I saw a job ad on my zip recruiter app for National Notary of America aka National Signing Source (“NSS”) They produced a lengthy pontification with big promises for both trained signing agents and those who want to be trained. Their telephone number is listed five times, and their ad promises a dedicated team member will be available to assist.
After several calls and a general voice message with no company name, I finally got ahold of Diana. I started asking questions. To make a long story short, anybody who uses their service needs to sign up and pay because NSS submits notary names and information to all the signing companies, unlike other databases who do nothing. I asked the pricing, etc., and she would not tell me and said she’d have a recruiter get back to me. I told her I wanted the information now, and she said a NSS recruiter was the only one who could give that information.
While not revealing all the information right away was a big red flag, there were plenty of red flags in their ad.
Many grammar mistakes (lack of professionalism);
2, They are not a signing service therefore they do not keep any of the agent’s signing fees (well, this company has some other motivation then);
3, The demand for signing work is available AND guarantee that quality agents get as much work as they want (Not true. Number of signings is dependent on area, economy, and many other factors).
Established notaries can be signing in as little as a week, but it will take longer for those who need training (They don’t tell you where to look for training, which shouts “look no further than here!” Besides this, if you must take their course, how can you sign in as little as a week-unless it’s to sign your name a check to them?);
If you are not yet a notary or your commission has expired NSS can help. They have processed thousands of notary applications in every state and can do it quicker than an individual can. (This is doubtful, unless they have an “in” with the Secretary of each State and/or the state entity who processes the applications);
They can help you with getting the appropriate background screening (This is generally done by the State entity who issues the license, and you can go through the NNA or other entity);
They provide agents with all the tools to stay ahead in their profession (this is vague. What does this even mean?).
As soon as I got off the phone, I blocked their number to ensure that a recruiter would not get back to me. Notaries, beware of companies like this who make big promises.
Please feel free to add any red flags for you when looking for ways to get notary work.
I get tons of e-mails from companies like this, I delete them. I use my Notary Rotary account to access their database. They have great ratings from signing agents and also comments that are helpful. Great way to recruit new clients.
Never ever pay to be listed in ONE company’s database. Also, there are soooo many directories, but only a handful that produce any results. Stick with the tried and true.
Patnevling, I also use Notary Rotary and here to look every single company up. I was ready to sign up with a few companies but did not due to the advice at notary forums.
Great advice, Arichter. I have a few that I have paid memberships to but none are ones I have (1) received solicitations from and (2) that have not been checked out first.
National Signing Services is nothing more than a site that sells courses. They want you to sign up for this or that. Their training course was abominable.
All they provided was copies of documents that were disjointed and confusing. Instead of a complete set of closing documents for a given property
they provided forms from different states and different properties. It was impossible to follow as a single thread as they bombard you with so much fluff.
They DO NOT respond to emails or phone calls. In the rare moment that you do get through to someone you quickly realize they are idiots. No one
knows what is going on. When I completed the course and tried to sign up with companies I discovered that I did not have this thing called TRID certification.
Who knew? I was so ill prepared to do a signing that I actually had to take the NNA course who I wish I had gone to in the first place. Again, I was new and
was not aware of the NNA. What a difference. This company is a nightmare.
Please stay away from this company!!! A friend of mine signed up and got “Certified” by NATIONAL NOTARY OF AMERICA. The acronym is the same as NATIONAL NOTARY ASSOCIATION (NNA). She paid National Notary of America roughly $300 for a TRID Certification and their Loan Signing Course. She has been wondering why she has not received any signings and we figured out that she got “credentialed” with the wrong company and the companies are not accepting her credentials. NOTARIES STAY AWAY FROM NATIONAL NOTARY OF AMERICA. THEY HAVE ALSO CHANGED THEIR NAME TO NATIONAL SIGNING SOURCE AND SHE SAID SHE SPOKE WITH SOMEONE AT SIGNING PROFESSIONALS OF AMERICA AND THEY ARE ALL THE SAME COMPANY.
