I struck a nerve today I guess

Notary Experiences
23

I wrote to snapdocs when i had a unprofessional experience and i maintained a dialog until i was vindicated.

Not what they typically do but i kept being persistent to b ake sure i was heard and they did something..FYI the company tried to have my rating reduced and lied about the circumstances..,dont they all, but it became obvious they were unprofessional and unscrupulous..snapdocs dropped them. A very rare occurrence

We are on our own. There is NO PROTECTION for us.NNA is nonsense..

If u dont tske care of you..nobody else will.

Goid luck

3 Likes
24

I made sure I put comments into snapdocs every communication and again before I canceled. I dont bother with the NNA. Im fortunate enough to be in PA and we have our own extremely knowledgeable notary association. I dont believe a notary association should advocate for us anyway and I dont know why anyone would think they should. They are not our union reps or anything.

25

If they acted like and treated us like professionals, they wouldn’t have to concern themselves with what we say about them online.

1 Like
26

I can assure you that NNA does not advocate for us. If anything, they do us more harm than good.

28

I cannot stress enough how we have to market ourselves directly to title, I have gotten a few direct from title order requests, 200 bucks. We need to figure out how to bypass the middlemen, otherwise this business is just not sustainable…It sux that we have to go through all of this, however, this is the path that we have chosen, we take the hits and keep moving on..

29

Many national title companies have websites you can register as a direct notary with, but many of them take you to other service portals. Because times are tough everywhere, not every office has a full time scheduler anymore. You can pound the pavement and make the calls and take to the EO’s all you want but getting direct is not easy. Local offices here have in office notaries. I do get the calls if they have field appointments. But these offices have been in town a very long time, they don’t contract out their notaries they keep their in-house notaries working. I’m still old school I send thank you notes to EO’s at title offices everywhere. There are several who do call me first. The biggest key is don’t send in errors. Don’t ever balk at fixing an error. I have good relationships with several title companies. But they still go for the least expensive. That’s not me. I have about 13 different platforms feeding me requests. I stay busy. I stay in touch with the title offices sending me the most work. But I don’t email campaign. Think of how sick we get of the email campaigns we get on as notaries. I don’t email EO’s. They get enough spam. But I mail ‘em lots of stuff. Handwritten envelopes get opened.

1 Like
30

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It used to be easy, then everybody started doing it…Now like you said you have to stand out above all others, 100k E&O minimum, years of experience helps, every order you take is 1 closer to direct. Say thank you for the order get the title officers info, then direct market, send business cards when FedExing back docs……It takes years to build a successful business…And I will be honest, I don’t see using signing platforms as achieving that success. It is good to use them when you are starting out to gain experience….JMO…

1 Like
31

We are pretty much on the same page.

32

I had a similar one with same company. They changed the signing time and day several times, but asked. I passed up several other signings that paid more. Finally the time was settled for Friday evening. I did not get docs in time once again. Finally got them 1/2 hour before my appointment. Of course, no fedex offices open. Turns out, when I delivered to fedex on Saturday, I missed pickup. Lender, a major bank, was steamed they did not get docs until Tuesday. Had several back and forths on the platform about the docs being late. Finally, I said something like dont forget, the lender is the one who kept changing and delaying. I ended my comment with 2 exclamation points. Now, as a former English teacher, exclamation points are emphasis. Well, the karen from the bank was offended. Then a call from someone new at snap docs informing me of the fact exclamation points were yelling and telling me one more time and im off their list, which also means coast to coast. She was a karen too. They did not want to lose the business of this large bank. Long and short, I informed her of my advanced age and said sorry, I dont speak text. Later, I received a very terse letter explaining all about using fedex. I believe these Karens are taking over business. They seem to over react and take everything personally and lack tact. Its been over a month and I’ve had no more assignments even though my rating is high and my error rate is very low. Guess I need to find new companies.

1 Like
33

Since the signing companies had no respect for us..and stole fees and lo balled us ..i did start to put my card in every package and also introduced myself to the LOAN OFFICERS AND TITLE Agents etc . I took info from the docs. And registered directly ..and followed up.

Not one officer or Agent thought i was out of line .

Yes my work was flawless and i had done work for them before or someone in their office or company.

So little by litte.i built direct business ..i became Fidelity approved nationally including Chicago title,Lawyers Title..etc and several other firms.

I retired from loan signing last year..i had 3764 signings with no errors ,enjoyed preferred Status with a few Companies and was paid by direct deposit within 7-10 days or less.

I only started full time in 2020 after being commissioned for several years ,but still only took fees and jobs i wanted. I did work thru Covid and made alot of friends and contacts during that time .

My direct business started to gel in 2019 ,as I saw how unscrupulous the industry was . I played hard ball..and built my direct business.

At the end of the day,you are the boss, run your business to make a profit and do the work you are hired for.

My direct clients never thought i was dishonest.they appreciated the job i did and knew they could count on it every assignment..and paid me slightly less then thru i middle man. And I got way more $ for the same jobs.

I slept well every night…i still did work for a few Signing Companies who were professionals and paid fairly…I was a preferred Status notary who they called first .

I even worked with them to schedule multiple signings in sn area for a week at a time.

I gave them fair fees and i got jobs 2-3 a day in a doable geographic area.

I had fun .and met alot of people..interestingly enough 3 were my past clients from my previous Mgt Consulting Firm….hnw individuals who were refinancing their properties when rates were so low

Good luck

1 Like
34

@CAFRAN2 :white_check_mark:

:swan:

35

An impressive career, 3764 signings, no errors, kudos. I am curious about something you said. You said that you started putting your card in every package. Is that something ethically, we can do? Can we leave our card (I have been asked but declined) with the signer as well. I too would like to distance myself from the SS’s. Pay is too low, nobody answers the phone, instructions are vague or confusing at best. Thank you.

36

In the almost 20 years I’ve been an NSA, I’ve always included my business card with the completed package. It Title has a question, they can contact me directly rather than going through that middleman (SS) again – and having to wait for an answer.

Or, they can call me directly for any other assignments. :slight_smile:

1 Like
37

Thank you, I appreciate the info. What about leaving your card with the signers?

38

I use at least 2 business cards with each package — one for title company and one for signer(s). I say “at least” because sometimes signers will ask for another for their office, neighbor, family. Ya never know where that next assignment is coming from.

Do an exemplary job, be professional and efficient in every way, be courteous. Just part way of the marketing plan.

2 Likes
39

Well, Jennifer I finally actually read your posting. You put too much faith in the hiring party when you should have been working directly for the Title company. Page 5 of the CD has the name and number of the agent in charge. Call them, and don’t rely on a clueless scheduler.

Regarding Business cards and you guys who are “scared” to leave one. Question, how do you build up the courage to knock on a signers door?

So your professional presence might be the first time a public official ever visited their house. They just experienced the luxury of not exposing their personal business to a stranger (who used to be you) until you spent an hour getting to know them. They will occasionally use your services from now on unless you don’t leave a business card.

2 Likes
40

The original post was quite clear that I never even got to see a closing disclosure for this particular signing. No documents were ever sent to me. All I had to go off of was the signing service. How can I contact the title company when no information is given?

41

LOL

I appreciate your humor.

I am also a rural notary and driving an hour is pretty standard for us. Unfortunately, the fees offered in recent years have forced me to decline most signings. I assume most docs will arrive within an hour of the appointment time so I plan accordingly. I have had docs arrive after the appointment time and was not shocked. Signers usually understand as long as you keep them informed. It is the signing services that are not understanding when their delay causes you to miss the Fedex drop time, which can be quite early in rural areas.

42

@rummings :white_check_mark:

:swan:

43

I began working for agencies in 2010 so it’s been a lot of agonizing experiences to address over the years. I can’t say I ever enjoyed the job much having experienced abuse in this profession. The agencies often expect miracles! The last request expected 300 pages to print for two packages he asked for in one hour. When askedmy fee I told him I wasn’t interested.

I’m happier now not working for agencies anymore that I’ve cut off completely since last year. My new system is to accept local sellers and buyers who print out their docs or receive them overnight they bring to me. I usually charge $15 per signature and they often come to my office saving a mobile fee. I’m paid by Apple Pay or Square with credit cards upon completion.

You’d be unburdened using my new system.

1 Like