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April 26, 2024

Get Paid Every Time: Notary Billing Strategies

Filed under: General Articles — Tags: — Tom Wilkins @ 12:00 am

As a notary, ensuring consistent and timely payment for your services is crucial, whether you’re assisting homeowners or business owners. Implementing effective billing strategies can significantly enhance financial security and streamline operations. This article will explore key strategies for getting paid for notary services tailored specifically to help notaries professionally.

1. Establish Clear Payment Terms Upfront

The first step in ensuring you get paid every time is to set clear payment terms before you begin any notary work. It’s important to communicate whether you expect payment upon completion of the service or if you offer any deferred payment options. For example, you might require immediate payment for services rendered at closings or real estate transactions but offer terms like net 30 for regular business clients who require ongoing notary services.

2. Utilize Digital Invoicing and Payment Solutions

In today’s digital age, using online payment solutions to get paid for notary services is highly beneficial. These solutions, such as PayPal, allow you to issue invoices directly after the service is completed, making it much easier for your clients to pay promptly. Online payments provide a convenient way for your clients to pay digitally, which can significantly speed up the payment process. This is especially important when dealing with busy homeowners or business owners who appreciate the convenience of digital transactions.

3. Offer Multiple Payment Options

To accommodate the preferences of different clients, it’s beneficial to offer multiple payment options. This can include cash, checks, credit/debit cards, or digital payments. By providing various ways to pay, you reduce the hurdles for prompt payment and cater to your client’s personal or business preferences. For instance, a homeowner might prefer paying via credit card on the spot, whereas a business owner might opt for a bank transfer.

4. Implement Late Payment Penalties

While it may seem harsh, having a penalty for late payments can incentivize your clients to pay on time. Be sure to clearly outline any late fees in your payment terms. Communicate this policy before performing any services to ensure there are no surprises. This approach not only underscores the professionalism of your services but also helps safeguard your cash flow.

5. Follow Up on Invoices

Don’t hesitate to follow up promptly if an invoice goes unpaid. Sending a polite reminder email or making a quick follow-up call can secure payment without further action. Regular communication keeps the lines open, reminding your client of the outstanding payment and your need for resolution.

6. Maintain Detailed Records

Keeping detailed records of your services, including who was billed, how much, and when payments were received, is essential for effective billing. This record-keeping helps follow up on unpaid invoices and is invaluable for financial planning and tax purposes.

7. Educate Your Clients

Sometimes, clients are not fully aware of the importance of notary services. Take the opportunity to educate them about what notaries do and why the fees are justified when getting paid for notary services. A well-informed client is more likely to appreciate the value of your service and, consequently, less likely to delay payment.

Securing Payments as a Notary

Ensuring timely payments for notary services involves clear communication, the use of modern technology, and adhering to professional standards. Notaries should establish clear payment terms, utilize digital invoicing, offer various payment options, enforce late payment penalties, and diligently follow up on invoices. Keeping detailed records and educating clients on the value of notary services is also crucial. Verifying the accuracy of the document date enhances legal and professional integrity. Implementing these strategies helps notaries protect their income and maintain a consistent business flow, ensuring payments are always received on time.

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January 7, 2022

The Joy of Saying NO

Filed under: Ken Edelstein,Marketing Articles,NSA Pricing, Fees & Income,Popular on Facebook (shares) — Tags: , — admin @ 8:58 pm

This was published originally many years ago.

A call comes in from SSS (Sleazy Signing Service) asking if I was available to do a notary job. “Yes” I reply; please tell me more. The job is “precisely” 1.3 miles from your location. It has a single “tiny” PDF. There are “about” 12 pages, and we will provide a return account number for making a UPS label, at no cost to you. I am starting to get the feeling that this is a bottom fisher, but am curious as to the location. Where is the signing to be done? They give a location in the middle of Manhattan, the absolutely worst place for traffic. Mass transit also goes there but the service is quite slow and the waits for bus or train are lengthy. The subway train is faster, but the platforms are not air conditioned and it’s like standing next to a pizza oven.

“Shall I send you a confirmation and the docs?” You can, but first you need to understand how I run my business. I am the seller of the service and set both the price and the payment terms. My fee is $150 (much more than I usually charge, but I had a bad feeling and wanted to get rid of this particular SSS); and that is payable within the next 10 minutes on my site, via PayPal, prior to my printing of the documents.

We don’t work that way, we are willing to pay $40, and you will have to include an invoice when you return the completed documents and we will send a check during our next disbursement cycle; are you interested? No. I didn’t hear you, please repeat what you said. No. Dial tone.

Of course this is an extreme example. Their offer of $40 would entail at least 2 hours of effort, and the expenditure of over a gallon of near 5$ fuel. You know the components of doing any notary work. Calls, printing, travel, record keeping, trip to UPS, dunning for peanuts (in this case), etc. What I can’t understand is the (feigned?) surprise at SSS when I declined their offer. Are there notaries out there who will jump for any lowballer offer? I sure hope not.

However, NO is not always the best answer and you can’t say that “perhaps” or “maybe” you will take the assignment. But you CAN tell them you will be accepting the assignment – AND – will be checking their reputation. If you find they have a negative or no reputation, you will be requiring that they pay “up front”. Some might never mention that process, and will choose to do their “credit checking” as soon as they can get to a computer. If they have a good history, just do the job. But, if they have a bunch of negatives – call and “require” payment in advance.

Back to the fee amount. You know what you must charge to earn a living. Isn’t it about time that you put your foot down and declined lowball offers. Some notaries are out there taking the low fees; and the SSSs in this world have endless phone time to find them. Are you fed up with finding on the HUD that the SSS received $250 and your share is $75? I work with several very honorable Signing Services that take 25$ to 50$ “off the top”. But I always receive the majority of the fee. The reason you don’t is that you have trouble saying NO. Practice, look in the mirror and repeat NO NO NO – I refuse to allow anyone to take advantage of me.

I’m sitting at my PC typing this for you. I am exceedingly happy that I do NOT have a toxic receivable of $40 to chase after putting in 2+ hours in midtown traffic. I prefer to try to influence my fellow notaries to just say NO to the lowballers. You can do it, think: NO NO NO. After you decline the first lowballer you will feel great, and will be ready to “dump” the ones that follow.

.

You might also like:

The art of the decline — to new Notary jobs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15783

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December 28, 2020

Money and the Notary

Filed under: Ken Edelstein — admin @ 12:49 pm

Background
In my youth, quite some time ago; I met with Ben Franklin at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan in the colony of New York. He told me that the phrase ‘A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned’ means that it is as useful to save money that you already have as it is to earn more. I found this inspirational, and was causative to this blog entry.

Pennies Saved
Saving money is a double edged situation. Of course you get to keep the cash by not spending it and add to your personal wealth. Naturally this assumes those who you trusted to make a payment to you actually do. Personally, I follow mom’s advice to not trust strangers and most often require PayPal in advance. But I digress. It’s nice to accumulate wealth for needs unanticipated; as well as the anticipation of becoming “elderly”, sick or disabled. Thus Ben was quite correct, simply put: it’s nice to keep those pennies.

However there is the other edge: wise spending. We enjoy choices, many choices vie for our pennies. A quality smart phone that can run wayz (a cell phone based GPS navigation aid) will save fuel and often travel time. Hoarding all income is impractical, if not impossible. The pennies not saved; in effect invested, can yield many more pennies. Mobile Notaries with quality equipment; and, of course the skills to deploy them often prosper. Misers rarely flourish.

Pennies Earned
Pardon the repetition; earning money is also double edged. Multiple dichotomies exist. One can do ten jobs for twenty five dollars each, or five jobs for fifty dollars each. Sure that is an over simplification of the lowballer. However the concept is a valid one. Similarly, the complex and lengthy to process tasks are generally the most lucrative. To get them you need a lot of skill, advanced education; and a reputation of excellence. Notaries compete rather than cooperate. There are many chasing the same few assignments. What to do? The simplest, albeit harshest solution; would be for the near failing, to seek other employment.

John Houseman for Smith Barney, said, “They make money the old fashioned way… they earn it,” Do you really do everything in your power to, in every case; do all that you can to earn your fee? Some do, but many do not. Most of us have probably received a “clean up” assignment. That is one where our employer stresses the need for accuracy and that they probably would “lose their client” if the job was re-botched.

A Closing saved is a Closing earned
A perfect error free package is a joy to receive. All the right boxes were checked and the fill in information was properly entered. Of course the signatures, initials and notarizations were a joy to behold. No need to call anyone, it was done, and done completely right the first time. They are not going to call Ghost Busters Notary for the next job – they call the provider of perfection.

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November 18, 2020

What do successful Notaries do that you don’t?

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 6:00 am

Originally published in 2019

We all want to be successful and we all think that we are experts at our job. But, are we really? Here are some things successful Notaries do that the others don’t do.

1. Keep your profile managed regularly.
What does this mean? You have to login, make sure your hours, counties, notes, and reviews are as current and thorough as they can be.

2. Keep your knowledge up and keep reading.
Serious Notaries read the various blogs and forums. They also take courses and get certified by more than one agency. Instead of claiming to be so great, they get a reputed third party such as the NNA, 123notary, Notary Rotary, etc., who has an impartial test, passes the test and then has credibility. Serious Notaries keep reading and have a never ending thirst for knowledge.

3. Knowing who to extend credit to
This is one of the hardest aspects of being a Notary. The tendency is to get as many jobs as possible. But, smart Notaries say no to bad jobs, jobs from companies that have payment issues, or jobs that pay too little. As a Notary it behooves you to have standards, but try to keep the standards reasonable as well, especially if you are new or if business is slow.. Don’t let companies rack up a huge bill. If they owe you more than $300, then ask them to pay up before you do more jobs, or Paypal you for future jobs.

4. Setting terms and having contracts
This is for the very advanced Notaries but some people do have a contract for others to sign. This is taking the upper hand and others might not be willing to sign your contract unless you are a top notch Notary — after all, why should they if you are a slouch?

5. Scheduling
Successful Notaries know how to schedule their day and get rid of packages fast so that they are not late.

6. Equipment
Good Notaries have top notch equipment and fix it fast if it breaks. They know how to download anything, anytime and anywhere and don’t make excuses. A good dual tray laser printer is a good place to start although you need good scanning and faxing equipment as well

7. Watching your email
Jobs can be dispatched through apps, email and by phone. So, a good Notary keeps a constant watch of all of these mediums.

8. Other sources of income.
Relying on Notary work when times are slow doesn’t make sense. Smart Notaries realize they need to diversify. We have a handful of full-timers who make a full living at this job. But, the majority cannot, so try to be realistic and have multiple streams of income.

You might also like:

How to become a successful mobile notary from scratch
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=13340

Beginner’s Notary 103 Reading List (Resources)
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21120

How to write a notes section if you are a beginner
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16698

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May 6, 2020

Girls just want to have fun; Notaries just want to get paid;

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 9:39 am

I remember that Cyndi Lauper song from the 80’s – Girls, just want to have fun. It was popular at one time. But, during this decade, we have a different dilemma. Notaries just want to get paid. Why is it that so many Notaries don’t get paid? It is a question of doing your homework. There are various reasons why Notaries don’t get paid. Here are my points on the matter:

1. Notaries who lack experience are seen as less valuable to companies. They typically get paid last if there is a monetary constraint. This is especially true of Notaries who come across as unprofessional, whiny, or make mistakes. The way to remedy this situation is to be more professional and punctual rather than claiming to be as such. Additionally, getting more experience would help as well.

2. Research all companies you work for. If you think you can just blindly accept jobs from companies, I recommend thinking again. Roughly half of the companies out there do not pay on time, or sometimes at all. If you visit the various forums you can easily see who the good apples and bad apples are. You are not just comparing apples to apples — okay, bad example, you are just comparing apples to apples.

3. Have companies paypal you up front. After all, you are not in the finance business. You are not a lender. So, why should you extend credit to a complete stranger? Beginners may have trouble attracting people who will pay up front. But, you can reduce your fee to gain this privilege. It might be worth sacrificing a few bucks to avoid the hassle of chasing people around for petty cash and to avoid the risk of not getting paid at all.

4. Billing regularly and keeping good records is essential. If you go easy on people who owe you money, that will not get you paid.

5. Sending threatening letters to those who have owed you for more than 60 days makes sense. 123notary has a template of just such a letter in our resource page.

Summary
Getting paid is not a complicated art form. It is a matter of following some basic common sense protocol. I hope you learn this and make a habit out of it. Otherwise you might be on the hook for thousands.

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December 26, 2019

Scheduling and Rescheduling

Filed under: Best Practices — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 11:11 pm

We all schedule appointments, but how good are we at it? Things have changed since I was a Notary, but the basics are fundamentally the same. Here are some issues to consider when scheduling.

1. The risk of cancellation
Most Notaries keep information on their clients. A good business knows as much about its clients as possible. If you are a hotel, you should know who wants a newspaper, who likes a single room, who has breakfast and when, and especially who is a trouble maker. That can help the hotel to make decisions about how to conduct its business. If a Notary has clear notes on cancellation rates of clients, who pays late, and who lies about how many pages are involved, that can help you make decisions.

Overbooking or booking solid might not be a good idea if you have reliable clients. But, when I was in business there was a 25% cancellation rate, and that cancellation is when you squeeze in that burger. On the other hand, if you book too solidly and then you hit traffic, your entire night will be set back and you will get complained about.

If you have high paying clients that you don’t want to lose, allow more cushion time before and after appointments. But, for cheap jobs you have to focus on volume and cramming them in makes more sense. But, that is up to you, and if you goof, you might lose clients.

2. Rescheduling techniques
If you reschedule an appointment for a future date, try to avoid scheduling it at a time when you will have conflicting job requests that haven’t come in yet. Remember — you don’t know who will want you to do what or when. But, you can calculate based on what is normal, regular, or likely based on past data of job requests. So, if you are normally busy week nights around 7pm, do your rescheduling earlier or later than that or on the weekend. Remember, that rescheduled jobs sometimes don’t even pay you even if they agree to. If you need to go back to a job for a mistake other than your own, since it is so hard to get paid traditionally for those revisits, it might make sense to get paypal-ed before you set out if you can.

3. Waiting for a call from the LO, Lender or Signing company
Sometimes you can’t reschedule until you get the go ahead. In that case, wait until you get the magic call, and then decide. But, don’t let these guys bully you around. Once again, when you sell your time, you have prime time, shoulder hours and off hours. The type of time you give them should depend on what they are paying you. Don’t sell the filet minon for the price of chuck otherwise you are a chump!

4. Confirming
Don’t forget to call the hiring party, and the signers to confirm the appointment. Make sure that names on the ID match the names on the document, and that the date, time, place, where to park, if they have a table, and that the dollar amounts match up. Most signers don’t do a thorough job confirming, so have a check list of everything you need to ask or could ask that makes sense.

You might also like:

Notary Public 101’s guide to confirming the signing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19976

Discounts for early booking? Hotels do this, why shouldn’t you?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19072

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October 19, 2019

How much credit should you offer a signing company?

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 11:42 pm

Many Notaries get strung along and not paid simply because they offer loans (in the form of accepting delayed payment) to lots and lots of signing companies.

My question is, how much credit should you offer? If they have a good payment record, perhaps $300 of credit, if they are new to you, perhaps $200, or bad reputation perhaps one job at best?

The bigger issue is that Notaries really need to spend more time thinking about this issue. Because, the #1 issue affecting Notaries at least in the past is not getting paid. If you stop lending lots of money to people, getting paid back will become a much smaller issue.

If you got paid up from Paypal style from half your jobs, that would cut your billing issue in half. As I discussed in another article, the labor of billing and the risk of not getting paid justifies a 10% or more discount if someone pays up front with Paypal. Do the math.

The real problem is when Notaries who are desperate to work rack up a $3000 bill with a particular company and then the company goes out of business or runs into financial issues. You really need to decide where to draw your line and then stick to it. Non-paying companies are only half the problem, the other half is non-line-drawing Notaries. You can only get ripped off if you let people rip you off.

You might also like:

Notary Marketing 102 – getting paid
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19794

Trouble getting paid? Try our demand letter!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15339

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October 1, 2019

Getting paid – a comprehensive timeline

Filed under: Marketing Articles — admin @ 11:17 pm

Many Notaries have a problem getting paid. It’s not you — it’s the industry. But, by using good principles, you can avoid most of the drama. Here are some guidelines to help you through every step of the process.

BEFORE THE SIGNING
When you get that call from a particular company, you need to either have records on each company out there, or be able to look them up. That means you either need online records on a cloud, or accessible from your iPhone, or have a cheat sheet in your glove compartment with up to date records on all signing companies. You need to keep track of:

1. How many jobs have they given you
2. Payment record — average # of days to pay
3. How much outstanding
4. Are they pleasant to work for
5. Cancellation rate.
6. What is their track record on the forums and 123notary’s list of signing companies.

If company cancels too much, you should up their rate or make them pay a cancellation fee or nonrefundable deposit up front, otherwise you will be left holding the bag (and the freshly printed documents.) If a company owes you more than a few hundred, you should deny service until they pay up. If a company has no track record with you, please consider asking them to pay up front via Paypal. If you are a newer signing agent and desperate to get experience, you should be more flexible and take more risks so you get experience. People who use 123notary reward Notaries for having a lot of experience.

You can check new companies on your iPhone while on the road to see how they do on the various forums and 123notary’s list of signing companies with reviews. If a company has a bad track record of payment, you should charge up front or you will likely get stiffed. Some of these companies have no remorse.

CONFIRMING THE SIGNING
Confirming the signing using our tips in the real life scenarios section of Notary Public 101 will not help you get paid, but will help you reduce the amount of signings that end in mid-air. If the signer doesn’t have ID with matching names, or if the other signers aren’t going to be there, or if they don’t have that cashier’s check they need — you are better off not going to their house as it will be a waste of time. Signings that end in “no signs” often do not get paid, so by avoiding this type of scenario, you will have less unpaid jobs as a total percentage.

AT THE SIGNING — MISTAKES
Most Notaries brag about how they have a 99.9% accuracy rate. The truth is that most Notaries make mistakes from time to time, and sometimes FedEx or the Lender screws up too resulting in a second trip. In my experience it is very hard to get paid for a second trip. Companies will often offer to pay, and then not pay you. So, triple checking your work and getting packages to FedEx fast will help reduce your rate of non-paying jobs and also help you from getting fired as much.

AFTER THE SIGNING — FAX
After you are done with your signing, fax a bill and include all pertinent information such as the borrower’s name, property address, loan number, and whatever else the signing or title company wants. Send a bill every week by fax or email or whatever medium your company wants. Also, keep records of every signing company you work for, and all of the jobs they assigned to you. When they pay you, you can indicate the date when they paid you to the right of the job description, borrower name, property address on your records. Your records can be paper or online. It is very fast to do this by paper by the way and less chance of data loss unless you keep the paper in your car.

EVERY MONTH — RECORDS
Every month or so, update your records that you keep in your car. Keep records on each signing company. Track how many jobs they gave you, how fast they pay, what they still owe you, how much you like them. You can assign them a grade too. You can have a customized pricing strategy for each company depending on their track record. You can give lower prices for companies you like. I would base prices on estimated time spent and NOT a fixed price. You could have a — near, medium and far price, or a price that is more intricate depending on number of pages, number of signers, distance, time of day, etc. That is up to you. But, having an intricate pricing strategy will make your life a little more complicated, but will weed out the more difficult companies, or at least make them pay for grief they cause you. Otherwise, those companies will think they can get away with causing Notaries endless headaches. You could keep two sets of these records and update them monthly. One at home and one in the car. If someone offers you a job, don’t quote a price until you look at your records and see if they are on the “A” list.

30 DAYS
If a company is past 30 days, time to consider sending them a demand letter. Or you could wait until the 45 day mark depending on how tough you are. We have a demand letter (from hell) template on our resources page. People have had consistently excellent luck with it, and it was given to us by our very most seasoned Notaries on the site.

45-60 DAYS
If anyone gets to this point, definitely send them a demand letter, but consider hiring an Attorney to write a letter threatening them. There are Attorneys who will write a letter for about $30 using their legal assistants. If a company owe you $300 or more, it might be worth it to write a letter. You can also charge for damages which include your time lost and legal fees.

CONTRACTS
We wrote another article on contracts. Signing companies have contracts to protect their interests. Their contract defends what is convenient and good for the signing company but not what is good for the Notary. You can have your own contract too and make people sign it if they want your services. If you are inexperienced, many companies might not sign it. But, if they need you and you have experience, they just might. You can state terms about partial signings, no shows, cancelled jobs, printing fees, resigns, and whatever else you want. Try to be reasonable in your terms if you expect anyone to sign it and continue using your services.

CREDIT
Try to determine before hand how much credit to offer to particular companies. This needs to be customized. Companies with a bad track record should not get any credit and must pay up front. Companies that have been solid towards you for years might get $400. But, don’t offer more than that because good companies turn bad all the time the minute they run into credit problems. Each company you work for should have a credit rating with you and an individual amount of credit you will offer them. When they offer you a job, see how much they are in debt to you already before saying yes, otherwise — it’s Paypal — or no job!

Trouble getting paid?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15339

Tips for getting paid
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19794

Scary results when someone uses our demand letter from hell
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2006

Template for our famous demand letter
http://www.123notary.com/howto-get-paid-signing-agent.htm

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August 23, 2019

More on bad boy Notaries

Filed under: Humorous Posts — admin @ 10:49 pm

I wrote a blog article about the difference between bad boy Notaries and “nice” Notaries. It seems that “nice” Notaries are basically not nice at all, but a bunch of losers who want to attain other’s positive opinion and never assert themselves. The intrinsic meaning of “nice” means that you care for others which is very different from caring about how others think of you which is selfish in a lame sort of a way.

Here are some more things a bad boy Notary could do.

1. The “nice” guy Notary arrives in his Toyota Corolla or Honda, parks on the street even if he has to walk three blocks.
The bad boy Notary arrives at the signing driving a Harley. Of course, if the Harley was really noisy that would add to the bad boy appeal.

2. The ‘nice” guy Notary read copious reviews on buying the most sensible laser printer on the market, yet ends up with one that is broken half the time and works at the speed of a snail because his budget was too small. The bad boy Notary invests in a mega printer that spits out 40 pages per minute (on a bad minute) and never breaks, and also has a three year guarantee. When the bad boy Notary introduces his printer he says, and I quote, “check out this bad boy.”

3. The “nice” guy Notary neatly stacks the blank pages (if any) in the stack of loan documents. The bad boy Notary
makes spitballs out of the blank pages in the stack of loan documents, or makes paper airplanes. Japanese bad boys prefer to do origami with the blank pages and show off their Yakuza tattoos and explain the story of each tattoo. The bad boy notary could also play hang man with customers using blank pages (and even hang them if they lose.)

4. The “nice” guy Notary refuses to answer phone calls during the signing because he feels it might upset the client. The bad boy Notary realizes that he will miss his next job assignment as well as tomorrow’s job assignments if he misses phone calls, texts and emails, so he is watching them like a hawk. Moreover, he is concerned that his various lady friends might call while at the signing and he definitely doesn’t want to miss their calls.

5. The “nice” guy Notary explains to the borrower why page three on the 1003 is left blank and then gets funny looks. The bad boy Notary plays tic tac toe with the customer using page three of the 1003. Sounds kind of lame, but is a way to use the page that says, “this page intentionally left blank.”

6. The “nice” guy Notary invests big bucks going to all of the NNA conferences, learns some, and makes a handful of connections that he could have made by making a few phone calls. The bad boy Notary reads Jeremy’s blog and masters the materials in the free courses, gets a few mentors by networking with Jeremy, Carmen and the other more experienced people in the industry, AND, writes sarcastic and mildly inappropriate responses to Jeremy’s blogs… (hmmm, sounds like Ken.)

7. The “nice” guy Notary let’s his customers rack up a huge bill without complaining. After all, he is afraid that they will stop sending business his way. The bad boy Notary has a credit limit with customers which he expects them to honor. If the don’t he will cancel a job at the last minute and send a text saying, “Paypal what you owe me or find another Notary, punk!” Ouch! Once again, sounds a little like Ken, except Ken asks to be paid up front as a standard business practice. I wonder if Ken wears a leather jacket? Ken also doesn’t call people punks… he calls them turkeys instead. (gobble gobble.)

8. The “nice” guy Notary wants to attracts any client he can and is afraid to lose any client. The bad boy Notary realizes that there are some people with more time than money, and others with more money and less time — he prefers the latter and charges them appropriately. If the client is not in a position to pay big and pay fast, bad boy Notary doesn’t have a use for them.

9. The “nice” guy Notary carries pepper spray in the car just in case. Better safe than sorry. The bad boy Notary carries pepper spray in the car, on his person, a gun, has a knife collection and a club. After all, you never know what is coming. Additionally, bad boy Notary always sits closest to the door not because he is afraid — he is just thinking ahead of the game just in case something happens. You always have to have an escape plan.

10. The “nice” guy Notary always brags that he knows what he is doing and talks endlessly about his “experience.” The bad boy Notary is certified five times over and keeps his cool when talking to clients. He answers questions the way they were ask, and doesn’t try to insert little self-promoting statements into the conversation when unnecessary. He figures if someone wants to know about his background in Escrow or the 10,000 loans he signed (or claims to have signed) they will ask. He plays it cool and gets the job, because he is very professional and not at all annoying contrary to the “nice” Notary who falls on his face trying to do a snow job or smoke screen.

So, there you have it. Nice guys finish last not because they are nice, but because they are lame and unprepared, not to mention stupid. Stay ahead of the game and be a bad boy Notary. But, perhaps without the Harley as that pointer is not that critical. However the Harley jacket has been scientifically proven to attract babes.

You might also like:

Are you a bad boy Notary?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22380

Ken’s take on how to be a bad boy-girl, person, Notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22374

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August 6, 2019

I Bounced Trustee signing – Refunded – 15 Min after docs arrived

Filed under: Ken Edelstein — admin @ 9:08 pm

I Bounced Trustee signing – Refunded – 15 Min after docs arrived
I asked the all purpose question – Is there anything else I will be asked to do other than print, go, legally notarize, ship, report completion. They said “that’s it”. They sent my standard PayPal fee in 5 minutes.

When the doc arrived there was a requirement to scan and email two of the pages; OK, I’ll live with it. Even though it requires finding a parking spot, scan, email, and back out to ship. But, as they paid so quickly – I just said to myself “such is life”. But, it gets worse, as usual with my telling a lot worse.

Postdate not Backdate.
Along with the scan and email was a statement from title that I could ignore the fact that the docs were dated for the day after the notarization was scheduled. That was on the Mortgage. Borrower was predated as (no changes) signing on the 5th, the witnesses (another surprise) date the actual 4th as do I. That sure would look strange. I check with American Society of Notaries – that’s prohibited. Strike One.

Notary notarize thy self
There were two documents for notary only signatures that called for venue, stamped and seal. The first had me swear to the validity of the attached borrower ID copy – also prohibited by ASN. The second asked me to “verify” that the correct person signed, again sworn by me. Strike Two.

The closing Affidavit
The borrower signed over the words “Minnie Mouse, Trustee” – but in the notary section after the before me was “Minnie Mouse, followed by a lengthy description of the trust details”. They did include a copy of the trust (to reassure me?). Thus I was providing the trust details that the affiant did not swear to! It was the same situation for several other documents. Strike Three.

Let me outta here
Fortunately they sent the docs on Tuesday, at 7PM with the task scheduled for Thursday at 3PM, about two days later. Of course nobody at title was there to answer the phone. How I wished I had asked for the person who gave me the assignment to provide their cell number. I sent emails only stating that I had issues with the documents and also processed a complete PayPal refund. I had not printed the docs as it is my custom to review the PDFs on screen to be sure I would be able to accept the task. I also sent screen images of the ASN site showing that the specifics mentioned above were prohibited notary functions.

Lessons Learned
During “first contact” I was given the choice of them emailing the doc to me or they would ship the package to the borrower. Always have the doc emailed to you – so you can take a look at it and not wind up in a situation where you must decline to proceed and also want a trip fee. That would make for everyone involved to be unhappy. Look carefully at those notary sections, they are your statement. The fact that they sent me the Trust is meaningless; the notarized document must be able to “stand on its own”. Years later if there is litigation would you have the Trust document? Has it been revoked? Are you qualified to determine if it is valid? I am only allowed in the notary section to have the name as on ID.

What to do
Run away from questionable jobs. Your defense attorney would cost you a lot more than the tiny notary fee. Don’t count on E&O to step in when your actions are clearly improper – Dump the illegal tasks!

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Good Deed Bad Deed
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16285

The 123notary elite certification study guide
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20118

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