I spent some time with Carmen reading through complaints about Notaries. For years, the NNA, 123notary and others spent a lot of emphasis on educating people about loan documents. However, the complaints we get about Notaries are never about loan documents. Then, we learned that most Notaries listed with us do not understand the basics of how to be a Notary Public. However, we rarely get complaints about people’s Notary work. So, what type of complaints are we getting?
1. Leaving the customer high and dry.
Did you finish a signing and then turn your phone off? Did you not answer your emails because you did not have any notary jobs that week? Did you go on a camping trip where phones don’t work? Or did you get angry with a vendor and just decide not to answer calls. After a signing is over, you are responsible for being available for 72-96 business hours. If the Lender or Title company doesn’t get their documents back and needs a Fedex # and you conveniently are unavailable, what are they supposed to do other than write a negative review about you? If you made a Notary mistake but are not available to fix it what to do? If there is some reason they need you to go back, but can’t reach you then what can they do? If you are not going to be available for four days after you finish a signing, warn people so they know ahead of time.
2. Being rude
I realize from all the Notaries I talk to that many Notaries are just down right rude. And those are the people who call me rude. I am impatient, but not normally rude. I get upset when people either won’t answer a question or give stupid answers or when people don’t care about doing a good job. I learned to combat my own impatience by writing people up who are rude or uncooperative. That way I gain some critical information on the person being rude and often remove them from my database as they are a detriment to society and dangerous to hire despite their claims that, “I’ve been doin’ this for 20 years and therefor know what I’m doin’.” even though they scored 20% on my easy quiz.
3. Not following directions
Many Notaries who I quiz do even worse following directions than they do on loan document questions. If you don’t do what is asked of you, you will get in trouble. So READ instructions, call when you don’t understand something and obey the law and those who hire you in that order. Beginners tend to have a much more difficult time following directions than old timers by the way, and beginners make outrageous notary mistakes a lot more too as they haven’t been scolded (much) yet.
4. Notary mistakes
In the old days we had more complaints about Notary mistakes. Although our notaries typically do not know what they are doing, their mistakes and knowledge omissions don’t seem to get them CAUGHT which is the main thing. If you seal over wording you get caught. If you use your stamp wherever you see the word “seal” in a context where seal means signature, you will get repremanded. If your stamp is smudgy your local county recorder will get you in trouble. But, if you are unable to explain the difference between a Jurat and an Acknowledgment, or forget to do your Oath, then I am the only one who will catch you — and you can bank on the fact that I will, so study up!
So, the bottom line here is that it is good to do a good job as a Notary and even better to know how to distinguish between the various documents in a loan. However, being nice, cooperative, following directions and getting back to people in a timely manner count more than being a good Notary. As a directory owner, I am weeding my directory and weeding out the worst Notaries. The rude ones get weeded out much more quickly than people who are bad Notaries with good attitudes. Someone with a good attitude can learn, but an uncooperative jerk will never learn. So, be advised.
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You might also like:
Right to Cancel done Wrong
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10001
Stories of Notaries that fail and what they did wrong
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=143
Penalties for Notary misconduct, fraud and failure of duty
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21315
I make all of my mistakes in life and, as an NSA when I am tired. Last week I thought I had not collected a check from the signer, 3PM signing, dropped at 5PM, so documents were on their way. There are solutions to all problems. I called the signer and apologized for forgetting, but he reminded me that his lender had arranged a wire. I guess I missed that. My imagination suggested I recommend wiring and that my fee might take the hit, but this vendor treats me well and I needed to do the right thing. This is a hard thing to do when you consider that our profit margins are slim and mortgage lenders make $ thousands on refi loans. I think helping to prevent fraud and honesty go hand in hand. My CPA, now passed away, was a Very Sloppy Notary, and would sign anything for anybody. I won’t. I even have a problem with credible witnesses unless I personally know the witness. I have seen two cases where two different individuals wanted POA’s from two somebody’s sick/deathbed who each “told” them they wanted the signers to inherit their estates, but didn’t bother to put it in a will.. It is common sense to not be involved in either scheme. Missed language, or a stamp or signature, or forgetting to collect a check don’t even rate to That kind of mistake, and we should always be thorough And have our radars on alert.
Comment by betty — December 26, 2019 @ 8:41 pm
Thank you for posting this article. We all make mistakes and owning up to them is part of being a professional. This business is very competitive. Providing exceptional service to the company who hired you as well as the signers should be uppermost in the minds of those who choose to be a signing agent.
Comment by Linda — March 17, 2020 @ 3:29 pm
So a woman who I new for 40 years came to my home to collect escrow funds to escrow my taxes. But said to me the loan may contain a fraud document since I was refinancing a mortgage and must use caution. Upon signing we came across the false document that stated AKA as my late father and partially began signing and immediately stopped signing and canceled. So the woman suggested to me that we will di it all over again, but I must call a witness this time. So we continued the refinance with the proper docs and she notarized them and also had me follow up that my taxes were paid on time. So I contacted my township and the clerk said that a partial payment was made and the remaining was due and to contact my lender.since my taxes are in escrow.. I called the lender he notified me of a HUGE mistake and not to worry. Months went by and my loan was being transferred multiple times to other lenders and discovered all my payments increased including car, mortgage , and loss of all credit cards and sued for a hospice bill that was never mine. When I contacted the lender and title agent they disconnected their phones.At this time I lost my retirement home that was paid in full after numerous complaints to officials here in NJ after becoming disabled trying to work a second job. I cannot afford my own medical expenses and using the proceeds from the sale of my property to avoid wrongful foreclosures on my primary residence if I don’t continue paying reoccurring escrow shortages from my current lender for the past 5 years where taxes are among the highest where I reside… and not to mention I have been using a shared identity for 5 years.
Thank you for reading I think I’ll be moving.
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Comment by Eugene Torlucci Jr — October 26, 2020 @ 7:16 pm