I don’t remember who he was with but he had a program that would give notaries a commission instead of a flat fee if you saw a client potentially being taken advantage of on a settlement and were willing to present an alternative and potentially more lucrative settlement.
I said I wasn’t comfortable with this and wasn’t interested. I was engaged to perform a job; not talk to a client about other options (no matter how I felt about their settlement). It struck me as unethical but I guess other notaries are doing it.
Curious if anyone else has been approached and how you feel?
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That is unethical and possibly illegal. I haven’t been approached by this type of scam and like you, I would turn them down.
I dont know what you are talking about.
I haven’t been approached by a company - but I’ve felt that way on a few of the debt settlement or estate settlement deals. omg- this one young couple was getting TAKEN by the settlement co. All I could say was please read and make sure you’re comfortable with the terms.
I agree with you, metzger_nsa.
I do a fair amount of Structured Settlement buyouts and mostly understand what the Seller wants to accomplish. I’ve seen good deals and bad deals and everywhere in between. They are not illegal and, at least in my state, have to be court approved. But, pitching another co. is a whole 'nother issue that, imo, would be very wrong.
Good grief. Now someone has decided to use us as a sales force? So, the idea is for a notary to go out on an assignment and then convince the signer to sign with SOMEONE ELSE? Sleazy.
I also got a call like this last year wanting me to do it. Nope.
I just received a call tonight for a structured settlement and after discussing with the firm, I guess I talked myself out of the offer. i have no experience on the structured settlement needs as I have only done debt settlements. Are they the same? if not what is the difference and pros and cons?
I just received the same call. I told him that it’s illegal and I can be sued if I disclose information on signings I complete. He wanted to send me a “non-binding” agreement. Guess folks have nothing better to do than to try to scam people. 
Hi there Arichter! Can you please tell me what type of companies you get the most structured settlement offers from?? Like insurance companies or law offices or? Any feedback would be much appreciated
These are not a big part of my business as they seem to come from all over thru companies you’ve never heard of (& I don’t keep any running record of these oddball ‘1 & done’ hiring parties info). Also, they don’t seem to keep their own database of notaries and probably find the closest one thru one or another of the directories. Never saw one from any ‘platform’ (like SD or SO),
Sorry, not much help, but there is no volume in any given area either. They DO generally take a lot of table time (even tho’ the ‘page count’ is fairly low) as the signer has lots of forms to complete and usually at least some copies of something that you must collect, so, when lightening strikes, don’t take cheap.
Structured settlements are very different from debt settlements. I won’t take a debt settlement signing.
“Allowed by the US Congress since 1982, a structured settlement is: A completely voluntary agreement between the injured victim and the defendant . Under a structured settlement, an injured victim doesn’t receive compensation for his or her injuries in one lump sum.”
Structured Settlements | AIG US.
Debt settlements are best described here: