alright. As as you can guess there were many expletives on her part regarding that soon to be ex-husband of hers. Now she knew where her ID was. Sheesh!!

Come to find out he had stolen it from her when they last met. He hadn’t paid any child support in months. And she and I after talking a bit surmised that he didn’t want to involve his mothers house in their divorce drama for fear that she would want a share of the house in the divorce. So he had took the Id and thought he could persuade me (or whomever the notary was going to be) into letting him sign for her. Ummm, Isn’t this what they call pre meditation….LOL. He had it all worked out. What we couldn’t surmise was was his mother part of the plan. My gut feeling is no but we will never know. And BTW, (the wife) was not even a notary!

The wife turned out to be was a very good woman. She didn’t want to take her husbands mothers family home. She said after all this was her 3 children’s grandmother. She said that she would sign the paperwork and gave me the times she was available for the next few days. I told her I had to call title and discuss it with them because I knew they would most likely do a re-draw and get back to her. So I called them and let them know that I had found her and they would talk to the son and mother and set a new time. A day passed and title called me back stating that the son had requested that they use a different notary. And LSI let them know that that was NOT going to happen. They were sending the same notary and if they refused no loan. It’s nice when a title company sands up for you!!

In closing, I went back about 2 days later with new doc’s with all 3 parties present this time around and although it was a little awkward and there was allot of tension in the room, all went well considering.

Until the next one, take care and be safe out there.

Notary is pushed off Stairs by Borrower!!!!

Well, I thought I had heard it all. I hear allot of wonderful, interesting tales here at 123 from our members. Some are entertaining and funny while others are very sad and depressing. This, unfortunately is one of these stories and unfortunately it is the worst to date. It is nothing short of horrendous and shameful. Although I have her permission to tell her story, I promised her I would not reveal her or the area she lives in. So here we go…

This particular notary who is female took a signing from a signing company, she confirmed her appointment, prepared her docs and met her borrower at the the specified time. As she went through the documents, he saw that his interest rate was 1/2 percent more than he had been told. He then became enraged. He requested (using vulgarity) that she leave his home immediately. She packed up her things up and prepared to leave the premises. As she proceeded to the door the borrower followed, continuing to rant and rave using foul language incessantly. He was VERY angry with this 1/2 of a percent increase that nobody had bothered to inform him of (sadly, a story we all are familiar with and have heard many times) and, to top it to make matters even worse off, the loan officer had not been in contact with him and had been unreachable for several days.

So, as she walked out of the door onto his front porch there were 4 steps to go down to the walkway that would lead to her car… But, before she could take that first step — with the force of both of his hands on her shoulders he pushed her down and off the porch. She went flying off the porch, and by the grace of God she somehow pivoted her body onto the grass instead of his cemented walkway that was directly in front of her but unfortunately in trying to break her fall she broke her left wrist. In disbelief and shock she just laid there. The borrower went back into the house and shut and locked his door. However, fortunately for her, the borrower’s neighbor who was mowing his lawn at the time witnessed the whole thing. He called out to his wife to call the police and the paramedics and he came to her aid and sat with her until they arrived. (A knight in shining armor). The paramedics attended to her and after the police got the story from both the notary and the neighbor one of the officers went to the door of the borrower , rang the bell and the borrower did not answer. At that point the officer yelled out to him to open the door or else. He did eventually open the door, and then was immediately handcuffed and placed under arrest and was put in the back of the police car.

Now folks get this — as the paramedics worked on our notary to prepare her for the trip to the hospital and the police filled out their report the borrower (hand cuffed in the back seat of the police car) was still ranting and raving non stop with vulgarities that they (the police and paramedics) needed to get this you know what off his grass and property. One of the police officers obviously fed up with this behavior as well as the noise went over to the borrower and told him that he needed to shut up and slammed the car door. He then asked the neighbor if this behavior was characteristic of this man. The neighbor and the wife just looked at each other and nodded yes… I just cant believe this man and his behavior, I am still in awe of all of it.

The paramedics said that if she had fallen onto the concrete instead of the grass she would have broken both wrists and god knows what else in the process. All things considered she was lucky-it could have been way worse.

She ended up staying in the hospital of 4-5 days instead of the day and half she was originally told due to an infection she developed in her wrist.

Now it is 1 month later and she is finally back to work. She is healing well I asked her how she felt about her career now (she is a full time signing agent) and if she felt like giving it up…and she said no way. She says she loves her job and knew this was just something that happened. Kudos to her! She and DA have filled charges and he has 3 counts against him and there will be a civil suit as well. I hope he gets ALL that is coming to him….I say throw the book at him.

Now, of course the signing service that gave her the assignment wants to know why the loan wasn’t closed. Well get this; When she called in to tell them what had happened from the hospital — the person on the other end of the line laughed and said “you could have come up with a better excuse than that”. So, in order to clear her name she had to send in the police report, hospital records etc….( and yes she did manage to call the day of the signing)

So, all of this leaves me with a few thoughts. I really feel that this could have been avoided if the loan officer had done his job. This is so often the case where the loan officer knows exactly what the numbers are way ahead of time but avoids sharing this information with the borrowers and we go out at the final hour when they know these borrowers are desperate and for the most part are stuck and cant turn back now, and they regrettably just sign. And we get stuck in middle — and in this case — pushed down a flight of stairs. Now some of you will disagree and put up a fuss but this is why when I call and confirm with the borrowers I ask them has the loan officer been in touch and have they gone over the figures with them. If the answer is yes then I ask them what are the numbers supposed to be. This way if the number con-inside with what I see, we are good. If not, I can alert the hiring party that we have a problem before I waste the borrowers time or MINE. I can avoid problems at the table-situations like the one I just described to you here. (aLthough it is rare and the first time I have heard such of a thing happing it is now a reality that it is possible). This technique does not always work but it is sure worth a try. And it might save you some trouble. I have been doing it for years. Now I know some of you will chew my head off about this technique of mine but this is my business and I run it as I see fit-just as you will run yours as you see fit. But, remember this is for the most part why are economy is shot…to many lies and games being played in the refinance word, and we are usually abandoned and stuck in the middle.

Now, most of you know I preach about your worth and the fees that you charge — this story just reinforces my feeling that you need to be paid what you are worth. I know this is an extreme case but we stick out necks out every time we take an assignment. We NEVER know where our notary assignments will take us or what we will have to deal with when we get there. We deal with bad attitudes, late documents, traffic, bad neighborhoods, filthy homes, terrible smells, pets, incompetence, etc., and sometimes bad people. So my point is you need to be paid what you are worth. If you continue accepting these low fees that they are offering nowadays not only do you hurt yourself you hurt all of us: the notary community as a whole…..Now in this case a higher fee would not have stopped his unthinkable behavior but I feel that because we deal with so much adversity in this business we need to have our pay more in line with our efforts and the things that we are subjected too. For me, without fair compensation this profession is just not worth the effort or trouble.

Until next time!! BE SAFE!!

Carmen

Tantrums of a Borrower!

Tantrums
In my earlier days of signing loans I was called by one of my long time clients to do a loan closing in an very influential neighborhood. I received the docs the night before (Don’t we just love those companies of ours that get us the paperwork in a timely manner) I called the borrower to confirm time and address, prepped the docs, and got everything ready for the next day.

A well dressed man
The next morning I made my way to the borrowers home, rang the bell and was met by a young, handsome male dressed as if he was aboout to go play tennis. He rushed me in the door, sat me down in the kitchen area at the breakfast island, and asked for the paperwork. It was obvious that he was in a hurry. I asked for his identification and he ignored my question and once again I asked for the paperwork which I obligingly gave him. At this point he slide his ID across the table. With me on one side and him on the other, I took out my notary journal and began doing what I always call ‘housekeeping’. As I began filling out the journal he began just signing away. I tried telling him to make sure he signed as printed. But he ignored me and just kept on signing. (I didn’t make to much fuss about the signature as it was one of those squiggly signnatures that matched his ID. I have come to learn over my years as a signing agent that if the signature matches the ID. It will not be a problem.I have learned over the years which battle must be fought and won and which ones to let go.) And after all we are not he signature police….

The temper tantrum
But back to the story; because that is another story for another blog… lol. He continues signing very quickly and is finished just as I am finished with my journal entries. I ask him for them so that I can review them. Keep in mind he didnt read them at all. He hands them to me and as I am checking them he asked me about the interest rate… so I fan through until I get to the note and read off what the terms are. And he suddenly flips his top. He snatched the doc’s from me and starts jumping up and down, throwing his hands around in the air, yelling and screaming that now the rate was incorrect and he was going to be upset when he saw his children and ex wife. (I guess that was what the hurry was all about. He was going to have them come and visit or he was going to them after we had finished) Now picture this grown man screaming and yelling obsenities, jumping up and down, kicking the chair and the counter like a child then all of a sudden he takes the back of his hand and swipes the counter clean (this is where I am still sitting by the way) of all the objects that where on the table; nick nacks, crock pot and everything else went crashing to the floor.

Sorry, I can’t tolerate this behavior!
In disbelief and awe, I got up and start to put my stuff away. I’m thinking to myself this man is a slice or two short of a full loaf. I tell him that I must go at this point. And I will not tolerate this sort of behavior. But as I hastily began putting my stuff away he begins to calm himself and start to ask me whether he can keep these docs and I tell him that these are the property of the lender. He then immediately snatches the signed ones from my hand and tells me to bad but he’s keeping them irregardless. I let him that at this point this is fine with me and as I move to the door to let myself out he says to me to my shock and disbelief and that it was a pleasure to meet me and could he possible have one of my cards.. I did not even turn around….but I did answer him calmly and say;”" Are you kidding me!!! I will not be leaving my card nor would I be returning under any circumstances. He didn’t say a word. and I let myself out, After I got back to my office I wrote title a long detailed email regarding the closing and I never heard another word about it…..and of course I did get paid.
All I can say is that it takes all kinds…..

Until next time….be safe!

Price Fixing What Is It Really About?!?!

Many new notaries call into 123notary with questions regarding what fees should be charged for their services.(it is is by far the number one question asked) They have no idea and are lost as to what to charge. They find it very confusing due to the many different services that are asked of us. This is a new business venture for them and they are searching for answers and certainly most want to be competitive but are also concerned that they will be paid fairly for the services that they will provide. I usually start by telling them that the first rule of thumb is to know what their state allows per signature per notarization as each state is different. Then there are the fees charged for our other services such as regular notarizations for the general public where travel is involved as well as jail visits, a loan signing which will include doc preparations, travel, mileage, and printing costs such as paper, ink, etc. These fees in MY experience range from as low as 25.00 to 300.00 and will depend on many factors. But having said that It seems that there are some of you that you feel that if we share prices then we are engaging and practicing in ‘price fixing’. I disagree. But first off what exactly is price fixing? I did a quick search on the internet and you can read what I found as examples on different sites below:

Price fixing is a practice in which the prices for goods and services are manipulated in a way which is designed to benefit specific companies or individuals. In a simple example of price fixing, two rival gas stations could meet and decide to offer their gas at the same price, creating an artificially high price for gasoline which consumers would be forced to pay through lack of choice. Usually, this practice is illegal, and in some nations, it comes with severe legal consequences.
“If two companies happen to sell competing products at the same price, it is only considered price fixing if collusion can be proved. In other words, if two supermarkets both sell packs of a dozen eggs at the same cost, this would not be illegal. If, however, someone could prove that the owners of the supermarkets held a secret meeting in which they decided to sell their eggs at the same price, it would be considered price fixing.

“Often, price fixing results in price gouging. In a free market where businesses adjust prices to meet supply and demand needs, prices can fluctuate a great deal, but they are generally considered fair. When people collude, they usually elevate prices significantly, creating a price discrimination situation in which prices rise well above a level which would be considered acceptable. Many people believe that this practice hurts the economy as a whole, which is one of the reasons it is frowned upon.”

Now none of us are banding together in a back alley or secret meeting place practicing collusion, price gouging, or anything of the sort. We all just want to paid what our services are worth. It is not unlike any plummer, dentist, maid, etc wanting to be paid a fair price for the services that they provide. And my take on it is just because we give each other a ball park or share personal pricing information does not mean that we are engaging in any thing illegal or involved in this ‘price fixing business’.

IMO, when we share information on fees we are providing examples, not recommendations. I have many ask what I charge personally for regular notary work and I freely let folks know that since I am in California and I charge a minimum of 50.00 for travel and 10.00 per signature per notarization (10.00 is the standard) and I limit myself to a 20 mile radius for this price. In fact many notaries in other parts of the US tell me that they can hardly get 20.00 for travel..let alone 50.00. When it comes to a loan signing there are many more factors for me to consider. I will want to know from the hiring party how many loans there are (in other words is it a refi with a second, piggyback or straight refi,etc), distance, fax backs required, etc and whether I will have to print or will they be overnighted to the borrowers and available at the signing location. All of this information will be key in determining what price I am going to charge. I never ever ask a company what they are willing to pay. This is my business and although much of what we provide is considered a community service I still need to know that I am going to recoup my costs and make a profit so that my family and I can eat.

So I think it would be fair to say that when we share fees with each other these are ment to be for informational purposes only. Every notary will have to access what their operating costs are and then determine a price that they can get in their area and in turn live with and of course they must stay competitive by knowing what others are charging in their area. This is no different than any other business .Don’t think for one second that other business of like kind don’t keep up with their competition.

In closing, for us as traveling notary publics…we should never really be accused of price fixing by sharing information. There are just way to many variables in what we do. Every area and situation will be different…but it never hurts to have a point of reference and then do your homework and map out a price point that you and your clients are comfortable with
Until next time….

Carmen
'that notary gal'

Certification; Is It Worth The Trouble?

Certified by another agency?
To get certified or not, that is the question!? As of late I get many questions regarding certification. Many of you have been certified by another company before you came to 123 and you feel that that should be sufficient and you wonder what the benefits would be in obtaining our certifiaction or any other certification for that matter. And as most of you come to find out just about every site that you list your services on offers some sort of certification.

Certification is NOT a necessity
Now I will be the first to say that while I do feel certification is very useful and has its advantages (which I will go into to depth later) I want it to be clear that it is not a necessity or mandatory for any notary to be certified to do a closing. Keep in mind that this is is not to be confused with training because you can recieve training in many ways without being certified. Jeremy can tell you that in my early signing days before I began my work here at 123 although I received adiquite training it was not until he gave me the oral exam that I became ‘certified’ with 123 and I had done several hundred closings prior to him giving me the test. In fact, he gave me the test orally via my cell phone while I was traveling to a signing. LOL Many new notaries are of the mind set that they HAVE to be certified in order to be a ‘closing agent’ or conduct a closing. They feel it has some official capacity or is a mandatory requirement of their particular state. Let’s be very clear: It does not. It is purely elective and a personal choice. All that is technically reguired to conduct a closing is that you are a commissioned notary in your state in good standing and have some knowledge of what is reguired of you to facilitate the closing of a loan. There has been many a notary that have never been as they call it “certified’ by anyone and they do an exceptional job. They were fortunate enough to have mentors and/or material that provided them the necessary information they needed. And in the early days before such training existed they had to ‘wing it’. It was the doing, hands on (and mistakes) that really made them great signing agents. Then there are others that are so called ‘certified’ and have no clue as to what they are required to do. Can anybody say NNA newbies!? So my point is that although certification can be quite useful for educational and marketing purposes it is not pre requiste for a signing agent.

Certification; Its critical for marketing
IMO, certification IS however a necessity for marketing yourself. Lets face it the whole objective is to stand out from your competition. With most sites offering certification testing and have certification icons which rest next to your name it is my firm opinion that it is imperative that you get certified with whomever you advertise with. It says to your potential clients that you took some extra steps toward excellence in your field. The marketing benefits can be staggering. Here at 123 we have ran the statistical data and find that the notaries that have the certification logo next to their name get 78% more clicks on their profiles than those that don’t. That is impressive data. And so it behoves all of you to get certified sooner than later. It only takes a few minutes of your time and the benefits can be enormous. Many notaries have reported back to me that their business has doubled even trippled due to the certification. And with the economy being what it is, this can only help give your business a boost. And it could make all the difference in the world in the successes or failure of your business. So come on guys and gals…don’t delay, GET CERTIFIED!!!! You have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose!!

Until next time…

Carmen
‘that notary gal’

Notaries in the Crisis

Notaries have their finger on the pulse of the crisis on Wall Street. After all, many of us call ourselves "Loan Signing Agents," and so we saw the corruption of the sub-prime lending racket first-hand: the bad loans, the irresponsible borrowers, and the devious loan-officers who trick their clients. We notaries know how this non-sense began, even if we don't know how it ends. Right now we need to know how this will effect the Notary business and what we can do about it

What's going on?

Personally, I have noticed that a large amount of work in Loan Signing has disappeared. This is natural since the smaller lenders (even a few of the larger ones—goodbye wamu) have been dropping like flies. Fortunately enough for us, many of the larger lenders are still keeping the loan business in alive—if only on life support. Loan signing is not dead. As we approach what most have dubbed an economic crisis, I've seen many more Reverse Mortgages than other types of loans. This is no surprise; we're all looking to build a nest-egg so we can survive a second depression. Loans aside, regular notary work seems to be in heavy supply.

What can you do?

1. Take more of that regular notary work you used to pass up. Some work is better than no work at all. Gas is expensive, but a $50 travel fee (or whatever your state allows) should cover your expenses. At least you will not have the overhead that comes with signing loans (paper, ink, etc).


2. Advertise more! Customers cannot hire you if they cannot find you, so get your name out there. Order more business cards and don't forget to hand them out. Do what you can!


3. Stay optimistic.

Until next time, hang in there and keep working.