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November 20, 2020

When a Title company lies to you

Originally posted July 31 2017

In real life, people lie. It is unethical, and should be avoided. After all, your actions determine the type of world you live in. Every time you perform an action, you should ask yourself, if everybody did what I am going to do, would that be the type of world I want to live in?

But, what types of lies do Title companies tell you? You would be surprised.

One Notary had an incident where she was told she forgot to put a stamp on a particular acknowledgment for a document. After checking her records for that particular loan, it turned out there was no document by that name in the package — she had been lied to! (gasp)

Another Notary was told that they did not need to have the borrowers sign the 1003 Universal Loan Application. There are multiple places to sign. After the fact that Notary got in trouble for not having it signed. If you get unusual instructions that don’t seem right, better get them in writing, or perhaps just rely on your instincts (if you have instincts — what am I a cat?)

One Notary keeps a copy of all the documents in a package on a flash drive to prove if a document wasn’t really in a particular package.

Once an Escrow officer with bubbly handwriting forged my signature and made a photocopy of my seal. I explained to the investigating officer that I don’t make bubbles to dot my i’s, and that it must have been done by a 19 year old girl in his office who goofed on something and had to get something notarized fast!

I heard that once a Title company claimed that a copy of the ID was not included in the package. Keep in mind that multiple hands touch loan documents at title companies, and it is possible for one of those hands to misplace a document in the shuffle.

Lost cashier’s checks? I always attach these to a piece of paper and put it in the front of the package so they won’t get lost. But, title companies still lose $10,000 checks. You just can’t just Mortgage professionals. Half of them are a bunch of dummies! And they normally fail my test too after they convince me how smart they are!

The truth is that you might be asked to go out free of charge to redo the document that you “missed.” What a corrupt way to con a Notary. I missed two seals in 4000 signings in my signing career. So, I might not believe them if they claimed I missed something. I triple checked my work. Only when there was a confusion on a day I was tired and running around like a chicken with its head cut off — that is the only time I might have made a mistake of some sort.

And by the way — it is illegal to send a loose Acknowledgment in the mail if it is stamped. It needs to be stapled to the document it is associated with.

.

You might also like:

The way you treat Jeremy might be the same way you treat title
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19590

WFG National Title Insurance Company
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19211

Protecting yourself with a contract
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2593

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December 22, 2015

A Newbie at a Title Company

Filed under: Ken Edelstein,Popular on Facebook (A little) — Tags: , — admin @ 12:00 pm

A Newbie at Title Co.
Most of our jobs are quite routine. Once in a while, thankfully not often; something crosses our path that is extraordinary. It could be very nice, or a mess; as you might have expected – I write about a mess. The docs are the docs, we are expected to make them work. However, there are limits to what, as notaries, we can process. Title has an agenda. It’s their objective to get the papers processed as quickly as possible. It has to be a mess of galactic proportions for them to either dump it, or redraw the docs. Notaries also have an agenda, and one item usually at the top of the list is to do the assignment legally. It’s not our job to enforce the law; merely to abide by it.

After accepting the “piggyback”, for a fair, but modest fee; I learn it’s to be via POA. OK, kinda, they take longer but that is our lot in life. I am told that some “special signing instructions” will be sent to me. I assume it’s their preferred POA phraseology. Some want “Mickey Mouse by Minnie Mouse, his attorney in fact”. Others reverse it: “Minnie Mouse as attorney in fact for Mickey Mouse”. I prefer the latter because the name to be sworn comes first. Both are not at all a factor in the notary section where *only* Minnie would be named. But, this assignment tried to, IMHO, not bend, but break the rules.

The instructions directed me to name the affiant and POA issuer, as sworn. Thus, before me appeared: “Minnie Mouse & Mickey Mouse via POA”. To me that was a new twist. It would appear that Minnie would be, based on the POA; taking my oath issued to Mickey! Just as we cannot delegate our notary status to someone else; oath taking cannot be via proxy. Sayeth title: “there are two signature lines on the notarized document, thus there needs to be two persons named in the notary section”. Admirable logic, a bit of arithmetic; 2=2; that’s hard to argue.

But, that would be an improper notarization. Only the person(s) who actually “appeared before me…” can be named. This set of docs had it both ways. Some had both names filled in the notary section; some had “via Power of Attorney”; and a few were for me to write in. When I called title, informing of the need for me to redact all entries other than “Minnie Mouse”; I received more bad news.

“Her legal first name is not “Minnie”, it’s “Min”. However she took title as Minnie, and an AKA form is not allowed – you just have to notarize her as Minnie””. Strike Two – this job was going downhill faster than the Cyclone at Coney Island. I call Ms. Mouse, to my surprise and delight her driver license had “Minnie”. She told me she used that name all her life; though Min was on her birth certificate. Words, Words; to me it’s what is on the driver license that counts.

During my chat with Ms. Mouse she also mentions that the papers need to be processed quickly. It seems that Mr. Mouse is deceased! Whoa, hold on partner – in every state when the agent knows of the principal’s demise – their authority ceases to exist. Title and Ms. Mouse want to proceed with a voided Power of Attorney! What is my position? My notarizations would make no mention to a Power of Attorney. In my Jurat “before me appeared Minnie Mouse” would be the only entry, and she does have valid ID in that name. I never did find out if title knew of the demise of Mr. Mouse.

I bail out. There had been too many heated exchanges with Title; my insistence on proper format soured them. She told me her legal name was Min, so some doubt. Worst of all would be to facilitate the use of a no longer valid Power of Attorney. Best to not be a party to the eventual litigation!

.

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If you contact Title companies directly, what do they want?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16110

11 best Title & Escrow Companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15861

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July 19, 2013

Interview with a Title Company

We recently had the opportunity to speak with a seasoned escrow & title officer at a reputable title company that hires the very best notaries from 123notary. He had a number of interesting things to say about how the escrow-title-mortgage industry works, why those darn documents are sometimes late, and what a title company looks for in a notary.

Q. What is the need for a title company? When and how did the current system come about?

A. Before W.W. II, there was only an abstract about a property that you could get. The problem was, this abstract did not insure the results. As sales became more complex, they needed to find a way to remedy this. Title insurance guarantees that, if someone else owns the title to your property and you cannot obtain that title, you get all of your money back. So say you buy a property from a man, but it is actually owned by his sister, to whom it was given in a will. If you cannot obtain title, title insurance guarantees that you will get back all of your money–because the property wasn’t legally yours. The escrow company is the one that does the financials for the lender and sets up the closing, and the title company is hired by the realtors and builders. However, the states have set up the system differently. Some states have companies that do both the title and escrow work, and in some states these companies are separate.

Q. There seem to be a number of hands in the pie: lenders, title companies, escrow, signing companies. How does it actually work?

A. The top of the feeding chain is the realtor. He (or she) finds the lender and the title company. Some lenders want to work with certain title companies, even if the buyer wants to work with a certain one. Each state has its own laws governing real estate. In some states, a seller can use one title company and the buyer can choose another. So there’s lots of work for notaries. The escrow or title company must choose a notary who works in the state where the property is being sold. Since there is no national certification for notaries, the title company has to have a list of good notaries in each state, and in each area of the state. We are constantly looking for the very best notaries. The notary works for the title company or the escrow company. The lender sends docs to the title company (or escrow company, depending on how the state laws are set up). Escrow handles the closing; Title prepares the settlement statement.

Q. Notaries constantly have to deal with late documents. Why are the documents late or full of errors, and how do you personally help notaries avoid this problem?

A. Ninety-nine percent of the time, late documents are the fault of the lender. However, getting a loan is a group effort, and it’s really hard to point a finger at any one person. The lender did not realize, for instance, that something was missing. Maybe the borrower didn’t provide the lender with tax returns in a timely manner, for instance; there could be several pieces of information that were found missing. The loan officer is more or less responsible for the processing of the loan.

Q. What is the training and education you need in order to be a loan officer, and how much does he/ she get paid to do the job?

A. The loan officer is trained on the job. He/she is not required to have a college degree–or even a high school degree. Of course, most do have such degrees. The loan officer might have started as a loan processor, or an accountant. A loan officer is well paid, and can make as much as a million dollars a year! I know one who does 42 closings a month. The loan officer is paid a percentage of the origination fee. Most lenders (banks) have a retail and a wholesale division. The wholesale division buys loans from mortgage brokers. A mortgage broker can do a loan in one month; a bank takes longer to do a loan. They don’t have enough employees, and maybe not enough good ones. These same employees can make much more money working for a mortgage broker, and lenders often lose good employees. This may have something to do with the errors that frequently appear on the documents from lenders.

Q. On the other hand, what kinds of errors do notaries make that are a problem for you?
A. The notary may miss a date or a signature. I put an X by every place I want signed. You can’t miss these. If a notary makes even one error, no matter what that is, I will never call that notary again.

Q. What about late documents? These can really mess up the notary’s appointments and affect income. If the notary is working for you (the title company), and you know the docs are coming in late from the lender…

A. I won’t call a notary until I have the documents; some title companies are different, and have notaries waiting and waiting. In fact, if I don’t have the documents, and cause a notary to change his/ her schedule, I think the notary has a right to charge me for the extra time and inconvenience.

Q. Now all our notaries are saying, “We like this guy!” What do you look for in a notary? What influences your decision to hire one or to not ever hire the notary again?

A. When I need a notary, the first place I look is 123notary. I look at the notary’s service area, background (profile), reviews, equipment, and hours. We also cannot hire notaries who do not answer their phones, of course. I am looking for experience. If a notary has years of experience, but has zero reviews, that’s a bit odd. I mean solid reviews that are specific, genuine, and obviously well written. It matters. It shows effort. Look at the top New York notaries’ reviews on 123 notary, for example. To any notary looking for work from a title company, I’d say, “Get listed on 123notary. That’s where I’m going to go.”

You might also like:

Interview with a veteran notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6851

Interview with Timios Title
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6718

Interview with Title Source
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=6553

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January 28, 2017

WFG National Title Insurance Company

Here is a condensed version of the more interesting comments about this company on our forum.

(1) Penny
“I have not received payment since my assignment and invoice to WFG on November 28. Despite numerous emails saying it’s in the mail, or will be in the mail, zero.
Penny 1-17-17”

(2) Joan
“WFG in Westlake Village, CA is giving me the run around with my fee being received. Completed signing on 9-30-16, it is now 11-29-16. Unacceptable. They claim they are going through a transitional period since Michael Crowder is no longer with them. What has that got to do with A/P getting my money to me?”

(3) DanNotary
“May not be dealing with them again. Huge packages, lots of work, difficult to get through to anyone and get a response. They pay $125 but if I do anything again its going to be $150.”

(4) 29993
“I have noticed that the loan packages are getting very large…so I have begun to notify, particularly WFG whose files average 170 copies…that my minimum fee is increased by another $20.00..As I mentioned before I have had no problems getting paid and have asked each time if the file is larger than 120 pages to add in another $20…but I’ve had to followup to make sure that it was…..so this week I am sending out notifications to most of the companies I work for to increase my minimum fee to include the $20. Whenever I accept a signing…they will need to include it in the order or I will return the assignment right there and then………We all have to begin to hold the line on our fees or if you accept less then you only have yourself to blame….Good Luck!”

(5) Garyw148
“I agreed to perform a signing for WFG for 10:30am the next day. At 8am I had yet to receive any documents. WFG did not answer any of the 4 phone numbers I called. Nor did they respond to the emails I sent to 3 different people. My last email was that I was going to call the borrower and let them know the signing was cancelled. Moments later (10am) I received a response not to call the borrower that the documents were coming. Then I got an email stating the day would be changed. I called the borrower and basically said to stand by. I requested to be paid via PayPal. I got a call from Mike stating they never pay via PayPal and he would remove me from there list of notaries. I said fine. Be carful here folks. Read the other reviews.”

You might also like:

See our string on WFG on the forum
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5117

See our string on NEW signing companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=new

National Preferred Notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16669

Are you a Yes-tary or a No-tary?
http://blog.123notary.com/?cat=3241

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January 18, 2022

Low-Ball Signing Co’s? How to get biz directly from Title

Originally published many years ago

Do you get business from low-ball signing companies? Are you sick of it? Aren’t we all.
Notaries do a lot of reactive posts about bad offers, but look at it from a different point of view. Let’s be proactive instead of reactive here.

First of all, it doesn’t matter how many bad offers you get as long as you get a few good offers.

Second of all, if you have little experience or training as a signing agent, you are not entitled to anything better than a low-ball offer.

Third, consider this. Some notaries are saying that low-ball signing companies need notaries more than notaries need them. I think that if this were true, that no notary would work for them. Yet, notaries do work for them. However, if you have had it up to here with these bad offers, here is a not too sophisticated strategy that can get these guys to stop bothering you.

Take an offer from a low-ball signing company. Do a nice job with a smile. Do all the fax-backs, etc. Then, find out who the Title company is who offered this job to the signing company. Contact the Title company directly and offer them your services directly at a reasonable price.

Keep in mind that signing companies are in business for a reason. If they charge $150 and pay the notaries $60, why do Title companies use them in the first place? Signing companies can take huge quantities of work off the shoulders of Title companies with a 100% reliability rate. They not only supervise the work, but they guarantee that all of thework will get done correctly and on time, otherwise they get fired. But, what if you are a responsible notary who is a better quality notary than what those signign companies use and charge $85 to work direct with Title. Okay, that’s not enough. What about $95? Think about it. Make your offer attractive to Title and you can “steal” some Title companies away from these nitwits who keep texting you! Teach them a lesson.

On the other hand, I do not recommend contacting Title companies directly unless you have signed at least 700 loans, are certified by at least three agencies, and have a very stellar track record. Title companies don’t play around with beginner’s luck — they want professionals!

.

You might also like:

If you contact Title companies directly, what do they want?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16110

A newbie at a Title company
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15774

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October 28, 2020

He took Jeremy’s advice and got new title companies

Filed under: Marketing Articles — admin @ 2:44 am

I am always pleased when I get positive feedback. A Notary in Northern California had a long pep talk and review session with me two years ago. After the pep talk he started studying a lot. He studied about 15 hours. I made him retake his certification test. I was tired of people who passed long time ago who were not sharp on their information any more. He failed his original recert test, but after the long period of studying got an A on the retake. He also redid his notes and started putting in some work to get reviews.

The result is that for the first time in years he started getting a lot of title company work. All of his extra consciousness, conscientiousness, and newly polished skills attracted more work on a tangible and also metaphysical basis. His old clients dried up for the most part due to the sluggishness in the industry. Without that new work, he would have been out of business. Thank God I believed in him and gave him a generous chunk of my time.

What do I have to do to get the rest of you to do some serious studying. Most of you think that studying is a joke, and that you don’t need to do it. But, to do well in this business you need to be serious and to be serious you need to study. Yes, you can learn on the job, but there are certain things you only learn from written materials in courses. Our certification keeps getting more and more cleaned up to the point that people are valuing it more and more. If you put some work in, you can benefit from having it. It is a lot of effort but worth it if you plan on being in business for the long run.

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Your number of loans just went down?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21236

Do you invest in your notary business?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22129

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June 7, 2020

How do you market to title companies?

Filed under: Marketing Articles — admin @ 10:12 pm

Over the years we have heard many approaches to marketing to title companies. Obviously having a good online presence is the most time efficient because using that method they would come to you. But, what if you took a more aggressive approach?

1. Calling title companies
If you make a list of title companies and call them, that is a great way to get business. Keep in mind that there are different reps. They all say that they will share your info with the others, but they hang up so fast that how do you know that they will. It is good to talk to as many reps as possible, potentially on multiple phone calls to each companies.

2. Mailing title companies
If you want to do a nationwide campaign, focus more on companies within 90 minutes of you. But, you can contact title companies throughout the nation by mail. A few Notaries have done this. The response rate is low, but you contact so many companies, that you will get clients. You could mail them a card with basic information, rates, areas covered, etc.

3. Online presence
You are already doing this. But, there are more effective ways to do online advertising than just being online. Ask me how. More listings in more areas, higher placement, more certifications, better notes sections, more reviews, etc., all help.

4. Lots of E&O.
Some title companies require lots of E&O and the amount can vary. 500K E&O will help make you stand out from the other Notaries and might help attract title companies.

5. If you work for a particular title company, pass out cards to the various reps. If you have to go to a particular branch, get to know them as individuals. Title company people are not the most friendly in the world, so try to keep it quick.

6. Visiting title companies in person is time consuming. But, you can see how it works and let us know.

7. Be willing to take those out of the way jobs. Getting in with title is hard. But, once you are in, they might give you regular work. So, be willing to go wherever or whenever for that first job so they can sample your work.

Let us know if you have any other tips in the comments.

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April 23, 2020

Are you intimidated by a title?

Filed under: General Articles — admin @ 9:25 am

I sent a newsletter out with the title: “Your notary stole your private information and sold it.” Many notaries emailed in stating that their stomach turned when they saw that title.

First of all, nobody other than a spammer or blog writer would use a title like that. Second of all, you ARE the notary, so nobody would warn you that another notary stole your information.

On the other hand, if a Title company BCC’ed a borrower telling the borrower that you, the notary, stole their information and sold it — that would be scary. But, how would they know And if you didn’t do that, why would you be scared when you read the title?

So, if you are afraid reading this above stated title, does that mean you are guilty of having done something fraudulent in the past? Or do you just have an abnormally high sense of paranoia?

Please understand that as a blog writer I have to pick topics and titles that will get my content read otherwise I get ignored and would have to shut my blog down. Thanks.

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October 17, 2018

When are Notaries rude to title companies?

Filed under: Etiquette — Tags: — admin @ 11:42 am

I wrote an article a few months ago stating that if you are rude to Jeremy (that’s me) that you are probably rude to title. I got lots of hateful responses. The point is that Notaries used the excuse that since I was not paying them, that they had the right to be rude to me and also that I was rude. But, I am only rude to people who provoke the hell out of me — which includes a long list of people.

But, this week, I talked to a few people who worked at signing and title companies to get the truth from their point of view. Here is what I found out.

Company 1.
A person who used to work in title for years told me that Notaries were regularly rude to people working in title, but that problem was no greater than any other problem they had.

Company 2
Another person who had worked in escrow as an assistant claimed that she had not heard of Notaries being rude to title officers. Hmm. A completely different story.

Company 3
This third person owned a small signing company in Arizona. He claimed that Notaries were rude to him, but only when he confronted them with something they did wrong that they were unwilling to take responsibility for. He confirmed my complaint that Notaries by and large make claims to be amazing, and are very unwilling to acknowledge their flaws or mistakes.

Summary
It seems to me that the reason for rudeness on the part of Notaries is coming from the same place as the self-promoting lies that Notaries tell. Most Notaries I deal with go on and on about how great they are, how much experience they have and how they never make mistakes. This is not only phony sounding, a pain in the neck (and ear) but a snow job. People who hire Notaries can see through the nonsense very quickly. When I ask people how many loans they have signed, 70% of people will give me a very long story about their career without answering my question which is a headache that I have to endure every time I do welcome calls. This type of bragging and not following instructions by answering the question the way it was asked is coming from the same place that the rudeness is coming from. A lack of modesty and a childish and confrontational attitude.

It would be better if Notaries would just answer questions as they were asked, adopt a more modest attitude about their work, study harder, and accept the fact that they are not perfect and that others in hiring or evaluative positions will scrutinize them. It is childish to assume that you are perfect and immature to get hostile if someone criticizes you. Expect criticism and accept it. In fact, you would be a better notary if you would hold yourself to higher standards.

If Notaries would scrutinize themselves and spend more time learning in a cautious and meticulous way, there would be less for others to criticize about them. This is a profession and there is no reason not to study. Only about 1% of our Notaries on board are willing to study on their own initiative. It should be 50% at least. Accepting the fact that even though you might have a lot of years on the job that there might be a lot you don’t know that you need to know would be another act of self-honesty and modesty.

I am not saying you should go through life berating yourselves, but the attitude of most Notaries is that of an immature show-off who cannot tolerate criticism. That kind of behavior and attitude is not professional and not attractive to hiring parties. If someone in a higher position than you says that you did something wrong or don’t know something you need to, rather than fight with them, accept their words as valuable input — because it is valuable input that might keep you from getting fired or locked up one day. Try to see things from a bigger perspective. And if you don’t like me berating you, then most of you need to act a lot more professional. If you acted professional as a group, there would be no reason to berate you in the first place.

.

You might also like:

The way you treat Jeremy might be the same way you treat title
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19590

Attn. Title Companies – what you need to know about 2018 123notary certification.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21065

If you were hiring a notary, what would you look for?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16750

If Donald Trump hired you as a Notary, would you get fired?

If Trump hired you as a Notary, would you get fired?

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August 14, 2018

Title Companies: 123notary Certification – what you need to know about it.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — admin @ 10:54 am

What does 123notary Certification mean in 2018 and 2019? A letter to title companies.

123notary teaches, screens, and certifies Notaries on:
Notary Basics
Loan Documents
Unusual Scenarios (that can lead to damages)
Clear Communication
Following Directions

We go to this trouble to make your title company’s screening and hiring procedure for new additions to your roster more streamlined, and lessens the chance of serious legal complications in the long run due to improper notary work.

We know that many of you would like to hire better quality Notaries. Are our current certified members up to your standards for being a “good Notary,” and how much extra do you feel they merit per signing? Would it be too much trouble to call a handful, talk to them for a few minutes and size them up and see for yourself how much better you feel they are compared to an average signing agent?

Our 2002 through 2017 tested mainly on loan documents and a little bit on Notary procedure, but involved mostly online testing which was taken advantage of by Notaries who found ways to game the system. As of 2018, we cleaned up our certification, removing those who cannot demonstrate a certain level of still on oral & email quizzes to ensure reliability to your hiring parties. We reduced the quantity of certified members from about 1600 to about 160 and will continue to screen certified members every year or two for quality control purposes.

Our 14 point certification process generates Notaries who are generally polite, responsive, cooperative, and technically competent. I can go over our process in as much detail as you like, but first I would like to let you know that most notaries will not aggressively pursue education on their own. They will only study hard if those who hire them recommend, require, or offer preferential treatment to those that do.

If you have Notaries who you would like to send over who you use regularly who would benefit from a tune up — or those who are not good enough to put on your list due to a lack of basic knowledge, we are happy to tutor, train, or enroll them in one of our courses. This collaboration of our forces will benefit both of us and does not cost title companies a penny. Our work on 123notary is for the greater benefit of title companies. However, we charge the Notaries for advertising and education and never charge title companies for anything.

If you would like to see our sales literature, just visit our loan signing courses page on 123notary.com. If you like the reliability of our screening we would like it if you can endorse our certification. Additionally, a few dozen of our notaries have our elite certiifcation which is a much more refined version of our certification.

We would like referrals and endorsements from agencies and individuals who work at agencies that hire Notaries in exchange for us helping you to refine the quality of your signing agents.

THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS

a. 123notary certification starts with reading our educational materials. We have loan signing courses that we sell. We also have free Notary basics materials in our blog at Notary Public 101 which we are in the process of adding to our sold materials for the convenience of the buyer. However, that material on the blog is open to the public, so our students can see it at any time.

b. We also offer Q&A by email and even tutoring to those who want it. Sometimes the technical aspects of Notary procedure can be complicated and a one on one session can be the best way to learn.

c. Testing is done online, but also as a follow up by phone. Testing by phone is more reliable as a measuring stick as we can ask open ended questions, multiple choice, fill in the blank, etc. Additionally, we know that we have the correct entity taking the test and can adjust our questions to exactly what we want to ask. We can also more easily monitor how many times and when the person took the phone test than with online tests many people abuse the privilege and treat it more like a video game that they keep playing until they win.

KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED
The knowledge required to pass our test as of 2018 includes:

1. Notary Acts. We require Notaries to know when particular notary acts are used, how to explain these acts, and what the requirements of each basic act are including Acknowledgments, Jurats, Oaths, Affirmations and Proof of Execution. We do not teach other acts as they are uncommon and not necessary. We also require Notaries to know how to administer Oaths as they are required by law when executing a Jurat which is done on Affidavits as a matter of custom.

2. Notary Terminology. We require Notaries to know basic Notary terminology such as Venue, Affiant, Certificate, terms relating to Power of Attorney, etc.

3. Certificates. We go over how to fill in the additional and optional information in certificates which deters the fraudulent as well as accidental swapping of certificates to other documents.

4. Journals. We teach prudent journal entry procedure using the one entry per signer per document principle.

5. Power of Attorney. We teach Notaries to follow instructions to a tee on AIF signings and to call in if instructions are omitted or not clear as to how an Attorney in Fact should sign in their capacity.

6. Identification. We teach Notaries how to make sure the ID proves the name on the document. This may or may not be a legal requirement in their state, but it is a prudency requirement that helps reduce the chance of ending up in court.

7. FAQ’s. We teach the basics of FAQ’s at loan signings such as:
(a) When is my first payment due?
(b) Where can I read about my prepayment penalty (if there is one)?
(c) Why is my APR higher than my rate?
(d) Where does it say where my payoffs and fees are located?

8. We teach the basic loan documents. Our emphasis used to be mainly on documents while our current emphasis is on issues that can cause financial damages to companies involved in transactions which are normally Notary issues or issues pertaining to negligence in business matters.

9. RTC. We teach how to date the Right to Cancel in a Refinance for an owner-occupied property.

10. Errors on Certificates. We teach the various ways to deal with errors on certificates, but this gets into state specific areas and also in to areas pertaining to the preference of the Lender or Title company involved.

11. After-Service. After a Notary signs a loan, they still might be needed for several days to clean up errors or answer questions. Notaries are not normally aware of how long they need to be around, so we tell them what types of situations can arise after the fact and how being unresponsive by phone and email will not make them popular with Title companies.

12. Elder Signings. Issues involving the competency and state of mind of signers is critical with elder signings. Elder signings normally take place in the hospital, but it is possible that for loan signings, especially Reverse Mortgages, that elders could be there. If an elder is on morphine, they are not in a position to sign. And if they cannot paraphrase a document, it might be dangerous to notarize them for legal liability reasons.

13. Foreign language signers and foreign language documents. We address these points a bit. A Notary must have direct communication with the signer in all states but AZ where oral translators are, or were allowed. However, for safety, you should not rely on a translator, because if they make a mistake, you could end up in court and you would be ultimately responsible as the Notary Public involved in the particular transaction.

14. Omitted Information. Sometimes a Notary will go to a signing. The instructions might say, “This page must be notarized.” However, there might not be a notary certificate. In some cases there might not be a signature line. We teach how to handle these situations gracefully.

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DANGERS OF HIRING A SHODDY NOTARY

1. Oaths. If you hire a notary who does not administer Oaths, your loan could be questioned, or perhaps even overturned in court by a Judge once the judge finds out that an “incomplete notarization” has taken place. Omitting an Oath makes a Jurat notarization on a Signature Affidavit, Occupancy Affidavit, Identity Affidavit or other Affidavit incomplete and therefore a Judge could declare the document not notarized, and perhaps declare a loan as invalid as a consequence. This would cause serious legal and financial damages to many parties involved. 90% of Notaries we talk to do NOT know how to administer an Oath correctly and most do not administer Oaths at all… ever, because they think it is not “required” in their state. It is required nationally.

2. Dropping Packages on time. If you hire a Notary who holds on to packages when they don’t know what to do in a particular situation, or because they just are not in the habit of dropping documents quickly, you might not get your important documents back on time. This is dangerous and can cause delays in funding, missing the lock in an interest rate, or your loan getting cancelled. Often times several days later, the documents will be found in the trunk of the Notary’s car. Each incident of forgetting to drop a package can cost you hundreds or thousands.

3. Identification. If you hire a sloppy Notary who does not make sure the name on the ID proves the name on the document, it is possible for your loan to end up in court costing all parties thousands. The lack of thumbprints in a Notary journal also makes it hard to identify someone who used a fake ID.

4. Journals. If you hire a Notary who does not keep a journal, you might not experience trouble for years. The minute your notarizations are called into question by an Attorney, the lack of evidence (namely the notary journal) would come back to haunt you and cause a nightmare. Without evidence, you have no way to prove who notarized what, or if a fraudulent notary impostering a real notary did the work. You have no idea who did what or when or what type of identification was used, or even if the signers consented to being notarized.

Additionally, if your sloppy Notary uses the “cram it in” style of journal entries where one line in their journal accommodates all documents in a loan signing (legal in some states but not prudent) your borrower could claim that they never had all of the documents notarized, but only one, and therefore the loan is void and the transaction must be cancelled, etc. This happens once in a blue moon when a borrower wants to get out of a transaction, and legally it is hard to prove if they consented to be notarized on five documents in a transaction when there is only one signature in the journal for five documents. You could claim that the Notary was in cahoots with the lender and added four additional documents after the fact.

5. Confirming. Improper confirming of signing can lead to a lot of wasted time. If the name on the ID does not prove the name on the document, there is no point in going to the appointment. There are many other critical points to go over when confirming the signing. The majority of Notaries either do not confirm signings, or don’t do so thoroughly enough which can cause a lot of loss of time and perhaps delays in the loan process.

6. Following directions. Many Notaries do not follow directions well. This can cause a huge loss to companies that hire them assuming your directions are critical to the success of the the signing. We screen for following directions when certifying signing agents. None of them are perfect, but we weed out a lot by asking a few following directions questions.

7. Notarizing for non-English Speakers. If you notarize for non-English speakers, this can lead to liability if you cannot communicate effectively with them. Any misunderstanding could come back to you.

8. Dating the RTC. You would be surprised how many Notaries cannot date a Right to Cancel. That can cause financial damages to any company that hires them.

9. Elder Signings can be a source of liability. The elders don’t always understand what they are signing. A competent Notary makes sure the signer understands the document, especially if elderly or in the hospital.

10. Being responsive after the fact. Many Notaries disappear or play hookey after a signing. Notaries are needed to answer questions before, during and after the signing. If they are not, this could cause grief to the hiring party.

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