Personal Story
Back in 1999, I became a notary public because I wanted something to work around my family. I wanted to be able to pick and choose when
I worked without the fear of never getting another call back. And I wanted guaranteed money—I didn't want to worry about commissions or
home party sales.
When I learned about mobile notaries, I hit the Internet to find out everything I could on the subject. I joined message boards and
asked lots of questions. I went through pages and pages of search engines to find companies that would hire me once I received my
license. Once I felt I had enough information to get started, I ordered my notary handbook from the state of California and studied for
the test. A few weeks later, I took the test in a closed classroom with other hopeful notary candidates.
Mobile Notary Publics Or Signing Agents
What I discovered was that becoming just a mobile notary public wouldn’t guarantee a real paycheck. It wouldn’t even guarantee a
part-time living. That’s because many banks offer free notary services, and while California allowed notaries to charge $10 per
notarial act, some states mandated that notaries were only allowed to charge 10 cents for each notary act performed. That’s when I
realized that in order to make any real money as a notary public I would need to become a loan document signing agent.
As a mobile notary public, I was allowed to charge for the convenience of driving to the homes or offices of clients, provided I told
them the fee up front. But many people didn’t want to pay an extra fee to meet at their homes, they’d rather take time off and hit the
banks for their free notary services.
But as a loan document signing agent, I could charge companies a flat fee of $50 to $125 to drive to their clients’ homes or offices,
witness the signing of their loan documents, complete any notarial acts needed, and then express deliver the documents to the lender’s
offices.
What to Expect As A Notary Signing Agent
Earning a living as a loan document signing agent is much more lucrative than earning a living as a simple notary public, but it won’t
happen over night. You must prove yourself to the companies. You must show them that you’re punctual, that you follow through, and that
you won’t make mistakes. In other words, your main goal when you start is to get in the good graces of the signing services.
What will happen is this: You will receive a page or call on your cellular phone from a signing service. If you’re paged, you’ll need
to call back within five minutes of the page, or the signing service will locate another notary public. If you’re called on the cell
phone, the signing service will ask if you’re available to work on such and such date. The signing service will tell you the date and
the time of the signing, let you know if there’s anything you need to be made aware of, and when and how your loan documents will
arrive.
If you agree to take the job, the signing service will send you a faxed confirmation sheet with the name and address of the client. You
then call the client to set up an appointment or confirm an existing appointment. Then you call the signing service back with
confirmation that the appointment is set.
A few days later, a package will arrive at your door. This package will contain all the information needed for the loan document
signing. You’ll skim through the package to make sure all the documents are there. If a document is missing, you must notify the signing
service immediately. The lender will fax the appropriate documents to you so that you have them for the meeting.
Once you meet with the client, you’ll check identification, go over the loan documents, get proper signatures, notarize proper forms,
then overnight the completed package back to the lender via the lender’s authorized code. It's that simple!
The Challenges
Working as a notary public can be stressful at first as you build up your clientele and wait for those calls to start coming in. You can
often wonder if you’re every going to receive that first assignment. But in time, and as you prove yourself, the calls will become more
frequent until you get to the point that you have to turn down jobs.
There are also minor challenges working as a notary public/loan document signing agent:
- Keeping your pager, cellular phone, and calendar with you at all times. Without the calendar, you could overbook yourself,
disappointing and quite possibly losing a client for good.
- Keeping a map in your car and understanding how to actually read it. There are times when online maps like MapQuest or YahooMaps
give poor directions. Double checking those directions with a real map, and confirming those directions with the client is vital to
arriving on time. If you’re late or the signing runs late, you could throw off your entire schedule, even missing your next appointment.
- Requesting clients to provide actual sitting space for signing—which may mean asking for a table to be cleared off, or moving to
another room.
The Benefits
The best part about working as a notary public is knowing that you will receive a set income for the job; knowing that once you accept
the assignment, you’ll be paid within thirty days; knowing that you can accept jobs around your home life and your current work
schedule; and finally, knowing that a job well-done is rewarded with more jobs.
Getting Started
When I began working as a notary public and signing loan documents, there wasn't any formal information on how to get started. In fact,
if you couldn’t pry the information out of successful mobile notary publics, you weren’t going to succeed. Today, things are different.
Information abounds. There are associations, online courses, in-person courses, and even books on the subject—all you have to do is
find what works best for you.
The most important thing in this business is doing your job right the first time. When you are good at what you do, jobs will flock to
you. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. You also must enjoy traveling and meeting new people in sometimes strange places.
To get started, order Tid-Bits For New Signing Agents today.
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is a mixed media artist, freelance writer, and aspiring photographer. She enjoys creating things that bring joy
to others. Visit our her blog, Coming Home, to check out her latest art. Or
stop by her resume site, AlyiceEdrich.net to learn how you can hire her for your
next project.
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