A few weeks back, I received a call at 6:20 PM in the evening. A lady called to tell me that her father had stage 4 cancer and was just released from ICU and they needed a notary so that they could do a power of attorney as soon as possible, while he was still lucid.
She told me that she needed me there that same day, and asked if I could come right then. I told her yes, that I would be there before 7:30.
The hospital was located 40 miles away from me, so it was an 80 mile trip altogether.
Hi! So good to find this forum! Can anyone please explain a “fax back” or “scan back” to me??? Second, do I need to be a Signatory Agent, in order to take notary jobs? I have been contacted by
re: fax/scan- After you finish a closing, your instructions may include a faxback/scanback. This is when a portion or all of the signed documents in the packet must be scanned & emailed (or faxed) to the title co or notary co.
re: signing agent - once you have your notary certificate you can accept just about any job but the key lies in the ability to complete the signing correctly. A signing agent (for mortgage & similar closings) usually includes an application process with national notary co, title co, etc., and in some cases, taking their required tests.
Calvin,
I don’t know in what state your a Notary, but $265 sounds like you over charged them just a bit, Of course your entitled to run your business anyway you think is fair but most states set the maximum fee you can charge for Notarization, in my state its $10 \ and 44 1/2 cents a mile for travel round trip from the office…For me that would have been $35 for mileage and $10 for the POA…Even if you tack on a inconvenience fee for going out at night to take care of that it still would have come out to way less than $265…Good luck to you my friend but you may want to re-consider your fee schedule just a bit…
I did one of those here in Texas and I charged them $75. If you can get $265 for that I don’t see that it is wrong. It is your business and you can charge what you like.
Prestige Notaries is one of the best, well in my opinion and I love that there pay weekly. Most of there companies will have you waiting 30 plus days which I think is ridiculous.
Well it’s like you said it depends on what state you’re in. I’m in California and I would easily charge that amount.
If the client is okay with it why not charge what you think you’re time is worth.
Because of the situation, if the client was not in agreement with the fee then I would definitely go with whatever the client would want to charge and still do the service.
Good for you! Notary should not be looked upon any differently than any other business. Request “what the market will bear” for any transaction. I’ve gotten great paydays and I’ve taken some jobs that should have paid better and on occasion I will do some jobs for free (especially for seniors and veterans). My best payday was $300 for a single sheet notarization a couple of years ago and 5 loan closings in one day for a single client to the tune of $1,000 a few months back! Admittedly, those don’t come along very often.
I agree that you should cost out every service you offer. Convenience charges can net a great payday when someone wants you to drop everything to be available now. Your $265 does not seem unreasonable to me given the scenario. I’ve seen mileage come up on this forum in many different ways. I’ve not seen any restrictions on mileage, and again, I believe you should charge what the market will bear for any agreed upon rate. In WA state our guidelines suggest a rate “agreed upon by the person requesting the notarization prior to travel”. Many believe that you can only charge the government mileage rate of $0.54/mi. But, that is untrue. That is the rate you can claim for the purpose of allowable mileage expenses for tax calculations. If you can get $1/mile for travel from a prospective client – go for it!
Do you know how difficult it is in louisiana to obtain a notary commission? Would it make sense spend a sizeable chunk of money go through arduous testing and then sell your services for 10 dollars? No, $265 may seem slightly high, but its completely understandable for the blood sweat and tears needed to be commissioned as a notary in certain states, imo.
I don’t even have a fax and have never had a problem with scanning the docs and then emailing them back. Just ask the Signing Company when you take the assignment if you can scan and email back instead of faxing (I mean, unless you would rather fax, but that surely takes longer and more prone to problems). If you don’t have a scanner they are very inexpensive and worth the price. Just be sure and get one that will scan at least 40+ pages at a time. My H-P Laser Jet Pro MFP M227fdw Prints and scans. It’s a real work hourse and I love it! It would fax also but I don’t have a dedicated line and don’t want one.
