December 2017 - Notary Blog - Signing Tips, Marketing Tips, General Notary Advice - 123notary.com
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December 25, 2017

123notary’s certifications will get you more business than before

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Linked In — Tags: — admin @ 11:01 am

A certification is only as valuable as the knowledge it represents. In the past, I thought our certified members were great and did not need to be tested. Then, things changed and I found I was wrong. I had to remove certifications from many people’s listings. So, now there are fewer 123notary certified members. However, the ones that have the icon have a higher level of knowledge than before. Therefore, having our certification icon will get you a bigger advantage now than ever before.

All you have to do is actually know how to be a Notary, know your loan documents, and know how to handle situations. Being 123notary certified is pathetically easy. I am shocked how many people cannot pass our test. It is easy. Most people would rather fail in their career than study a few hours. Studying is not that hard, and this is much easier than studying for a real license. So, what is the problem.

In the old days, 123notary certificaiton would get you roughly 2.5x more business. Now, that I am cleaned up my cert icon and where I put it, it will logically get more than that. I would estimate it would get people 4x more business. However, I need to wait a few months before I get formal readings. In any case this is huge. You would be a fool not to have our icon. The studying involved is only a few hours. It won’t kill you.

Additionally, the Elite icon is being scrutinized. It is not so easy to get, but you can do it if you put your mind to it. Ask us how to get the elite icon. And if you don’t believe me then ask Santa (if he’s real.)

Also read – Compilation of certification posts

The ADD culture and notary marketing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22309

He took Jeremy’s advice and got new title companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22277

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December 20, 2017

Winging it as a Notary

Filed under: Business Tips,Popular on Linked In — admin @ 11:02 am

Many Notaries get into the signing agent profession as a way to make some quick cash or at least make a supplemental income. What they don’t get is that being a signing agent is mostly about being a Notary Public. If you don’t know how to be a good Notary you might run into situations as a signing agent you might not know how to handle or even situations that can get you into legal trouble.

Carmen always tells me that most Notaries are just “winging it” and don’t bother to study to be experts in their field because they don’t think they need to. Being a signing agent requires no specific skill. Just sign as the names are typed in the document and initial where it says to initial, get the docs fedexed back on time and you are done. There might be some faxing or scannning too, but it is not a high skill profession unless…

Unless you want to really know what you are doing. But, what is there to know?

1. Basic Notary Procedure.
Most Notaries think that being a Notary involves stamping forms, but there is a lot more.

(a) There is correct journal filling outing procedure (your only evidenece in course and 15% of full-time signers end up in court at least once,) as well as…
(b) Knowing when to say yes or no to a request which requires knowing something about Notary law and prudency.
(c) Administering Oaths
(d) Knowing the difference between the various Notary acts
(e) Identifying people in prudent ways. Perhaps that should be #1 as it is the most important.
(f) Taking thumbprints as a backup just in case the ID was fake.

2. Introducing the Documents
Knowing how to introduce the loan documents is very different from knowing how to answer FAQ’s about the documents. You can memorize two sentences about each document to introduce the documents to borrowers.

3. Answering FAQ’s
If borrowers want to know which information is where, you had better know, otherwise you are not a signing agent, but only a point and sign Notary. There are many FAQ’s that people might ask. Do you write them down so you can master answering these questions or do you just wing it and hope for the best. What makes a professional is being prepared which is something few Notaries comprehend.

4. Dealing with snags in signings.
There are various things that can go wrong in a signing.
(a) The borrower has a question and the Lender doesn’t answer.
(b) The eDocuments don’t come on time.
(c) There is a cancellation while you are en route.
(d) The borrower doesn’t want to sign either because they don’t understand something or don’t like one of the terms.
(e) You have a package with an unsigned document and don’t know whether or not to drop it because nobody is answering your calls at Title or at the signing company.
(f) The borrower is upset because they are asked to sign John Emanual Smith when they never sign that way.
(g) The borrower hits the roof (and builds a sleeping area attached to the roof) because they find out they are in a flood zone.
(h) At the last minute the borrower finds out they need a cashier’s check.
(i) The borrower won’t swear under Oath because they are an Athiest.
(j) You are notarizing for John and Sally, but Sally is not able to arrive, but the Acknowledgment has John and Sally pretyped in there.

There are many snags, situations, and times when you need knowledge and experience as a signing agent. And then there are the “soft skills” like knowing how to dress and deal with people which matter equally as much if not more. If you go through your career trying to know as little as possible and respond adversely when people ask you questions or have demands of you, you will not do well in this job. Try to be agreeable, responsible, communicate well, and know your stuff. They you are giving yourself a chance and will make our lives easier as well.

.

You might also like:

Does knowledge matter any more as a signing agent?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19887

Compilation of Certification posts
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16264

How good is your technical knowledge? Should you learn more?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16683

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December 19, 2017

Do you keep a journal to please your state, a judge, the FBI, or 123notary?

Filed under: Journals,Technical & Legal — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:20 am

Most Notaries do not keep a journal because their state doesn’t require it. This is a mistake. Your journal is your only evidence in court. Many Notaries who list with us end up in court. However, since most of our Notaries keep some sort of journal records, their time in court is normally just a visit to the judge’s chambers where the judge might dismiss the case due to good evidence provided by the Notary.

Some Notaries keep a journal, but do so in a fashion I call minimal, where they do not keep the book according to NNA best practices and do not record thumbprints. Since their law might not require any journal, the Notaries often figure that they are already doing more than necessary so why do the maximum?

The answer is that your journal thumbprint which most of you refuse to keep is the ONLY way a judge or investigator can figure out who the signer is in the case of a falsified ID given to the Notary. You don’t know if an ID given to you is real, fake or falsified. But, the thumbprint is real. So you accept ID that can be falsified but refuse to take ID which is genuine — stupid! Take both.

The bottom line is that the real reason you should keep a journal is NOT to please your state (although you must uphold the laws of your state.) California is the only state I have ever heard of who audits people’s journals. If you live outside of California, the chance of your state ever seeing your journal is minimal. However, it is very likely that a judge, an investigator, or the DOJ might need to look at your journal in the case of identity theft. So, keep your journal with the intention of making their lives easier AND making sure that they don’t consider you to be a suspect! Keeping inadequate journal records is suspicious, do don’t be shoddy — be thorough!

Additionally, Jeremy (that’s me) at 123notary is sick and tired of Notaries who are shoddy and don’t keep good records. Keeping a journal is not good enough. You must keep one journal entry per person per document and thumbprint for serious documents such as deeds to please Jeremy. Jeremy wants investigators to be able to catch bad guys, so if you deny them the critical piece of evidence (a thumbprint) to catch the bad guys, then in my opinion — YOU are a bad guy! I would personally throw you in a lion’s den for not keeping a thumbprint if I could have it my way. But, I am not in charge of the world — I’m only in charge of my site.

So, if 123notary gives you a little phone quiz and asks you some questions and we find out that you don’t keep your journal correctly we will deduct points from your score. If we find out you make excuses for your abhorrant behavior, you lose even more points. Why act like a disobedient third grader when nothing prevents you from keeping good books! Only you can prevent forest fires and only you can provide the missing link to catching identity thieves — so do a good job otherwise you will get into a little trouble with 123notary. But, your state won’t care because states other than California don’t seem to take the Notary profession at all seriously! Food for thought!

Summary
Don’t keep your journal to please your state. In real life they will never see it unless you live in CA. Keep your journal using the best practices possible to please a judge, jury, the FBI, KGB, the Mossad, and Jeremy from 123notary. I will penalize you if you don’t keep good books as that reflects poorly on my reputation!

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You might also like:

Notary Public 101 – Journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19511

Do you keep a journal? Don’t wait until you get a call from the FBI.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19377

How many journal entries do you use for two signers on three documents?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19391

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December 12, 2017

The Notary Profession is a Profession — act like it is!

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Twitter — Tags: — admin @ 3:52 am

Carmen and I are tired of Notaries treating the Notary profession as if it is a quick way to make some cash on the side — Make a few extra bucks — five bucks here, ten bucks there. This is a very bad way to look at the profession. First of all, there is liability in this profession. You can get sued even if you don’t do anything wrong. People are doing big deals that are being Notarized. If something goes wrong, they can sue you for a few thousand dollars. If the Lender did something fraudulent, you might get wrongfully sued too. If you put your package in a drop box that doesn’t get picked up and the borrower loses their lock — guess what could happen? You get the idea.

The root of the problem lies with the states who mostly have low requirements or no requirements for being a Notary. If you are 18 or over, not a felon and are breathing, you can be a Notary. Being a notary is a profession that safeguards the transactions of multi-million dollar estates. Any lack of integrity or caution on the part of the Notary can lead to disaster.

Imagine that you Notarize John Hancock only to find out he was a different John Hancock and siphoned a million dollars of equity from someone’s estate. You might end up in court as a witness, accomplice, or get sued for negligence. You have no idea what you are playing with in this profession. You have to be careful what you put your stamp on. You might step on a mine.

Many Notaries also think that because their state has minimal requirements, that it is not necessary to go above and beyond your state minimum Notarial behavior — this is wrong. If you don’t keep a journal, don’t use an embosser and don’t thumbprint, you can get in huge trouble.

Think of state requirements like you think of speed limits. If the law says you can go 100 on the highway as was the case in Montana in the past and perhaps present, that doesn’t mean you are safe doing so. There could be deadly accidents. Just because you slow down to 95, you think you are being prudent, but are you really? You are still going faster than is safe. You can blame the state, but you are responsible for your own behavior.

Most professions have licensing tests that you have to take every year or two. Some professions make you take a test of 200 questions to make sure you understand all of the regulations and standards in your industry. The Notary profession has NNA tests that are taken every year or two. California has an exam you take every four years. But, people complain when I want to ask a few questions. People try to convince me that they know it all and don’t need to be tested because of all of the years they have been in business. These are the same people who score 20% on my quizzes.

Once again, the Notary profession is a profession — treat it like one. You should be quizzed every year on all the sites you are on. Since the states do not test your competency, I am forced to. It is a huge waste of my time and really frustrating dealing with all these resistant and incompetent people who think they are so smart.

If you really are so smart, just answer the questions, get an A, and then get on with your day. It would take two minutes to test people if they just knew the answers. The problem is that they resist, and then have to think about everything I ask, and then want to argue, and I need to teach them things and a simple quiz can take fifteen minutes that should take two minutes if I were dealing with professionals. How upsetting and what a waste ot my time.

To be a professional you need to do more than study. You need to master the art of being a Notary. You need to know everything and skip the snow job of trying to convince others you know everything when you don’t. The con jobs are getting very old. I have heard it all too many times. I really don’t even want to list such people. 123notary is a directory for professionals, not posers. At least that is the word young people use these days. When I was growing up we didn’t use that king of language, we said fakers.

You might also like:

Would you accept a signing without a confirmation?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22588

A list of things you probably didn’t add to your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22287

I’m a high end notary in a low-ball world
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22263

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December 5, 2017

If you’re named as an identity theft conspirator, it could cost you $20,000 in legal fees

Filed under: Technical & Legal — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:19 am

If you are named as a conspirator in an identity theft ring or identity theft case, you might be looking at some serious legal costs. Being a Notary is not safe, especially when you refuse to keep your books correctly (oh, but my state doesn’t require me to.) Excuses will not get you off the hook when you are a suspect in an identity theft case and when your journal doesn’t has a fake ID documents and no thumbprint (oh, but my state doesn’t require me to). Your state’s shoddy lack of requirements could cost you $20,000, but only if you choose not to keep proper records. Your state is not forbidding you from keeping good records. They just don’t require good records. It might be fun to just stamp things without keeping a record of what you did. But, the fun will go away when you are named in a law suit.

Legal costs might only be a few thousand, but could be as high as $20,000 in a worst case scenario.

Keeping a journal properly with:
1. One entry per person per document… i.e. if two signers each sign five documents that is ten journal entries.
2. Keep journal thumbprints as that is the only way the FBI can catch frauds if a fake ID is used (in many cases.)
3. Keeping additional notes about the signers might help in court such as mentioning tattoos, a nervous twitch, or anything else noteworthy.

Keeping good records is your responsibility as a good Notary whether required by law or not. Your refusal is pure obstinate and I won’t tolerate it for a minute. If you don’t understand good record keeping, the NNA teaches journal filling procedure quite well. So, consult them or risk possible legal consequences! Keeping your journal correctly doesn’t keep you out of court — it just normally shortens your time dealing with investigators and the court system to a few minutes instead of a few months. Take your pick!

.

You might also like:

What’s your sign? Tricks to uncover fake identification.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19638

Notary Public 101 – Identification
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19507

Do you keep a journal to please your state, a judge, the FBI or 123notary?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19483

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