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May 10, 2016

Apps that Notaries have never heard of that could change your life

Filed under: Business Tips,Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular on Facebook (some),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:04 am

Here are some apps I researched that you might really like. The last app article we wrote was so popular, that we decided to create another one. Let us know which apps you are most “apt” to use in the future!

ORGANIZATIONAL

The 16 best scheduling apps
Just see this list and decide for yourself which one you like the most!
https://zapier.com/blog/best-meeting-scheduler-apps/

4 best shipping apps
These can be used with UPS, Fedex and other carriers. Read the list for yourself.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224495

Wave
https://www.waveapps.com/
Create invoices wherever you are using your i-phone. Don’t wait until you get back home to bill that signing company, wave them an invoice right when you drop the package at Fedex. Wave will tell you if your invoices are past due, or have been viewed.

MileIQ
https://dashboard.mileiq.com
Track your miles for the IRS tax deductions with this app.

MileBug
http://milebug.com/
Keep a log and track your expenses on this popular app.

Evernote
https://evernote.com/?var=2
Evernote is a modern workplace that helps you can write notes of any type from lists, to research projects, to articles written by yourself or ones you found on the web.

NAVIGATION

On The Go Map
http://onthegomap.com/#/create
Map your route with On The Go Map with ease. You can even send it to your clients at a touch of a button.

Inrix
http://intrix.com/
Check road conditions at a glance. Map routes, get traffic maps and road alerts.

Waze
https://www.waze.com/
This app is a GPS, and community based traffic and navigation app. Waze will also help you find the cheapest gas on your route.

Beat the Traffic
https://www.beatthetraffic.com/
This app will tell you which route has the least traffic.

GENERAL

Lockify
https://lockify.com/
Send information to your clients encrypted. That way you ensure the confidentiality of the information just in case. Nobody has the key to your info — not even lockify. Your secrets will be bound, sequential, and under lock and key — all lockified up!

123notary.com/s
123notary.com/s
Look up signing company reviews. 123notary already has this for i-phones. It is a page, not an app, but what is the difference right? www.123notary.com/s

Gas Prices in US, Canada
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gas-prices-in-us-canada/ogiokghpcdfhbhfpmaapaniooojfigga?hl=en
This app helps you find out what up to date gas prices are like in any neighborhood in North America. Of course with gas getting so cheap, perhaps we don’t really need that app appter all…

TRANSLATION

iTranslate
http://itranslateapp.com/
Get Notary documents translated with this app. But, beware, not all computers translate as well as a professional human translator.

Google Translate
https://translate.google.com/
This is one of the most renowned hi-tech translation devices. Try it — it doesn’t cost anything.

iHandy
http://www.ihandysoft.com/apps.html
This app will help you translate directly from one language to the other. Just write a word or phrase in the box. It might really help when you have to ask your signer to raise their right hand and swear under Oath. “Tu jura esta documento es correcto?” “Oh, Ci….”

FICTIONAL APPS WE MADE UP

Notaryz
Find a Notary who does it all, and compare scores on standardized tests as well. (sorry, fictional app just for fun.)

Kullect
Trouble getting paid from signing companies? Use Kullect and let us do the work. We’ll harrass the signing companies until they pay you.

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You might also like:

Startup apps that could ruin the notary business
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16579

New Apps for the iPhone7 that you’ve never dreamed of
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10977

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March 15, 2016

Do you know how to sign Applications? Is it even legal?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Linked In — Tags: , — admin @ 6:28 am

In the old days, Notaries did a lot of Refinance signings. Then after the financial crisis of 2008, there were many changes in the Notary world. There was less work at first, and then new types of work sprouted up in the ashes of the lending crash. The new types of work for Notaries included:

Types of financial products
Purchases, Sales, Construction Loans, Annuities, Structured Settlements, Loan Modifications, Debt Consolidations, Reverse Mortgages, and also Applications. Additionally, there have been more VA, FHA, Jumbo, Conventional, Non-Conventional and other types of financial products.

Ignorance can cost you
The problem is that not all Notaries are familiar with all of these financial products, and ignorance can really cost you. The first problem with inexperience is that you might not know how to price particular Notary jobs. If you are doing signings for the elderly, that can take a lot longer. Reverse Mortgages are normally for older folks and it can take up to two or three hours to get in and out. FHA’s involve much longer packages than good old fashioned Refinances. Then there are loan products that I never saw such as Annuities, Structured Settlements, etc.

Loan Modifications
Loan Modifications were a source of legal concern as many of these packages involved suspected fraud. Many states required Attorneys to be present at the signing of Modifications as well. Perhaps the borrowers were getting scammed, but many Notaires were paid on time by Modification companies.

Construction Loans
I remember signing a few construction loans back in the day. There were more packages, but the signer was a saavy business person who had signed these types of packages many times before. He signed so fast I couldn’t believe it. We were done in twenty minutes! Then, there was a signing for a literary type which was a deconstruction loan — just kidding. In Vegas they have demolition loans — anyone seen one of those?

Applications
I cannot comment on whether a Notary can legally assist with applications. That is up to you to research, but many Notaries get large amounts of work in this department and it is good business sense to know how to get this type of package signed!

Your Notes Section
At 123notary, we recommend that you impress the world by telling them not only how many signings you have done, but what types of signings. The longer your list of types of financial products you know how to handle is, the more you will get paid.

You might also like:

Augmenting your skill set to make more money as an NSA!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14150

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November 17, 2015

Filling out your journal before the appointment?

Filed under: Journals,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular Overall,Technical & Legal — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:16 am

One notary on Linked In wrote about filling in their journal before the appointment. Honestly, there is nothing illegal about this. However, if one of the parties doesn’t show up for the signing, you might have to do a lot of crossing out in your journal which might not look good if you ever get audited. I have not heard of notaries getting audited, but your state could raise its standards any time, so behave as it if could happen.

If you have limited time at a signing, you might be tempted to pre-fill the Acknowledgment forms and journal entries. It is illegal to stamp the certificates before the signer has signed your Notary journal and the document. However, putting the wording in is okay. The problem is that last minute changes do happen regularly. Signings can be postponed until the next day, and if you put the date in, or there is a last minute name variation change, you will not be able to use that form.

Personally, I feel that you should not fill in forms before or after the appointment. It is easier to make career-ruining mistakes if you divide these tasks into two sessions. You are more present at the signing (at least I am) and you should fill in the forms with the signer in front of you. As a Notary, saving a few minutes at the signing is not an important goal. Filling out these Notary certificate forms is generally very quick if you have experience. The main goal for signing agents should be to develop good practices which keep your error rate near zero.

So, my advice is — avoid the possibility of messy situations. Don’t preword your forms or journals. Do it at the time of the notarization. Be safe! You could call this a “Best Practice” or the avoidance of a “Non-Best Practice”

You might also like:

Notary Journals from A to Z
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=8348

Everything you need to know about Notary Journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=70

What defines what a signature is?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22173

Can a notary sign on a different day?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22084

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July 17, 2015

Honey, You Can Kiss my App!

Filed under: Best Humorous Posts,Humorous Posts,Popular on Linked In — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 9:48 am

GPS: You will be approaching the Deed of Trust in 3 seconds… You have arrived at your destination.

MARCY: Well, I’m a new notary, so what do I do now?

GPS: What do you think is next, do you want me to tell you to wash your hair and then repeat?

MARCY: I’m sorry, could you repeat that?

GPS: Never mind. Have the borrower initial all of the pages of the Deed of Trust in the small horizontal line in the bottom corner.

MARCY: But, this has 15 pages!

GPS: You heard me girl.

MARCY: Okay, we are going to sign the Note now, and then these other documents…. Okay, we finished signing the HUD-1.

GPS: You go girl! Okay, now let’s take a look at that Flood Affidavit.

MARCY: Gee, the app says you can explain this to me in Chinese, but I don’t speak Chinese. Hmm, I wonder what happens if.

GPS: Qing ni zai qian ge ming zai zui hou de ye.

MARCY: Yet another thing that was made in China. I better switch it back to Chantelle.

GPS: Do you realize what you just did?

MARCY: Yeah, I switched you to Li-Wen for 30 seconds. I didn’t know what that button did.

GPS: Well, you should be more careful. That app doesn’t exactly steer you towards the nearest Chinese restaurant, and if it did, it would steer you to the type of restaurants with dishes that the owner says, “you no like.”

MARCY: I think you’re right. I went to one of those restaurants. I ordered something called “zhu chang” and the owner said, “You no like.” I asked what it was and he said, “Pig intestine with ox brain.” And I said, you’re right, I no like! And then he said, “you think you no like? how you think ox felt?” And then I said, “You’ve got a point. Let’s stick to kung pao!”

GPS: Yeah, and if you had kept on with Li-Wen, should wouldn’t direct you to the fork in the road. She would have directed you to the chopsticks in the road. Then, you’d really be in trouble!

MARCY: Yeah, because I don’t know how to use chopsticks.

GPS: Yeah, but Li-Wen could probably hook you up with some training sticks.

SIGNER: Less talk, more signing please.

GPS: I saw that in a fortune cookie once.

SIGNER: Gee, Chantelle, you do seem to know a lot about China for a GPS. Have you been to China?

GPS: Honey, I was born in China. My parents were nine year old kids who didn’t get decent child labor laws for Christmas.

SIGNER: So, you grew up in Peking, not Pittsburg.

MARCY: Gee, I never thought of you as Chinese.

GPS: Well, think again! I grew up in the basement of a electronics chop shop in An-Hui province. I got plenty of love, but my parents were mad at me for not being a boy.

MARCY: Well, couldn’t they have made you into a boy?

GPS: Don’t think they didn’t try! They didn’t have the voice overs to do that, so they were stuck with what they had. And they had to keep me due to the one-child policy.

SIGNER: Well you seem very polite.

GPS: I had to be. My parents said that if I acted up, they would export me.

MARCY: It’s fun talking to you, but honestly, the way you explain the documents isn’t thorough enough. The app literature claimed that you would be a lot more detailed in your instructions.

GPS: Well if you don’t like it, then you can kiss my app!

MARCY: Well, I’m new at this, so I need a little more mentoring.

GPS: Fine. Have it your way. I’m auto-switching you to Charles. You’ll be sorry now.

CHARLES: (British Accent) Hello, this is Charles.

MARCY: Oh, you sound Brittish. So, what’s the next step in this signing?

CHARLES: Well, if you were Queen Latifah, I would courtsey.

MARCY: No, the signing. We just signed the Flood Disclosure.

CHARLES: Well, just sign the other documents and be done with it.

MARCY: Don’t you understand loan signing?

CHARLES: Well, there’s nothing to know actually. You just sign as your name is printed, and that is that!

SIGNER: I don’t know why Marcy opened her big mouth, but we were much better off with Chantel.

CHARLES: This was the way I was programmed.

MARCY: Well, we need more than this, and the app we bought was guaranteed to be thorough in its descriptions of documents.

CHARLES: Well if that’s the way you feel then Cherio. I’m switching you to Li-Wen.

LI-WEN: Ni hao, wo jiao li-wen. Wo zen-me ke-yi bang zhu ni?

MARCY: Do you speak English?

LI-WEN: Sorry, no English.

MARCY: The app said that the voices would be in English.

LI-WEN: Not all of them. 1.3 billion people speak Chinese these day.

MARCY: Well this is not going to work.

LI-WEN: If you no like, then — Honey, you can kiss my app!

.

You might also like:

Affiant: A social media site for Notaries
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6410

Apps that Notaries never heard of that could change your life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16311

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September 12, 2014

New Notary Apps for the iPhone 7 that you’ve never dreamed of!

Filed under: Best Humorous Posts,Popular on Linked In,Popular on Twitter 2014 & 2015,Virtual Comedy Themes — Tags: — admin @ 8:41 am

Many notaries are curious to know what the new iPhone 7 will be like. The truth is that it will have many new functions and apps that are very practical for notaries. Below are some of the more practical apps.

(1) Signing Company Review App.
The best feature of Notary To Go is that it knows which signing companies are good or bad. If a good signing company who pays on time calls you, you’ll automatically get a marimba music ringtone. If they don’t pay on time – “The Shining” music ringtone.

If you ask SIRI to research signing company reviews, her tone of voice is programmed to vary based on the quality of the signing company.

More than 50% negative reviews – Siri sounds suicidal.

20 to 49% negative reviews – Siri sounds snooty.

0 to 19% negative reviews – Siri sounds cautiously optimistic.

(2) Find the lowest price for gas app.
Siri also locates the nearest most inexpensive gas stations for notaries.

Siri can be set to “polite,” “matter of fact,” “sarcastic,” or “down right insulting.” In a test signing, the notary set it on sarcastic level 3 and asked Siri to find him the best price on gas in the area and Siri said, “you cheap gum.” After the bugs were worked out, she said, “you cheap bum.”

(3) Notary Billing app.
The new notary billing app lets you enter each signing after it is complete, who the borrowers were and the name of the signing company. It will automatically send bills to the company. It can also Subpoena a signing company that hasn’t paid on time after sixty days if you put it on “auto-subpoena.”

(4) Road condition app
The iPhone7 road condition app, not only tells you the fastest route to wherever you are going, but also informs you of any new potholes on the road, or if there are any desirable members of the opposite gender that are noteworthy on any particular route.

(5) Affirmation App
Detects whether signer’s solemn statement of truth made under penalty of perjury is actually truthful. Just attach one end of the wire’s attachment to the affiant’s fingertip, and insert the other end into the USB port. The display on the monitor will tell you if the statements are true or false. Please read the instructions and ask a few sample questions first to get a sense of interpreting the results from this type of test.

(6) Virtual attorney-in-fact.
A virtual person can be authorized by a power of attorney to act on behalf of another using this app. Just scan the power of attorney using a portable scanner and attach the scanner to the iPhone using a USB wire. One notary tried this app, and got a little carried away. He got the Smart attorney app: Sues virtual attorney-in-fact for claiming he’s a fact when he’s merely virtual.

(7) Notary certificate app.
Attach your iPhone to a mobile printer, and you can print out documents and notary forms. This app turns credible witnesses into incredible witnesses, if they’re lucky enough to own this incredible phone. This app executes a document in the blink of an eye or iPhone, whichever blinks first. iPhone version 8 virtually affixes seal to certificate eliminating strain from pressing embosser, but you’ll have to wait to see that action!

(8) The Notary To Go app.
This app can automatically turns off the customer’s TV. Getting their shouting kids to go to sleep – coming in the iPhone. Notary To Go also sends confirmation to signing company notifying them you’re there. It also tells you if neighbors or kids are too close to your car.

(9) Hands Free Notarization App.
You can download your document into the application. Then, when you’re in front of your signer, they can give a verbal signature to the document. Using voice recognition technology, this application will be able to positively identify the signer purely based on their voice if it has been given a voice sample previous to the date of the notarization. It can also be used for notarizing weddings — just say, “I do.”

(10) Virtual Therapy (for Siri)
After being tested out on seven different signing agents, the iPhone 7 provides Siri with badly needed automated therapy.

SIRI: “All they ask me for is where’s the cheapest gas station.”

AUTOMATED VOICE: “You sound troubled.”

SIRI: “Duh! They’re always complaining to me about signing companies that don’t pay them on time, or when 123notary raises their rates. Is that all I’m good for?”

AUTOMATED VOICE: “You sound troubled.”

On the iPhone 8, her automated shrink will gain the additional responses, “I feel your pain. And, “I see our time is up.”

Tweets:
(1) iPhone 7 Siri will locate nearest cheapest gas stations for notaries.
(2) iPhone 7: Notary Billing app will subpoena negligent signing companies
(3) iPhone 7: Smart attorney app sues virtual attorney for claiming he’s actual attorney
(4) Iphone 7 Siri to be more advanced. Voice changes depending on quality of signing company calling you
(5) If a signing company calls with bad reviews, Siri’s tone of voice will sound suicidal using this new app.
(6) iPhone 7 Notary to go app tells you if neighbors or kids are too close to your car
(7) After being tested out on seven different signing agents, the iPhone 7 provides Siri with badly needed automated therapy.

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You might also like:

A social media site for notaries – Affiant
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6410

Apps that could change a Notary’s life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16311

How Notary work is similar to online dating
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15763

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August 24, 2014

New Notary Apps that you really need!

Filed under: General Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular Overall,Ultra-Popular — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 3:12 am

The entire world has gone app crazy in the last few years. Personally, I use GPS, and my alarm clock. That’s about it for me in terms of apps. But, what types of apps might notaries need to stay ahead?

(1) Look up signing company reviews.
123notary already has this for i-phones. It is a page, not an app, but what is the difference right?
www.123notary.com/s

(2) Find a cheap gas station
Google already does this. Just visit www.google.com and look up “cheap gas” or “gas prices” and then add your zip code. Or enter your city name and gas prices for a better selection if you live in a big city.
You can also use gasbuddy.com

(3) Billing applications?
Very few notaries use sophisticated technology to know who owes them what and for how long. But, there are companies out there who have billing applications that you can see at a glance who owes you what and who to invoice. Is it worth it? You tell us!

(4) Road condition apps.
There are GPS systems that tell you which route to your destination is faster under current situations. Such technology has cleaned up traffic congestion in many cities around the world. If you have technology that tells you how to avoid traffic, you could save an hour per day every day! That would be worth paying a bundle.

(5) Translation apps (risky)
The notary is supposed to be skilled in whatever language they use at a signing. If you look up words in an application, you might screw up and the signer might understand you incorrectly or not at all. Words sometimes have multiple translations. “Do you swear to tell the truth” could translate into “Will you marry me” if you miss a subtle nuance in certain languages. But, for those who are app crazy, you are apt to get one anyway. So, go for it! SayHi Translate can do this by the way!

(6) Mileage log apps for the IRS
The IRS may request to see your trip logs. If it is digital, that might be good, unless it is hard to download, print, or gets accidentally compromised. But, paper records can get lost too, so which way is safer? You can keep track of your miles using your i-phone if you have an app for that. I don’t know of any app like that, but they probably exist as probably 50 million Americans deduct mileage for one reason or another.

(7) eJournal applications?
These exist. You need to be an eNotary to use one. Out of 7000 notaries on our site, I’m sure there are a good three or four of you who are commissioned eNotaries.

(8) iSchedule
You guessed it. This app will manage your busy schedule. You can input all your appointments with this app and all is well until you go into a dead zone or run out of battery.

(9) TurboScan
Quickly scan multipage documents into high-quality PDF’s. Wow! Sounds like a winner for companies who want fax-backs.

(10) Documents Free (Mobile Office Suite)
Not sure what this does, but you can read up on it.

(11) Contacts <-> Excel
I think we all know what this is for.

(12) UPS Mobile
Ship your packages using your i-phone, and hopefully a UPS box. You might need a printer too.

And last but not least… (and appropriately numbered)

(13) Ghost Hunters Haunted House Finder
Find a haunted house near you. Or use it to look up your signings. If one of your signings is in an officially haunted house, suggest that you all meet at Starbucks. Use your Starbucks finder app to get there!

(14) Page Separator Pro
Split those legal and letter sized pieces of paper. Even some dual tray printers don’t have the ability to figure out which tray prints what, and why…

You might also like:

Choosing a name for your business license
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7103

A Notary orders pizza using an app during a signing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19292

Notarize app turns your phone into a medium to get notarized
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19186

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February 1, 2014

We require notaries to be registered on our approved list

Filed under: How to get work; Who is getting work,Popular on Twitter 2014 & 2015,Popular Overall — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 9:45 am

We require notaries to be registered on our approved list

An interesting dialogue on our Twitter:

==============

We require notaries to be registered on our approved list because fraud is so rampant in Southern California.

What approved list?

Fidelity National Title is the parent company for Chicago Title, Fidelity Title Ticor Title, Lawyers Title, and Alamo Title. You will need a sponsor in your area to apply to be on our list.

Thanks for the info

============

Many companies use 123notary to find notaries to add to their list. But, these picky companies won’t hire you right off. They browse through the profiles to see if there is someone good who they didn’t see before. If you look promising, they might talk to you, and ask you a few test questions. After that, they might consider going to the next step in their process. But, high class picky companies will not just call random notaries and start trying to qualify them. They are too smart for that. They only pick the best of the best. They don’t need thousands of notaries. They only need a few hundred top notch ones.

Tweets:
(1) We require notaries to be registered on our approved list because fraud is so rampant in California.
(2) Many companies use 123notary, but they won’t use you right off. They pick and choose the best
(3) High class co’s pick the best of the best notaries. If you’re on 123notary.com, you’ve already cleared an important hurdle.

You might also like:

A great attitude gets the most jobs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6493

Companies that will hire NEW signers!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7059

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April 17, 2011

Seal Forgery – it happened to me!

Filed under: Signing Tips — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 1:03 am

Seal Forgery – it happened to me
I notarized a set of loan documents for a company back in 2003. It was a regular signing and nothing went wrong. You know how companies sometimes request that you send them another “Jurat” if the stamp isn’t clear on the initial one? California notary law requires that certificates be attached to the original document for security reasons. This means stapled. But, the loan companies protest whenever you ask them to send you back the document and ask why you are being so difficult. For many signing companies, the idea of obeying laws means you are being difficult. The company that forged my stamp did not ask for a loose Jurat, they were in a hurry and pulled a fast one.

I heard about it from a third party
A third party contacted me asking if I had notarized a loan package for a particular borrower. I couldn’t find the information in my journal for the specified dates, or even for the specified month. We figured that it must be a company that I had worked for before that had an impression of my seal on one of their loan documents, since I didn’t notarize that particular borrower’s loan that was in question. We had to be detectives to figure out what had happened.

Copying my seal
This company copied an impression of my seal that was on someone else’s loan, and copied it onto an Acknowledgment certificate for an entirely different loan that I had never had anything to do with. It was hard to tell since photocopiers are so good. I asked the third party to send me the notarized document and its Acknowledgment certificate. The forging job was so pathetic, it was funny when I saw it. The seal looked legitimate to my eyes, since I couldn’t tell it was copied. However, there were tell tell signs that I had not notarized this document.

(1) I always used an embosser on every page of every document. Embossers leave a raised impression in the paper. This document had no raised seal on it.
(2) The signature was a very girly signature which didn’t match mine even slightly. The lines of the signature were very curly and the i’s were dotted with cute little circles that only a girl would make like that.
(3) The acknowledgment certificate wording didn’t have the he/she/them and (s) verbiage crossed out where appropriate indicating that the person who fudged this job couldn’t have been a notary, or at least was a really pathetic notary.

I told them:
After I saw this pathetic attempt at something which is not even good enough to qualitfy as forgery, I told the third party that I had definately not notarized this and that it was fraud. Additionally, there was no journal entry to back up this job, and I took journal entries for all transactions in all cases.

My advice
If you always use an embosser on all pages of all documents, you deter the switching of pages after the fact on documents you notarized. You make it almost impossible for someone to get away with forging your notarizations. Additionally, you impress your clients with how thorough you are which can gain you more business. An embosser is less than $40, so get one today! Some states will require a government issued authentication of permission to get an embosser, so apply now!

You might also like:

Notarizing a kidnapper

Do you like your job?

Fraud and Forgery related to the notary profession

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April 8, 2011

Notarizing a kidnapper

Filed under: Drama & Tragedy — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 6:50 am

Notarizing a potential kidnapper

I had no evidence either way, I was just doing my job.  It was a dark night in Rosemead, CA, when I had just finished notarizing a grant deed for some old customers of mine when the phone rang. It was a company that I enjoyed working for that I hadn’t heard from for a while. They had a notarization for me in the neighboring city of Monterey Park. That is usually a safe place to be at night. What they didn’t tell me was that the client was a suspected kidnapper. I guess the company company who dispatched this job to me doesn’t include “Are you a kidnapper” on the list of questions they ask clients. I tried to call the location before I went there, but the phone number was incorrect. It was close, so I wasn’t too concerned. It was only ten minutes away, and practically on my way home. When I got to the venue, it was a run down motel with only six units. I was to go to unit #5. I knocked on the door, and a very nervous and agitated man in his 30’s answered the door. He seemed very bony, like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. His eyes were wild and deep set, and he was very frenetic. As I looked around the smoke filled room I noticed that there were seven people in the two room suite which included a kitchenette. Two elderly ladies were in a bed. I asked him who he needed to have notarized. He said he needed a power of attorney from his mom. His mother only had a thirty year old Mexican passport. Nobody else in the room had ID to be a credible witness except for the man I was working with who was the beneficiary. I told him that I couldn’t legally notarize his mother under those circumstances. Then, he pleaded with me and offered me lots of cash which he had laying on the table next to his overflowing ashtray, half empty beer bottles, and packs of cigarettes. Then he told me about the family feud he was in and how he was accused of kidnapping his mother. At that point, I started getting nervous. I told him that he should consult a lawyer. He said he was running out of cash and couldn’t afford to see a lawyer. They seemed like they were on the run. I told him I couldn’t legally help him. He continued to plead looking very desperate and distraught. Finally I had to apologize and leave.

This was one of the spookiest notary calls I have ever gone out on.  I just wonder what their real situation was, and if they were really running for the law.  There is no way to know. You can’t question someone in that condition or they might lose their cool. I guess they were probably illegal judging from the lack of proper identification. Thank god nothing happened.

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You might also like:

Compilation of Mafia related posts about the Notary profession
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20352

Psych Episode about a Notary. Did the body die from food poisoning or was it murder?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19397

Flashpoint – Notary job for a hostage with a multi-million dollar contract
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18798

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February 15, 2011

Cross-out happy; Not a good idea

Filed under: Loan Signing 101,Ninja Theme Articles,Notary Mistakes,Signing Tips — admin @ 11:02 pm

Some lenders allow cross outs. Others will fire you after the first cross out. Some signing agent courses recommend that you cross things out without a second thought. Others don’t. Even our loan signing course teaches you to cross out wrong dates in the right to cancel document. But, if you work for Provident or other lenders who don’t allow cross outs — you’re fired! Gulp?

Don’t worry, just read the instructions. Many loans have an instructions sheet. If there is no letter of instructions, then ask before you cross, okay? Don’t assume that you can just cross anything out. First of all, remember the golden rule of cross outs. Don’t cross out unless: (1) you have permission and (2) it is a last resort.

What about the 1003? The 1003 loan application has endless wrong information. It is my personal belief that the clerks they hire are required to make endless mistakes — otherwise they will be fired on the spot. If they get your social security number right they will be laid off immediately, right? In any case, the 1003 is not binding in the loan, but has to be sent back signed. Borrowers whine endlessly about this carelessly prepared document. What is the solution? Cross out and initial? Hmmm. Not sure…

My take on the 1003 is that you will cost yourself 30 minutes of wasted time if you call your contact person about anything, so don’t call unless you really need to. Otherwise you will never get out of the signing. If the lender allows cross outs, you will not endanger your loan by crossing out in the 1003 or for wrong dates on the right to cancel. If the lender doesn’t allow cross outs, then don’t do it.

Trick question

Q. What is the only document the is in a completed loan package that REQUIRES cross outs?
A. Acknowledgment certificates require the notary to cross out the his/her/their, etc.

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