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October 27, 2020

Best kept Notary secrets

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 5:54 am

Every profession has secrets, but what are the best secrets a Notary could know?

1. Getting reviews on your listing will more than double your new calls.

2. If the ID has a shorter name variation than the docs do, you can put that same shorter name variation on the Acknowledgment and notarize.

3. If you are notarizing John and Sally and the acknowledgment is prefilled, but Sally can’t make it — pick a new loose acknowledgment from your back and start over.

4. You can get free courses on the 123notary.com blog. Email us if you can’t find them.

5. Carmen knows how to make $200 in less than an hour doing Notary work. Can you figure out how she does it?

6. Answering questions the way they were asked instead of trying to bombard the caller with unwanted self-promotion gives a good impression.

7. Check your email, phone and texts all the time or you will get left behind in this ADD millennial culture.

8. If you can print in your car you will save so much time driving back home.

9. Don’t offer credit to companies who are not reputable and limit credit to those who are trustworthy or you will eventually get strung along.

10. Don’t hate the portal – hate the game!

You might also like:

Do you take control at a signing?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21104

Elite Certification will benefit you for the rest of your life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20770

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October 26, 2020

California Assembly Bill 5 (2019) and how it affects Notaries

Filed under: California_Notary — admin @ 9:10 am

Someone emailed me about Assembly Bill 5 which is a California law currently. This bill limits the use of classifying subcontractors as independent contractors rather than classifying them as employees.

Employees are entitled to more labor protections such as sick leave, minimum wage, unemployment, workman’s comp, and more.

Companies such as Lyft, DoorDash, and Uber agreed to spend millions for a ballot initiative to oppose this bill.

As most bills that are socialist in nature, the premise is to “help” workers. But, the result is to make it very expensive and cumbersome to hire local workers. The advent of unions made it prohibitively expensive to hire domestic workers which resulted in lots of outsourcing. In the long run the unions did more harm than good for the workers. Assembly Bill 5 results in compromising American freedoms such as the right to form your own agreements and contracts with paid help. Many companies with particular business models will no longer have the freedom to decide whether to hire someone as a contractor or employee and face the risk of being penalized by the state.

So, how does this affect mobile notaries? Mobile notaries must now pass a strict level of qualifications to be considered independent contractors. They must meet all three conditions.

1. The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring party in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of such work and in fact
2. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business
3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity

COMMENTARY
Title companies that hire notaries often hire more experienced notaries who do not need any hand holding. However signing companies are famous for micromanaging notaries, telling them what to do and how to do it, and requiring lots of fax backs. Signing companies are violating stipulation #1 in the list of requirements of having independent contractors. Additionally, signing agents, do signing work which is not outside the usual course of what a signing company does. That is their main type of work and not something outsourced like accounting or computer repair. As far as condition #3, most Notaries do Notary related work for many different hiring parties, so although they may or may not pass condition #1, definitely don’t pass #2, the will pass condition #3.

SUMMARY
Will this mean that Notaries in California can no longer function as signing agents without being put on payroll? Would this be good or bad? I think it is a disaster and this bill is another milestone in the end of American freedom and the onset of socialism or communism in America (boo). But, what if signing companies outside of California hire signing agents within California? Can the state of California still sue them or penalize them for not following local rules? Maybe companies will have to hire full time and part time on-call employees to do their bidding. There is a company in Missouri that already does this on their own free will — notice that I said free will. Forcing this business model on companies is just not nice. It might also be disastrous for the directory business.

On a brighter note, maybe most signing agents and signing companies will ignore this rule and not get into trouble. After all, to enforce this rule requires attorneys and they do not work for cheap.

Personally I feel this bill is intrusive, a violation of our freedoms, and counterproductive. It will lead to a lot of unemployment, poverty and misery all under the guise of wanting to make downtrodden people’s lives better by having lots of artificial restrictions on employment.

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October 25, 2020

10 things Notaries can do to screw up a notarization

Filed under: Comprehensive Guides,Humorous Posts,Other Guest Bloggers,Popular on Facebook (A little) — Tags: — admin @ 11:17 pm

Originally published Nov 18, 2016.

1. When walking into a house where the borrower’s have large dogs, remember to not wear a suit of meat, as you will most likely get mauled ferociously

2. Always remember to have a small spare small container of vicks vapor rub, use just a little bit when entering the domicile of a hoarder or, of the special person who hasn’t figured out how to connect their ostomy bag

3. Under no circumstance should you ever bring your 175 lb ferocious rottweiler to a mobile appointment and let them attack your customer.

4. If you’re trying to conserve paper and think it is prudent to duplex (print on both sides), please don’t use that copy for the borrower’s to sign.

5. It’s common sense that if you don’t have your own solution, to print docs as in your own printer, don’t go into the borrower’s home and ask to use their printer to print their docs, and even more especially so, if they happen to be the respective secretary of state in your jurisdiction… remember to swear them in.

6. Body modification is great, and it is completely fine if you want to be an individual…. but if you look like you just bought the hardware section at home depot and affixed it to your face, maybe that isn’t the best way to impress a perspective client….

7. Always remember, the set of documents that the borrower’s signed, is the one you’re supposed to send back to the title company, If you have sent back the blank copy to the title company, you might not get away with stating you used invisible ink.

8. Always be prepared for almost every scenario, make sure you have extra stamp pads for when the ink starts to fade, blue or black pens depending on your jurisdiction, a writing or signature guide for the nearly blind or elderly goes a long way and you can be certain they’ll sign in the right spot. if you have a mobile printer, extra toner and always have extra paper.

9. If you plan on adding a piece of new technology to your equipment list, make sure to test it, find the faults, search the solutions, before you bring it out on the street. Also, before you go out for the day that your devices have a full charge. It’s great if you have a mobile scanner, but if something goes wrong, as things do… its even better if you have a solution or back up plan in place.

10. There is no ten. (sorry) I guess we screwed up!

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You might also like:

10 risks to being a mobile notary public
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19459

13 ways to get sued as a Notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19614

Family guy – Peter joins ISIS by mistake & needs a notarized conversion
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10507

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October 24, 2020

Ways to get arrested as a Notary Public

Filed under: Humorous Posts — admin @ 5:48 am

Originally posted in 2019

Many people think that being a Notary is a fun and easy way to make a few extra dollars. But, it can be dangerous and dramatic as well. Notaries do get arrested — not that often, but it happens.

1. Commit fraud involving real property
You will probably be looking at jail time if you commit fraud or falsify a notary certificate that has to do with a deed affecting real property.

2. Get in a physical altercation with a borrower
If the borrower yells at you and you punch them out, you might get arrested.

3. Get in an altercation with a family member or your daughter’s boyfriend
One Notary did this, the police were called, and this person had their commission revoked due to a felony conviction. It all happened so suddenly too.

4. Notarize someone who used a false ID and falsified thumbprints by using crazy glue on his thumb.
You will probably end up in court and might be investigated for conspiracy to commit fraud.

5. Drive too fast to a notary appointment.
Were you going 90 in a 30 mile an hour district because you were late to a signing because your printer got stuck on page three? You might get locked up for that.

6. Fail to keep journal entries or fail to keep them correctly.
Okay, you might not get arrested for this, but you might get your commission cancelled, revoked, or end up investigated in court where you will have no evidence. As a Notary, your journal is your only evidence in court because how can you honestly remember what you did three years ago when you probably had thousands of appointments that year?

7. Sell someone’s personal information
You might learn a whole lot about someone based on their information on the 1003. But, don’t share that with others otherwise you might get in trouble. Remember — that information is confidential.

8. Get caught snooping around someone’s house if you arrive before they get back from work.
Yes, the neighbors might call the police and you might get in trouble. On the other hand, if you did not engage in breaking and entering, you are probably okay.

9. Run over the borrower in the driveway
You might get arrested for that. It could be considered a hate crime if you hate your job. On the other hand, you could explain that you hate signing companies, not signers and the judge would probably understand.

10. Steal oxy-codene from the borrowers.
One Notary had to go to the bathroom. They did more than just urinate there. They walked out of that house with a lot of prescription medicine which doesn’t come cheap. It is hard to prove if you stole it, but that is one crime that 123notary is aware of.

11. Arrive drunk at a signing
Some signers arrive drunk or high at a signing. That is a way to get locked up as well as get fired. You could also dress like you are going to a club or going to the beach and you might get fired, but probably wouldn’t get locked up.

You might also like:

Notary arrested for stealing spices from borrowers
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20799

A forged notary seal ends someone up with a prison sentence
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21355

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October 23, 2020

123notary Elite Certification Study Guide

Filed under: Loan Signing 101 — Tags: , — admin @ 12:24 am

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ELITE CERTIFICATION

To get elite certification, you need to do well on the regular certification topics, and then know a lot more. Here are the items we quiz about for elite certification. We test by phone for the elite, and if you study hard and know your basic documents, scenarios, and Notary knowledge plus the content on this page, you could pass.

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Documents you have to understand intimately

Recorded Documents
Riders
Subordination Agreement
Residency Affidavit
Owners Affidavit
Deed of Reconveyance
Deed of Trust
CD & HUD-1
Please read the details of the required documents. Read more…

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Procedures or Acts to Understand

Signature by X or Mark — read more…
Apostilles and Authentications — read more…

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Other Terms or Information
Please click on the links below to get detailed information on the following points.

The term Elizor — read points 23 on this link. An Elizor is a court appointed official that can sign over property when the owner refuses to cooperate in court.

Explaining beneficial & financial interest. A Notary may not have beneficial interest or financial interest in anything he is notarizing. A beneficial interest could be construed as …

Federal Holidays in chronological order (memorize these). Let’s start with New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day …

Fraud Prevention & types of fraud that happen in the Notary world. Falsified identification, incorrect dates on certificates, using someone else’s Notary seal …

Authority – Who has the highest level of authority if there is a question about a notary act or document at a signing? The Notary is the authority as to how a notary transaction happens, but…

Annual Percentage Rate — a detailed understanding is required. The APR is based on the amount borrower after certain (but not all) fees and closing costs have been deducted, and expressed as a …

Pros & Cons: — Adding an Acknowledgment rather than fixing the original. if there is a mistake on a preprinted form. It is cleaner to add a new form, but there can be recording fee issues involved…

What to do if John & Sally’s names are inscribed in an Acknowledgment by the Lender and Sally can’t make it. — Cross out or add a new form? This is similar to the last point, but there are some extra snags…

Handling name variations and discrepencies such as: ID Name, vs. Typed Name, Signature on Doc, and Name on Ack. Relationship between these names if they don’t exactly match. The main thing is to obey the law first…

Understanding dates such as: Transaction Dates, Signature Dates, Rescission Dates, and Document Dates… A transaction date is the same as a signature date, but a document date is arbitrarily chosen, but by whom?

Loan Signing FAQ’s that Borrowers ask. FAQ’s have been greatly reduced by Lenders being required to explain documents to the borrowers in advance. But, you still might be asked why the APR is …

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October 22, 2020

10 reasons to get a high placed listing on 123notary

Filed under: Advertising — admin @ 9:30 am

Many Notaries go for top listings on 123notary despite the high price because they know it generates jobs. However, many Notaries prefer the free listings because they don’t want to pay for performance. Here are some reasons that might sway your opinion on paying for a higher spot on 123notary.

1. Title companies prefer the top several notaries on 123notary.
Title assumes that the top several notaries are better quality on 123notary. This might have to do with the fact that we use an algorithm to filter out those with low overall scores from being high on the list. Title is picking up on that fact, and that has been the case for years. Title companies that pay well rarely look far down the list for Notaries.

2. Get seen
People higher on the list get seen more than those down the list. People shopping for price might go all the way down the list to look for a notary, but those who pay well do not generally have to look far. Paying a few hundred to be high on the list can pay off fast especially when business is good.

3. Get paid more per signing
Those listed higher on the list generally get paid more per signing. People who low-ball often hire from lower on the list or go to SnapDocs, or NotaryRotary.

4. Get more clicks and overall calls.
If you are high on the list, you will get many more clicks and calls than those down the list. You will get more jobs than with an identical listing down the list. Being high on the list doesn’t guarantee jobs, but it makes you in people’s face and impossible to miss.

5. Don’t get overlooked
Most people who use 123notary start at the top and keep calling until they find someone who can do the job for a reasonable price. If you are at the bottom of the list, you might never get called except for jobs that are late at night, far away, or don’t pay well. Although you never know.

6. Get respect
People assume you are a better quality notary when you are at the top of 123notary.com. Our site has a reputation for having good notaries, especially at the top of the list.

7. Get high placement in neighboring counties
Only a high spot on 123notary will get you higher placement (above the free listings at least) in adjascent counties at no extra cost. Some Notaries get heavy call volume from neighboring areas as well as from their home area.

8. Have a guarantee of where you will show up on the list.
Regular, preferential and free listings do not guarantee you where you will show up. They are just levels. Preferential means you are above regular, and regular means you are above free. It doesn’t guarantee a particular placement. Being a p20 guaranatees you top placement on your county page. We cannot guarantee zip results due to the unpredictable overlap, but overlap only happens if someone is near you, but on the other side of a county line.

9. Have a guarantee you won’t be removed
Free listings do not get always get reminders to login and can be removed on a whim by 123notary staff. High placed paid listings get reminders to login and you will not be removed unless you ignore a lot of reminders to login by email and phone. In fact, with most top placements, I login for them (shhh, don’t tell anyone.)

10. Get customer service
If you are a free listing, you get minimal if any customer service from us. But, high placed listings get not only password assistance, but get help with their notes section, marketing advice, and lots of hand holding from Jeremy and Carmen. If you want to be cared for and get high quality help from people who have been in the business for 22 years, a top listing is a cost efficient way to get that.

NOTE
High placed listings perform well if they have a few reviews from satisfied clients as well as a thorough and well written notes section. If you leave your listing stripped down, you might not get your money’s worth. 123notary is in the business of getting renewals and repeat business, so we strongly suggest that you ask for our help and suggestions as to how to make the most of your listing. That way you will get more work and be very likely to renew with us which is what we depend on for our long term survival. Getting 123notary certification is another strong plus for your listing and you can email us to learn more about that.

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October 21, 2020

$14 more per signing

Filed under: Certification & Communication Skills — admin @ 8:20 am

We have learned through an email based poll that we administered a year and a half ago that 123notary Elite Certified members make $14 more per signing than those who are not 123notary Certified. They also get more title company work and get close to double the work in general. If you are tired of not getting paid well and want to up your education, 123notary is currently offering free education for signing agents. You can read our study guide.

Many elite members have also informed me that they are more popular with title companies because of their refined skills and also have a lot more self-confidence and feel better about themselves and their abilities.

Studying to be elite certified might take up to 30 hours of work studying from our free materials. It sounds like a lot, but it will benefit you for the rest of your life.

You might also like:

Elite Certification will benefit you for the rest of your life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20770

Elite Certification Study Guide
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20118

30 Point Course
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14233

Notary Public 101
http://blog.123notary.com/?cat=4561

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October 20, 2020

Logical points about the Corona Virus Covid 19 that are not being stressed

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 8:24 am

I believe that the Corona Virus Covid 19 cannot be stopped no matter what we do. We can slow its growth to a certain extent. We can quarantine and educate. But, even with China’s brutal measures, the disease is still spreading in China. Don’t believe their doctored numbers – they are hiding the true numbers to save face. Here are some points that I think should be known about Covid-19.

1. Does temperature affect the spread of Covid 19?
Experts question whether Covid 19 will slow down when the weather warms up.
You can crunch numbers based on the spread of the disease in warm countries vs. cold provinces and countries now and see that the growth rate in warm areas is much slower in warm areas whether areas being compared are under quarantine or not. Covid 19 grows slowly enough in warm climates that the number of recoveries per day is similar to the number of new infections.

2. What is the death rate from Covid 19?
The death rate from Covid 19 is a debated topic. Rates of 2%, 3.7% and 6% have been mentioned. If you look at closed cases where there is either a recovery or death, 6% of the people died. However, most of those numbers are from China and the reporting protocol and health systems in other countries may reflect very different statistics. Therefor a global statistic of the death rate is relatively meaningless as it doesn’t apply to any particular place.

3. Cruise ships are incubators and not quarantines
The air in cruise ships is pumped from one room to the others without being disinfected. Not only is a cruise ship not a real quarantine for the disease but, it is an ideal place to spread the disease with optimal efficiency. Relatives of people who died on the Diamond Princess should consider holding the Japanese government or the ship’s management accountable and responsible for pumping infected air into people’s rooms and hence causing their inevitable infection and possibly death.

4. Testing for Covid 19 is a big part of the solution.
Testing is expensive and many people who want a test are denied simply because resources are so limited. But, if the disease spreads out of control, how will they test at that point to get realistic statistics? If you can’t handle a tiny outbreak, how will you handle an epidemic? My strategy is to —

A. Test all who have symptoms of the disease. That might be a lot of people.
B. Test all who have come into contact with those infected. Once again, that will amount to a lot of people.
C. Quarantine those who are infected
D. Treat those who are quarantined and have a good supply of oxygen and respirators.

Summary
I don’t believe there is a way to completely control Covid-19, but if my recommended measures are implemented, the spread of the disease would be slow enough that we would not have to shut down schools, events, trade, cities, etc.

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October 19, 2020

Compilation of posts about SnapDocs

Filed under: Compilations — Tags: — admin @ 7:07 am

I put these posts generally in order of popularity, but there are a lot of newer posts who don’t have much in terms of click analytics yet.

123notary vs. Snapdocs; AT&T vs. Verizon
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21258

SnapDocs, when the texts stop
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21163

Why Notaries don’t like SnapDocs and why companies do
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22713

What Notaries don’t like about Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21246

Snapdocs is losing business to ZipSig and Signingorder.com
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=23817

SnapDocs doesn’t take phone calls, how much of an issue is that
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=24127

How often do you not get paid on Snapdocs?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=24156

Are you frustrated with SnapDocs?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=24125

Snapdocs – are the jobs just too far away?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21003

Snapdocs – what we’ve learned about their notaries
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16099

Snapdocs wants to sell shares on Shark Tank
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20815

Opinions about Snapdocs in the forum & blog comments
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21299

I felt like I was being used (Snapdocs assignment)
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18852

10 ways to “deal” with Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=17002

Who and what is Snapdocs?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18841

Snapdocs business model doesn’t add up
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19290

Snapdocs — thumbs up or thumbs down?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19190

Snapdocs is a bigger operation than I thought
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19192

More on Snapdocs — the Uber of the Notary industry
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16236

Copying your notes over from SnapDocs? Bad idea!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=24032

If you forget your cell phone in an Uber, if you have a problem with Snapdocs… is that similar?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22683

Signers who get paid big bucks on SnapDocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22677

Snapdocs – repeated messages for the same signing?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22675

Is Snapdocs a serious threat to 123notary?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18818

Snapdocs – total # of signings documented vs. actual total
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22645

Snapdocs – their profiles are getting more impressive, but…
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20819

FASS to use Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20797

What has your experience with Snapdocs been like?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20793

Does Snapdocs have thin margins?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22629

Snapdocs has a new feature for bank auto pay within 30 days
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=17471

If everyone complains about Snapdocs, why do they continue to grow?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19034

Snapdocs has a good algorithm… but… (200)
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19925

Snapdocs grew tremendously in 2016, but Notary Rotary shrank
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19058

The Uber principal at snapdocs — new blood!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18868

Snapdocs – do they cater to the fastest or the best(est)?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20821

Snapdocs has an adjustable radius… should 123notary do the same?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21048

The evolution of American eCommerce and Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22275

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October 18, 2020

Snapdocs losing business to zigsig, and signingorder.com

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — admin @ 9:20 am

When Snapdocs got popular back in 2015, I thought that was bad news for us. However, there are other businesses copying Snapdocs’ style which is bad news for Snapdocs. Fortunately for me, 123notary’s style of running our directory is less high-tech, and more based on me having knowledge of the business. Someone can buy into a notary business or directory, but they cannot buy the knowledge of notary work or directory analytics that I have. Or so I think…

Copying Snapdocs’ style sounds expensive, but if you have the programming budget and the technical knowledge you can do it. It looks like multiple agencies are doing their own version of Snapdocs.

So far, nobody has created anything at all similar to 123notary, at least based on the behind the scenes working of our directory. Maybe the angels are protecting me.

I personally do not know anything about those competing with Snapdocs. I only know what their affect on our business has been. Queries for lower paying jobs are down on 123notary as a result of Snapdocs. I don’t know how long they will last, but with the new competition it will be a lot harder for them. High placed listing sales are also down, but that is more due to the depressed market of 2014 to mid-2019. Now things are picking up a bit in late 2019. Perhaps it will stay busy. The mortgage rate predictions of the experts suggest so.

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