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January 8, 2022

Notary Suicide Hotline

Filed under: Virtual Comedy Themes — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:04 am

This was originally published many years ago.

This blog entry seems appropriate now that the holidays have set in. I’m sure many of us have a solid dose of holiday related depression with less sunlight, and an interruption of our daily routines.

“Hurry — we have a level 3 on line 2!”, said the neurotic manager of this organization. What organization was this, you might ask? It is none other than the Notary Suicide Hotline. But, I have never heard of this, you might say! It all came to Jeremy in a dream…

The dream…
It was a few days ago. Jeremy had a dream that he and a few notaries were having sandwiches. The bread was a foot long, but each sandwich only had a small cutlet in it. Then Jeremy went up to the 7th floor of a haunted mansion to hide, because he felt bad that the notary industry was so slow, and felt afraid too! So, Jeremy went to his psychic to do dream interpretation. The sandwiches had lots of bread which represented hard work, but very little cutlet which represented nourishment. That meant that the notaries were working too hard for not enough money!

Another dream
Then, the next night Jeremy went to sleep there was another dream. In the dream, the NNA had become very concerned about the emotional well-being of notaries throughout the country. Many were depressed, and a few even contemplated ending it all. Something had to be done. So, the NNA created the Notary Suicide Hotline.

The call
Notary: “Hello… (sob) It’s too upsetting”
Frank: “I’m sorry about what you are going through. Would you like to talk about it?”
Notary: “Yes… well… It was another $40 signing… boo hoo hoo!”
Frank: “I’m so sorry to hear about that — please hold”

Frank “Hey Sully, we have a level 3 on line 2, can you handle it?”
Sully: “I got it!”
Frank: “Sorry to keep you waiting, I am going to transfer you to Sully — he specializes in exactly this type of crisis”
Notary: “Oh…okay”
Sully: “Hi, this is Sully, I heard that you were offered yet another $40 signing”
Notary: “Yes, it is terrible — we deserve more, especially with fax backs!”
Sully: “I’m so sorry about that. How many fax backs were there?”
Notary: “There were 12. I can’t figure out why they need so many!”
Sully: “Maybe they are insecure. Just remember — it’s THEM, not YOU”
Notary: “Really?”
Sully: “Yeah, they are the guys with the problem, not you!”
Notary: “Do you really mean that?”
Sully: “Sure, we get this all the time. they are paranoid that someone didn’t sign ONE little document on one out of a hundred loan documents. My attitude is — deal with it. Don’t put the notary through hell. If the notary makes a mistake, just don’t use them again unless they have a good track record.”
Notary: “That makes me feel so good. You are really on my side!”
Sully: “Hey… we have been dealing with this for a long time. It never ends. And for $40. It is ridiculous. They should pay at least $90 for those types of signings. But, don’t feel bad, just ride the wave until the economy picks up. They, maybe you’ll get lots of $125 signings, especially if you have experience.”
Notary: “I feel so hopeful now. I pictured everything being gloomy forever!”
Sully: “Nothing lasts forever. What goes down, must come up again, right?”
Notary: “That’s true. When the economy was good before, I thought it would last forever. Now that things are slow, I am depressed thinking that things will be slow forever. But, that isn’t true. Everything in the notary industry is cyclical!”
Sully: “You got it. So… you’re not thinking of ending it anymore, right?”
Notary: “No, you talked me out of it. How can I ever thank you?”
Sully: “Well, this week we are having a special, buy three NNA journals, get a half-price ticket to one of our seminars, what do you think?”
Notary: “Well, how much are three journals?”
Sully: “$40, but without the fax-backs!”
Notary: “It’s a deal!”

So, ends our level 3 suicide hotline call. Thank got it wasn’t a level 10. Level 9 is when a notary is standing at the edge of a bridge holding a stack of pre-fax-back loan documents. I’ll leave it to your imagination what a level 10 is. You need a lot more experience handling those types of calls.

Tweets:
(1) The Notary Suicide Hotline — making sure notary commissions expire before the notaries do since 1932.
(2) Notary Suicide Hotline: “I have a level 3 on line 2, can you handle it?”
(3) Notary Suicide Hotline: “May I help you?”
Notary: “I’m tired of $40 signings w/fax backs!”
(4) Don’t put the notary through hell. If the notary goofs, just don’t use them again.
(5) Dream: A long sandwich w/3 little cutlets inside.
Interpretation: Notaries doing too much work for too little money.

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January 2, 2022

Welcome to the Notary Hotel

Filed under: Best Humorous Posts,Humorous Posts,Popular on Linked In,Popular on Twitter 2011 — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 8:04 pm

Originally posted many years ago

Welcome to the Notary Hotel.

Borrower: “Hello, I’d like to file a formal complaint. The notary didn’t come with a complimentary continental breakfast!”
Clerk: “Sorry about that, but breakfast is only from 6am to 9am weekdays and from 7am to 10am on weekends.”
Borrower: “Also, the notary didn’t sanitize my thumb after thumb printing me!”
Clerk: “Oh, really, I’ll have to write that notary up!”
Borrower: “Aren’t I supposed to get a mint on the top of my loan document stack?”
Clerk: “Hmm, that is part of the Notary Hotel’s branding. I’m really sorry about that.”
Borrower: “Also, the Notary didn’t observe the don’t disturb sign while I was reading the Settlement Statement!”
Clerk: “Oh brother, it’s time we fire that Notary!”
Borrower: “I asked the Notary to give my wife a wake up call when the signing was finished. She fell asleep halfway through the Affidavit of Occupancy.”
Clerk: “It is safe to assume that the Notary failed to give you your complimentary wake up call. Tell me, was there anything good about your signing?”
Borrower: “Well, the Notary gave me some lemongrass moisturizer and a shower cap! I enjoyed those.”
Clerk: “So, there is a silver lining on the cloud next to every shower-head!”
Borrower: “The Notary wanted to kick us out three minutes before check out time while I was reading the automatic payment transfer authorization.”
Clerk: “I’ll add that comment to your file.”
Borrower: “At least I was given two hours of free wi-fi during my stay!”

Clerk: “Did you try out our unique cable T.V. system? You can get 328 complimentary channels including — the signing channel!”
Borrower: “You make me feel like I really missed out!”
Clerk: “Next week we’re having a special. Sign a line of credit while you’re in line for Belgian waffles.”
Borrower: “Oh, you’re going to make waffles for us?”
Clerk: “Not exactly, you stand in line so you can make them yourself. When you think about it, we should be paying you to stay here and stand in line so many times. You stand in line to check in, check out, use the shower for the “equity pool,” and also to make waffles! We’re going to have to do something about those lines!”
Borrower: “You’ve got a point there!”
Clerk: “I’m sorry you had a negative experience. To make it up to you, next time you stay with us, we’ll let you upgrade at no cost to one of our signature rooms, if one is available at the time of your stay!”
Borrower: “If a signature room is not available, I’ll assume that you’ll give me an upgrade to an ‘initial’ room, a condensed version of the same thing?”
Clerk: “Actually, I never thought of that, but we do have digital signature rooms that are also often available. Instead of having a key to the room, you get a password. The welcome mat is a huge signature scanning pad — you’ll love it. Digital Signature rooms come with virtual windows with views of anyplace in the world. The cable T.V. is also very different. Instead of paper-view, it comes with paperless-view because it’s digital.

Borrower: “The other thing that I didn’t understand is that my room key was in the shape of a stamp. Instead of swiping it in a reader like other hotels, I had to affix a digital stamp of my seal on what looked like a scanner. Very perplexing. My notary seal digital key also had commission room number 314 an expiration date of 11am the next morning. I guess that is check out time.”
Clerk: “Well, we like to maintain a notary theme at all times. After all, this is the Notary Hotel. Just thank god we don’t have eight digit commission room numbers on the digital seal!”

For those of you who want to visit the Notary Hotel, we have all the amenities. Swimming “equity pools”, business centers, tennis, movies, and of course an endless supply of complimentary blue pens. All you have to do is fax us an order confirmation and sign in once you arrive! Some people stay here their entire commissions!

Tweets:
(1) The Notary Hotel: Does my notarization come w/a wake up call?
(2) The Notary Hotel is so comfortable, some notaries stay there their entire commission.
(3) Their signing took place at The Notary Hotel & the wife requested a wakeup call after the signing was done.
(4) At The Notary Hotel: they didn’t observe the don’t disturb sign while I was reading the Settlement Statement!
(5) At The Notary Hotel, Showtime & HBO are free, but the Signing Channel costs $40 (not including fax backs)
(6) Check out the digital signature rooms at The Notary Hotel

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January 1, 2022

Who is the authority at a Notary Loan Signing?

Filed under: Loan Signing 101 — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:13 pm

Originally published several years ago.

Notary Public Authority

We often ask questions about authority to signing agents, and the results are horrifying. Most Notaries do not know who is in charge of what. So, this article will sum it up clearly.

Notary Public
A Notary Public is a state appointed state official who is paid by customers, but whose “boss” or authority is the state Notary division. Many Notaries Public seem to be confused as to who their boss is, the one paying them or the one commissioning them. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the ones paying them often pay them for more than just Notary services as travel, pick up, drop off, and supervision of non-notarized signatures and packages seem to be part of the deal if you are a Signing Agent.

The Notary is the sole authority regarding what goes in a Notary certificate such as an Acknowledgment, Jurat, etc., what goes in the journal, what is allowed or not allowed, and how a notarization should be done.

It is common that Notaries have questions during a loan signing and direct those questions to the Lender or Title representative. This is okay for Title or Lending questions, but not for Notary questions where the Notary may only turn for help to their state Notary division, official Notary handbook, or perhaps the NNA hotline.

Notaries should NOT ask the Lender for Notary advice because:
1. The Lender is probably not a Notary
2. If the Lender is a Notary they might be in a different state
3. If the Lender is a Notary and in the same state they might not be knowledgeable.
4. If the Lender is a Notary, in the same state, and knowledgeable, they might (are likely to) give you advice that would make the job go more smoothly for them, yet have tremendous liability for you.
5. You are the one appointed to the job, so even if the person you are asking for advice is a Notary, they are not the one whose commission number gets put on the certificate, and you are the one going to jail if something goes wrong. Therefor, you have to know your laws and what you can and cannot do, etc.

Who can initial and where?
Any initials on a Notary certificate are done exclusively by the Notary Public. It looks like tampering if the borrower or anyone else makes marks on a Notary certificate. The borrower may initial documents, but not the Notary certificate or Notary section in or attached to a notarized document

The Lender
The Lender is the “boss” of what happens with loan documents. If the Lender authorizes a change, initialing, cross outs, etc., on an actual loan document that is NOT in the notary section, that is up to them and they are the authority on that matter, not the Notary. The minute the issue becomes with a Notary certificate, then the authority swings over to the Notary (even if the Notary doesn’t have a clue what to do.)

The Title Officer
The appointed Title company might be a good source of information about how to handle any issues that might come up with Title documents or recorded documents. You can ask them if you have questions, but don’t let them answer Notary questions.

Issues of Preference can be asked to the Lender
Sometimes there is more than one legal way to handle a situation. If there is an error on a preprinted Acknowledgment, and your state allows a choice of crossing out & initialing vs. using a fresh Acknowledgment form, you have a choice. The Notary has the right to make that choice on his/her own and choose the option that he/she feels is more prudent or ask the Lender. However, this is a situation where the Notary can ask the Lender not for advice, but for preference. If the Lender would prefer a loose Acknowledgment stapled on to the document rather than crossing out & initialing the original form, the Notary can proceed accordingly.

The Borrower
The borrower has the right to sign, not sign, tell you where to park and more. Their preferences matter as well.

Your State
Your state Notary division decides what the laws are in your state, how they are explained or document in your official Notary handbook, etc. They are your boss, so you do whatever they say. Additionally, if you are weak on your Notary knowledge, that can lead to ending up in court as a witness, having your commission revoked, suspended or terminated. Additionally, it is possible to be convicted of a crime if you are thought to be involved in property related fraud, or if you filled out a form stating that an Oath was taken when in fact it was never taken which is a daily fraud that most Notaries engage in that is unacceptable.
.

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November 1, 2021

Notary Public Day — every Nov 7th

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 7:53 am

Since 1975, every November 7th has been celebrated as Notary Public Day. I have never heard of this day before. I don’t think very many Notaries celebrate it. I’m not sure how you should celebrate it. Perhaps getting a rectangular cake that looks like a frosty Notary seal would be the best way. And you could sing Notary songs about declining backdating requests, 15 year whisky and a 30 year loan, I’m running out of song ideas.

To me that is one more excuse to party. But, would Notaries get together with other Notaries (competition) and celebrate, or get together with friends and describe their profession and listen to all of their lame questions? Hmm. Food for thought.

The date of November 7 was chosen as Notary Public Day in recognition of the date that America’s first notary, Thomas Fugill, was commissioned. Fugill’s appointment by the Colony of New Haven happened on October 25, 1639 (Julian calendar), November 7 on the Gregorian calendar now in use. So, Fugill’s Notary commission was not in Fugility nor was it in futility!

I’ll contact my local cake makers. We really need to make a thing out of this. We should contact calendar makers to get them to put it in the calendar as it trumps some of their other inconsequential holidays like Canadian Thanksgiving (observed.)

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July 14, 2021

How valuable are the various types of notary knowledge?

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 3:19 am

Notaries these days who invest in Notary education study all types of topics. Some study Notary basics, others study TRID, Reverse Mortgages, Helocs, situational knowledge, elite knowledge, or just plain signing agent knowledge. Marketing skills are also taught by many agencies. So, which skills are the most valuable?

As a signing agent, companies typically babysit you unless you are very advanced and work purely for title companies. If you make mistakes, that is very unprofessional, but they generally catch you before it is too late due to the scan backs and fax backs. Notaries do not get complaints about errors on our site these days. When they do get complaints it is because they are rude or don’t show up, don’t return phone calls, or don’t get documents back on time.

So, let me make a pecking order of Notary skills in an order that makes logical sense to me.

Notary knowledge
If you don’t know how to be a solid Notary, you are endangering the public as well as yourself and leaving yourself open to legal liability. A mistake identifying someone, or filling out your journal can lead to a lawsuit, or lack of evidence in a legal proceeding. That is very serious and can ruin not only you, but all who are involved in a transaction with you. Failing to properly administer an Oath (when required) can lead to the termination of your commission if you ever get caught and is considered Perjury which is a Federal crime! If you don’t fill out forms properly or follow Notary law and procedure, you can ruin your life. So, Notary knowledge is the highest priority as a Notary Signing Agent and THAT is why we teach the finer points at no cost in Notary Public 101 on the blog.

Signing Agent knowledge
Knowing how to initial, date a right to cancel, and understanding the basic documents in a home-owner Refinances are skills that you will need to use a lot. You can ruin a signing if you miss signatures or initials, or put wrong dates on documents. Signing Agent skills seems to be a definite #2 in the pecking order of what you should study.

Marketing
If you know your basics, but don’t know how to attract work, you might get a few jobs here and there, but won’t have a side career of any scope. Learning Notary marketing is easy because there are good teachers everywhere. 123notary and LSS do a nice job teaching notary marketing. Some of the knowledge is available in our loan signing course and a lot more is on the blog in the marketing category on the right.

Specialty Skills
It is always good to learn more. Being TRID trained, or trained in reverse signings is great. But, that is the last step in my opinion. It impresses clients when you go above and beyond in your training. It shows motivation and effort and makes them more likely to hire you. But, learn the other stuff first as that is a lot more critical for basic survival.

How many certifications should I get?
The more the merrier. If you advertise with us, you should consider ours. If you are a paid member, we sometimes offer to test you by phone at no cost if you study from Notary Public 101, but we get very few takers. Our test is the hardest in the industry and our teaching materials are the most practical — and NOT the most expensive. We have the least expensive certification compared to the big players!

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July 10, 2021

The Notary Chip

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 3:13 am

This is not the type of chip you eat with salsa. It is a chip that you implant in your brain. It will automatically connect you with what we call, “Universal Notary Consciousness” and it is for your benefit, and for your safety. You will be required by law to have this chip implanted by a doctor, otherwise you would be too risky to have a Notary commission.

This chip will have several functions, all of which are critical to our industry.

1. It will track whether you really meant it when you swore to support and defend the constitution. If you meant it, that is a problem because the constitution defends liberty and was specifically crafted to fight tyranny. If you believe in the constitution or America, you are a potential trouble maker.

California Notary Oath of Office Verbiage
Do you solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State, and that you will discharge the duties of the office of Notary Public in and for said County to the best of your ability? When are you required by law to do Oaths?

2. It will track if you are thinking for yourself, as it can read thoughts. If you are, it will shut your thoughts down.

3. If you need thinking help from UNC or Universal Notary Consciousness, it will help you. That way, if you are in a difficult notarization, that involves giving someone a vaccine, the consciousness will tell you how to handle differences in opinion and help you find the “correct” ideology to promote. The main thing is to assure the signer that the vaccine is good for them and will make them stronger and better. It will help them think in new ways, and make new friends. And it is for the benefit of society to keep others safe from them. And that they would be a risk to society if they didn’t take the vaccine.

You might be thinking, what does being a Notary have to do with vaccinating people? The masks, social distancing, shutdowns, endless rules, vaccines, and social control are all about the same thing — controlling you, demeaning you, and eventually reducing the world population.

But, it will be very hard for people to succeed in their agenda if even 1% of the population stands up for themselves. People are so passive these days. Boys are taught not to be toxic and given drugs if they are. This all leads to a population of sheep who never stand for anything and can be sterilized, put out of work, or murdered through covert means.

The sad news is that Notary chip is already in you. It is called lamestream media and it tells you how to think, and most of the words that come out of your month about meaningful issues are verbatum from fake news — or from Fox news which preaches the opposite. But, few of us have our own thoughts.

So, if you think this article is “scary”, the article is not what you should be afraid about. Go outside your house, looking around, and tell me what you see — tell me what you see is not scary. Not a single person is coughing, not a single person is sick, yet 90% of society thinks we are in a pandemic. Is that not brainwashing? The Notary chip is already in you. Wake up!

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July 2, 2021

The Messiah

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 3:08 am

My current guru says that the Messiah will be a public figure by 2034. He will be born in Israel, and hopefully speak English. Will he be Jesus? Not sure. But, he will be similar to Jesus, although he will likely be a different soul and have a different name. But, the basic spiritual message will be similar.

But, there is more. The spiritual grace that will be pervasive in the atmosphere will be the biggest blessing you can ask for. Such a wonderful atmosphere for prayer, meditation and contemplation.

The world will have to go through a big upheaval in the meantime though. I am expecting millions to die, asteroids, political upheaval (too late, we already have that, riots (already had that, but predicted it many years ago.), starvation (just as long as I have Thai food I’m good.) and more. I think the stock market will make it though. World War Three is also on the table. Let’s hope that doesn’t affect us that badly. It might be more in the Middle East, Europe and India. But, we’ll see.

Some rabbis say that we won’t be using money when the Messiah comes. I think we will still have money, because it is necessary, but we might see and use money in a very much more spiritual way. Many rabbis are saying that the situation in the world will be so desperate that people will be screaming for a Messiah to come. I am at this point already. I have lost faith in our government, country, citizens, immigrants, etc. Nobody can save me but God, and he allowed my outdoor gym to get shut down, so I am not completely satisfied with him either. Maybe I should write him an email.

On a brighter note, the future Messiah that Jews call, “Meshiach Ben David” (Messiah, son of David) will be a spiritual leader for all believers regardless of faith. He’ll lead you even if you don’t like Israeli food, halva, or shirazi salad — I know… hard to imagine anyone from Israel accepting someone who doesn’t like hummos or sahoog (a yeminite chutney), but it’s true!

He might need to get notarized, so get your RON (remote online notary) commission right away. You can notarize him when he is in Tel Aviv with that.

So, try to keep healthy so you can meet this guy in about fourteen years or see him on television. On a parting note, I wonder if he will let me have his email address. Hmm. askthemessiah@gmail.com

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June 12, 2021

Notarizing Paul Revere

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 11:45 am

A Notary was bored, and invested in a time machine. He wanted to see how people lived in different times and places. So, he set the machine to send him to ancient Egypt to see the pyramids in Giza. But, the machine malfunctioned and he ended up in the Boston area in 1775.

The Notary got out of his British looking phone booth, and walked around on a dirt road bewildered thinking, “Where am I? This doesn’t look like Egypt. I want some felafel.”

A crazy guy on a horse almost ran him over screaming, “The redcoats are coming — The British are coming.” The British were leaving Boston to march to Concord to confiscate some ammunition, weapons, gunpowder, etc., from the colonials.

NOTARY: Hey watch where you’re going.

PAUL REVERE: You shouldn’t walk in the middle of the road lad, it’s dangerous.

NOTARY: And learn to signal your turns. It’s common courtesy.

PAUL REVERE: I’ll work on it. Wait a second, what century are you from. Those are very odd clothes.

NOTARY: Ay lad… now I’m talking like you guys. I’m from the future and my time machine broke.

PAUL REVERE: We can’t even get gun powder easily here in the middle of a revolution, so I don’t think I can help you. But, do you know where I can get a good Notary Public?

NOTARY: Ay laddie, I’m a notary, and I brought my stamp. It doesn’t expire for a while, but I’m commissioned in Massachusetts

PAUL REVERE: Massachusetts colony?

NOTARY: It becomes a state. There are 50 states in my time.

PAUL REVERE: 50 lad? My head is spinning. Next thing you tell me is that we become the most powerful country in the world, and they give partial credit to me just for riding Barnie around screaming the news.

NOTARY: Actually, you become a well loved historical figure. Here, can you sign your John Hancock here?

PAUL REVERE: I know John. He’s an acquaintance of mine. He lives in Massachusetts you know. Born here and will probably die here.

NOTARY: His signature will become famous. He will sign the Declaration of Independence in another year or so.

PAUL REVERE: Wow, so I’m going to be famous and he is too. I’ll drink to that. Jump on back, I’m going to Monroe Tavern in Lexington to warn the locals, and then on to Concord. Just let me sign your log book, I hope this is not considered backdating by about 240 years, but… as they say in the valley — what… ever… Please stamp my document. Do you need wax for that?

NOTARY: We don’t use wax in my time.

PAUL REVERE: Okay, we’ll have a pint in Lexington, and then on to Concord. Then we can try to see what we can do about time machines. Hey, I have a friend in Phili who loves gadgets and futuristic inventions. His name is Ben Franklin — great with the ladies. We can ask him to ride up. It’s only a few days Southwest of here.

NOTARY: I guess I’m stuck here, so we’ll have hasty pudding, drinks and do some sniper attacks on the red coats in the mean time.

PAUL REVERE: Good. Are you good with a musket?

NOTARY: Gee, we’re a little close on this horse. So much for social distancing.

PAUL REVERE: Don’t worry, I don’t have smallpox. Onward ho…. Yee Haw!!!

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June 10, 2021

Comments on good journal entry procedure

Filed under: Journals — admin @ 3:09 am

I have written thorough information on journal keeping in other articles. But, here is a summary of some of the more critical points.

1. KEEP A JOURNAL – or else. Even if your state does not require you to keep a journal, it is your only evidence if investigated by the FBI or if summoned to appear before a Judge. This happens more than you think to Notaries so be prepared and keep records in a journal.

2. Don’t forget to enter the type of NOTARY ACT that you are performing in the journal. This is generally a Jurat, Acknowledgment, Oath or Affirmation. Copy Certification might be considered a Jurat in some states, but you could put both names to be thorough.

3. Obviously enter the ID INFORMATION in your journal unless you live in a state that forbids that. Otherwise you have no evidence that you looked at their ID. Make sure the photo looks like them and that the signature on the ID matches the one in the journal and the document. If you want to get cute, ask them their sign and see if it matches their birthday.

4. THUMBPRINTS are almost foolproof. ID’s can be faked, but all thumbprints in the planet are unique to a particular individual. To deter fraud and help the FBI catch very very bad people (and yes we have stories from 123notary members about exactly this.) then keep a thumbprint for all notarized documents in your journal. NNA sells a nice journal with room for thumbprints and you need an inkless thumbprint pad too which is not expensive.

5. DOCUMENT DATES
Most people don’t know what a document date is or what it means. It is an arbitrary date inscribed within the document which normally corresponds to the date the document was drafted or signed. It is yet another indication of which document you are dealing with, just in case you notarize two documents from the same signer with the same document name.

6. SIGNATURES
Signers must sign all journal entries that pertain to documents that they are being notarized on.

7. PRICES. The price you are charging the signers should be indicated in the journal. If you are charging a travel fee, or a flat fee for a mobile signing, indicate this somehow in your records, perhaps on the top entry of a particular signing.

8. ADDITIONAL NOTES? The NNA journal has a section for additional notes. If you have credible witnesses, they sign there. If you notice anything unusual about the signing, write it down as that could jog your memory when you are in court several years after the fact. It is hard to remember all of your signings and roughly 15% of our full-time Notaries who have been around for several years have been to court due to Notary related reasons.

9. STORAGE. Keep your used journals in a safe and dry place. You might get a query for an old journal entry and you need to be able to find them. Your Notary division might want your journals if you quit your commission or you expire, so keep them where you can find them where nobody will steal them.

That’s all for today!

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June 4, 2021

RON — did you invest more than you made in revenue?

Filed under: General Articles — admin @ 10:44 am

The field of RON or Remote Online Notarizations is an unstable one. I have met many Notaries who do it, and a few who even like it. Some get tons of business, others get a job once in a blue moon, and many get nothing.

The costs of being a RON are hundreds and a lot of work. You need to get commissioned, perhaps get an online journal, and software, and approvals from the various platforms or agencies that deal with RON identification and other processes such as Pavaso and about six other popular options.

With Coronavirus abounding, people thought there would be more of a demand for RON. Many state governors made abrupt executive orders allowing it, and there were changes in legislation in various states (I don’t know the details) allowing more online notarizations.

Whether or not RON is secure, or whether you can identify people sufficiently was not much of a concern for the politicians. Their goal was to find yet another way to keep you at home. It’s like Yakov Smirnoff’s comedic commercial for Russian Express Card.

American Express Card — Don’t leave home without it
Russian Express Card — Don’t leave home…. ever…

How much work you get as a RON might depend on whether or not there is a virus. It also depends on how the culture adapts to new technology. People overseas who need an American Notary have to use it. Most of the clients for RON are in Dubai, London, Berlin, Israel, Italy, China, or some foreign place (that often has some sort of really long wall).

Worth it or not?
If you like dealing with all of the computer technology and think it’s cool, in the long run it might work for you if you can figure out how to market yourself. For others who are doing it just for the money, the money is not there yet, so don’t do it unless you can’t live without it.

People on 123notary who list that they are a RON get a lot more clicks. It is impressive and lets the world know you go above and beyond what the average Notary does.

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