There are different signing certifications out there. There are NNA certified signers, 123notary certified signing agents, and many other agencies have a similar type of test and certification. But, what does it all mean?
NNA certification is famous, and people think that they are a government agency. You can learn a lot from the NNA certification process. It is a good use of your time. My personal opinion is that the test covers much more information than you will ever be able or authorized to use, and that it lacks focus as a result. I feel it is better to focus on what you will be using daily and to be good at it which is a daunting task for most notaries — believe it or not!
123notary’s certified signing agent process
Most NNA certified signers do not want to take another test, and they don’t take ours seriously. What they fail to realize is that they should not take the test because they like our test. They should take our test because the visitors to 123notary WILL NOT HIRE THEM as a first choice unless they are certified by us. Our test is short, not expensive, and to the point. It is also timed which makes it less popular with the notaries. A timed test is harder to pass, and that means that you really have to know your stuff and be able to function under pressure. Most of us can not function under regular circumstances and fall apart under pressure. This is how we separate the ladies from the girls, etc.
History of the 123notary certification test
We used to give the test over the phone. We didn’t have money or technology in those days. Notaries would say, “Ummmm, ahmmm, I know this”, and think for two minutes when we asked them simple questions about what information is where. If you have to spend long amounts of time thinking in front of a borrower, they will think that you are an unprofessional idiot, and they will be right. If you can pass our timed test, that proves that you are motivated, smart, can think under pressure, have a little bit of money, and know your basics. Passing our test doesn’t mean that you know the subtleties of the profession, but most notaries have enough trouble with the basics which is why we place very little emphasis on the more sophisticated points.
Whose test do I take?
Want to be a loan signing agent? You need marketing. If you want to advertise with the NNA, then pass their test. If you want to advertise with 123notary, then pass our test. Get certified by whichever agency you plan to be with — on their jurisdiction (their site). It is similar to different state laws. If you are in Ohio, get commissioned by the Ohio notary division, and if you are in Montana, then get commissioned by the Montana notary division. Don’t tell the Montana notary department that you are ALREADY certified by Ohio, because they don’t want to hear that.
123notary certified loan signing agents get 3x the business
We tell our clients that they will get 3x the business if they get certified by us. Our statistics demonstrate this fact. The smarter notaries get with the program and just do what is necessary, but we get a bunch of arguers who want to spend two hours convincing me that they don’t need the test. Don’t tell me — tell the hundreds of visitors to our site who refused to call you because you don’t have the certification icon next to your name!
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Power of Attorney at a nursing home
Power of Attorney signing at a Nursing Home
This was a signing that was doomed from the beginning. I was a relatively new notary, and hadn’t been burned enough to have any sense. I was like the cat who hadn’t learned to be wary of crossing the road. On the other hand, during my childhood, we had a cat who regularly sat right on the yellow line in the middle of the road. Let’s just say that she had a good sense of timing. My timing unfortunately wasn’t so good this time, and neither was my judgement.
A call from a convalescent home
It was a call from a lady in her late fifties. She seemed like a very normal person. She was taking care of an elderly lady who had nobody. Of course, when I got the call, I didn’t have the sense to ask who was going to pay me or how they were going to pay me. This job was so bizarre, that even the most experienced notary has probably never seen anything like it. So, I went to the nursing home and went in the door. This place was horrible. People were screaming and moaning all the time. Plus the stench was horrible. The nurses didn’t want to open the windows because they didn’t want bacteria coming in. My news for them is that there would be more bacteria going out than in if they opened the window.
A walk down the hallway.
“Help me…. help me…. will you help me?”. An old bedridden lady wanted to be turned over. I am not skilled at pampering the elderly, and the nurses were ignoring these helpless victems. A crazy old man tried to make conversation with me walking down the hall. This hallway should be called the hall of desperation. I got to the correct room number finally. If only I had brought an oxygen tank so I wouldn’t have had to breath in there. The lady in her 50’s wanted me to have the elderly lady sign a power of attorney document. Neither one of them had a clue how these documents worked. They needed my help filling it out and I told them that I don’t offer legal advice. So, I had to wait while these crazy ladies took thirty minutes to do what they should have had prepared long before they called me. I neglected to ask them if their document was complete by the way.
The finished power of attorney
They kept asking me what to do. I kept saying, “you need to talk to an attorney”. I asked them why they had me come all the way down there when they were not ready to sign a completed document. I had to teach them what a grantor and grantee was. I told them that in this other place, they should write what the powers the grantor is assigning to the attorney in fact (grantee). That helped get them through this daunting task. Finally, the document was done. The old lady could hardly sit up, let alone write anything. She wrote some chicken scratch which was not even ledgable. I had to do a signature by X with two subscribing witnesses with her. Finally, we were done.
The payment
The attorney in fact got out a checkbook and proceeded to pay me. I said, that the check didn’t belong to her, but to the old lady. The lady in her 50’s said that she had been granted the power to do financial transactions for the older lady and would use the old lady’s check book to write me a check. I didn’t like this idea. I said that I wanted to be paid in cash please. Neither ladies had a dime on them. So, I took the check, and needless to say it bounced.
Insist on cash
If you do a jail or hospital signing, you will be dealing with very unreliable people a very high percentage of the time. Get your travel fee upon walking in the door before you even meet the signer. If for any reason you can not complete the signing, you at least have some cash in your pocket. Knowing how to do a signing by X is a valuable skill that experienced notary publics use if you work with the elderly.
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Rules for notarizing a bedridden person
Do you like your job? A major headache of a hospital job.
Dragging the person’s arm