Harry and Lloyd set out to become notaries. Little did society (or the county clerk) know that they would be the dumbest notaries in human recorded history.
HARRY: I just got my new notary stamp.
LLOYD: Don’t forget to lick the stamp before you use it.
HARRY: Ha! I’m already ahead of you, my friend. (Sticking out tongue and revealing indented tongue from embosser.)
LLOYD: (sticking out his tongue) No, you’re not. I licked your notary stamp first!
HARRY: Ewwww. That means I licked where your tongue already was.
LLOYD: Ewwww.
HARRY: Hey, I’m going to my first notary assignment tomorrow. Wanna come for moral support and tips?
LLOYD: I guess. But, why do I have to tip you if you’re doing the job for someone else?
(at the assignment)
SAMANTHA: Thanks so much for coming. It’s so hard to find a Notary at the last minute.
HARRY: It’s the last minute?!!! Oh no, we’re all going to die!!!!
SAMANTHA: It’s a figure of speech. There will be other minutes.
LLOYD: Oooh. Pretty… and smart!
(Harry had Samantha sign the journal inside the book cover like an autograph. Then he attached a certificate to the documents. He wasn’t sure if Samantha was a guy or a chick, so he crossed on the he/she/they, used white out and wrote “it” in handwriting. What a dumb thing to do.)
HARRY: Done!
LLOYD: Aren’t you forgetting something?
HARRY: Oh yeah… (he licks his stamp after he affixed it. Luckily Samantha was too dumb to know the difference)
SAMANTHA: Thanks so much. I might need help next week with a lien.
HARRY & LLOYD: We’re good at that — watch this. (they both lean, bracing themselves against the wall.)
SAMANTHA: And a Quaker friend will need a notarization with an Oath.
HARRY: No problem. I’ll bring a box of them!
(The next day, a call came in from Dave who needed a notary for his Affidavit of Statute of Limitations for his Attorney) In looking up Harry’s profile, he noticed he’d written that he was a hard worker and had a professional misdemeanor.
DAVE: Hi, I’ll need a Notary. Can you meet me in the park for the notarization? It’s near my Attorney’s office.
HARRY: Your attorney lives in a park? Cool! I know this great fountain where we can meet.
(They both arrive. At the fountain where there is a statue)
DAVE: I’m so glad you could help. Here’s my document.
HARRY: Document? I already did the work, dude. See my seal over there? It’s on the statue of limitations. It was hard to find a clean spot next to all the bird droppings. Maybe that’s why it’s so limited. The person assigned to keep it clean is also limited if you ask me.
DAVE: What? You birdbrain!
HARRY: Thanks! Not that I’m smart enough to crap on a statue.
(The third day, he did a notarization for Luke)
HARRY: Okay Luke, you called for Quaker oats, and I brought you two boxes. Wanna warm some up?
LUKE: No Harry, I didn’t want Quaker Oats, I wanted Quaker Oaths.
HARRY: Oh, so that’s the part of the manual I read wrong. Let me get my hat. Okay, now swear.
LUKE: That’s not how it’s done. I’ve been to many notaries before.
HARRY: So, how do you do an Oath? This is my first commission, and probably my last if I don’t get suspended or held back a year.
LUKE: You start by asking a question, like, do you swear that you agree to the terms in this agreement?
HARRY: Do, I &%$-ing swear to agree to the &%#-ing terms in your &$#-ing agreement? I &%#-ing do swear!
LUKE: It’s not that kind of swearing, it’s the type of swearing like when you swear to tell the truth.
HARRY: Ohhhh. Well, I &%$-ing do swear to tell the &*$%-ing truth.
LUKE: I also need a Will notarized.
LLOYD: And a way?
LUKE: A way to notarize the will?
LLOYD: Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Here’s something I never got about legal documents. If there’s a will, why isn’t there also a won’t?
HARRY: Because they won’t want a Won’t — that’s why they call it “Won’t.”
LLOYD: Oh, that actually kind of makes sense.
HARRY: Okay, anything else?
LUKE: I heard that you could do e-signatures too?
HARRY: No, I don’t mess with that. I heard some Notary dude got electrocuted doing an e-signature. I saw a picture of him in the paper with his hair all frizzled. That’s a “don’t try this at home” type of notarization.
LUKE: Okay, thanks.
(The fourth day, they were asked to help sign a loan. The loan docs were late, so Harry took matters into his own hands.)
HARRY: What are the documents supposed to be in a loan?
LLOYD: Well, there is a Deed. So, we could do a Deed. Then there’s the Note. I have a note from my gym teacher saying I’m not fit to play volleyball. And if they don’t like that, I have this G# I lifted from music class. There is a Right to Cancel too. I could draw that up on my computer. Then, there is a HUB. I could bring the hub cap that’s been sitting on the corner for about a week. Here, help me. I want to put all of this in a box so we’ll be prepared.
HARRY: Lloyd — you’re the greatest friend a guy could have! And one of the smartest, and most prepared friends too!
LLOYD: If a smart guy like you thinks so, it must be true!
.
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A Notary Union — how would that work?
One Notary wanted a Notary Union. But, would a union help? What would happen? He wanted rates fixed at $150 per signing. It’s not legal to fix rates and $150 is too high.
Contracts
Signing companies would have to sign a contract with the union if they wanted to get some of the better veteran signing agents. Most or many veterans would join the union. The companies that hired union Notaries would only be able to hire union Notaries, and with a long term contract at ridiculous prices. Meanwhile the non-union signing companies would be able to hire anyone who wasn’t a union Notary. The problem here is that Title companies are only willing to pay so much. And if the union had a meeting where they were going to raise their rate to $160 per signing, they would virtually put the signing company out of business.
This is similar to what happened with car manufacturers and manufacturing in the Midwest which moved permanently to China leaving the union guys without a job at all. Unions helped certain Midwesterners and people in other parts of the country make extra money for about two or three decades by artificially controlling market conditions — and then the mother companies discovered a place called Asia and the party was over which led to mass unemployment.
Union Fees
Notaries would have to pay union fees, and go to union meetings. Very few Notaries make it to the NNA annual conference, so how will they make it to meetings? Notaries have so little money already, how will they pay fees? Most are not even full-time?
Corruption
Unions basically give privelege to a few of the workers, but do not help workers as a whole. In Boston in the 1980’s, certain more established classes of workers gained privelege to union jobs while Blacks and Puerto Ricans were generally left out until affirmative action became more prevelant. There is also a lot of power politics going in within unions for control. To me, unions are mafia-like power grabbing organizations which force companies to pay an elite group of workers above market level wages. This leaves those without social favor out of the picture and bankrupts companies in the long run. In the long run unions lead to unemployment, unfairness and misery.
The Solution
So, what is the solution to unfair wages? Markets! Fair and open markets solve all wage related problems. With open markets you get paid what you are worth. The problems the Notaries are facing these days is that there are lots of unskilled people who can do Notary work. They might not do a good job, but they can function with guidance. The skills of highly skilled Notaries are no longer valued like in the old days, and that is why the market hires too many unskilled Notaries and doesn’t pay the worthwhile Notaries enough — at least until signing companies come to their senses.
The Cause of the Problem
Part of the reason this is the case is because there are SO FEW highly skilled and reliable Notaries, that you can’t base your business model on only hiring the best. You might get a few “best” notaries, and the rest will be slouches! That is not a consistent business model. Most Notaries on 123notary just don’t know their documents, don’t know what information is where, and don’t know what to do if there is trouble. Most of our Notaries make a lot of claims of how good they are, but really only 250 Elite Certified Notaries on 123notary are hot stuff in my opinion. Those ultra-experienced and highly educated stampers are worth $150 per signing in most cases. The “regular” 123notary certified Notaries are worth about $100 per signing (in my opinion) and the un-123notary certified Notaries are worth $50. If you don’t know anything and have hardly any experience, why should you be paid much more than minimum wage?
My issue is NOT that Notaries are not paid a decent wage. My issue is that the 250 Elite Certified Notaries on our site who merit a better wage are not usually getting it. As for the uncertified majority, the fact that you get work at all is a miracle. I personally would not hire someone who couldn’t pass my test. My test doesn’t guarantee that you are a great Notary — however, it determines that you are at least worth trying and have potential and know your basics.
If it were up to me, anyone who didn’t pass our elite test wouldn’t be allowed to do any signing agent work. After all, this is a serious profession where you routinely handle half million dollar loans. Why hire someone who is any less than highly qualified for such critical work?
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