Thank you for your replies.
Hire only very experienced notaries and pay them what theyâre worth and you wonât need an extensive e-mail with directions, warnings, fee reductions. Often the fee difference between the experienced and the error-prone newbs is not very much.
If youâre offering less than $100-$125 for a job within 10 miles of the notaryâŠand get takersâŠTHEREâS YOUR PROBLEM!
Whatâs an error-free signing and your sanity worth to you?
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Arichter Amen! Could not have said better
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SigningAgent.com has a ranking system for those notaries that are signed up with them and/or through the National Notary Association (NNA). You may want to start building your list of preferred notaries based on the ranking of the notaries who are listed with the highest rank. Those with an Excellent ranking will assure that your returned error rate will drop tremendously. However, none of us are without fault and even those of us with an Excellent raking will on occasion forget a stamp, miss or insert the wrong date. It happens.
You may want to consider that the long list of detailed instructions may be adding to the stress of the notary trying to remember all the details of the instructions with the thought of loss of income looming while they are trying to complete the signing in a timely manner. Perhaps you should consider reducing your list to just those exceptions that the notary should pay particular attention to, and not list the obvious details that are central to most if not all signings. If they are not familiar with the basics of completing a loan signing, no list of details is going to help with that.
Lastly, like Arichter stated, provide a reasonable fee, beginning at $100. Consider bumping the fee a bit if the package is over 100+ pages (we are generally required to print two copies after all). You can recoup your investment by giving yourself time to do just a couple things: When you list a higher rate you will obviously get dozens of pings immediately. But, be selective about your choice. Do a signing location zip code search on SigningAgent.com (or some other trusted directory source) and see if a few of your respondents is on that Excellent list. If so, youâve done yourself and the notary a favor by choosing someone with the ranking you desire and who is in a nearby location to the signing that makes the job desirable to them. (Zip codes are usually within clusters for a particular city/town. E.g. 98056, 98055, 98058, etc are all within Renton in our area, so you are not looking for an exact match, but close enough for you to make it attractive to a good share of notaries.) Oh, and please make certain that you have provided the notary with a (cell)phone contact for when they have questions, especially an after hours contact phone. And stress the requirement to âcall if you have questionsâ.
Probably much of what I have stated is already familiar to you, but hopefully you get the gist of what Iâm suggesting. Good luck.
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Unfortunately we have done all of the above, minus the instructions. IF they would simple open the attachment that is included, it shows them EXACTLY what to do. However, based on the continued errors/omissions, we can tell that none of them do. As for the number, we have them listed and ALWAYS tell them to call. We do signings as well locally, so we know both sides so we are trying to make it as easy and painless as we can, while trying to reduce errors and omissions.
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I donât endorse the NNA signngagent site. If one believes what it says on their website, their ârankingsâ are based merely on how much NNA training and examination the notary has received, not on how many assignments the notary has completed, or how well those assignments turned out. My guess is that experienced notaries will not be interested in paying for and retaking the barely useful NNA training every single year.
I donât know what kind of errors you are seeing. But no set of instructions can possibly cover absolutely everything. This is especially true if there is one set of instructions that is meant to cover every state, since different states have different rules. Furthermore, title companies often include instructions of their own, so having extensive instructions from the signing service creates a strong probability there will be contradictions between what the title company says to do and what the signing service says to do.
I donât know your business practices, but Iâve observed a tendency for title companies and signing services to quickly blame the notary for every problem without complete information. For example, instructions in signing package say to use black ink, and title company and signing service are not available by phone. Sellerâs attorney, who is present at the transaction and who is a member of the bar where the property is located says to use blue ink. Lawyer wins.
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Well, if you have determined that your instructions are being altogether ignored, perhaps you should send the instructions before the order is assigned, with a requirement to check and initial each instruction bullet point and sign the document. Then when the order is finally assigned and if errors occur anyway, be true to your word and deduct for the violation of each direction. Soon you will have error-free signings. But, you also run the risk reducing your notary pool and of becoming one of the agencies derided and listed as an undesirable company to work with. Unfortunately, there is no fool-proof activity that will give you the type of assurance you seek. Good luck.
Oh, no,no, no, nooooooooo checklists. Hire experience. It pays for itself.
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How clear and well-written are your instructions? Sometimes when the instructions are just too wordy, it can become annoying. I still read them carefully though; I just find it annoying when the instructions are scattered throughout several paragraphs instead of being succinctly written. I do editing for a couple of signing services, so if itâs editing you can use, I can help you.
I agree with Arichter. If you have notaries with experience and training that is recent and from reputable trainers, you shouldnât have that problem. Iâd ask notaries if they are currently taking continuing education.
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One thing I have noticed particularly the last couple of years (when texting became more important than speakingânot sure these are relatedâjust seems that way).
If a notary has more than one question about some instruction that isnât clear (or, as often happensâŠTitle says âthisâ and SS says âthatâ), it goes like this:
Notary via e-mail: Questions:
- What color ink is required?
- Itâs a Trust signing. Do you want them to sign only their name OR the whole Trust verbiage as typed?
Then the notary gets a reply e-mail that simply saysâŠBlue. 9 times out of 10, if I have 2 or more questions, only 1 gets answered.
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Arichter is right ⊠or the other option ⊠Notary asks a legitimate question and is told ânevermind, weâll reassignâ or ânevermind itâs been canceledâ
Then thereâs my favoriteâwhich has happened more than onceâ
Conflicting instructions, so I ask via e-mail: You want âthisâ or âthatââŠwhich?
The one-word reply: Yes 
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One of the things I like is when I actually get to talk to the company that hires me for the first time. When I get the call to ask me about my background and experiences before assigning the job it gives you comfort knowing that you have someone capable of delivering what you need. You may want to try that when you are using a new notary in an area that you have an order for. Then if that person delivers make them preferred and use them. Pay fair and you will get the right person.
I was preferred notary for one company that when I first started used to pay $100+ in 2022 for refinances and just recently I am seeing them send them out for $60. Because they were one of my favorites to work with I would have taken it for $85-$90 but not at $60. At that price they will be dealing with a newer notary and run the risk.
Thatâs my 2c worth on the subject
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I say dont go with the notaries who are willing to take low fees as they tend to be the least experienced and are desperate for work. Go with a notary who countered with a higher fee as they tend to be more experienced and expect to be paid accordingly. A good notary will always call/email with any questions/concerns even with a list of instructions because said instructions are not always clear, especially if there are instructions from both the title and ss (many times they contradict each other). I wouldnt rely solely on NNA. Maybe do a google search and see if they have a business page and look for them on platforms such as notary cafe.
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The request for a higher fee is not a barometer of either experience nor talent. The unfortunate thing is that a couple of years ago we lost the personal by phone contact. Much of the information can be expressed in a phone conversation with the notary at order assignment/confirmation. An experienced notary will ask the pertinent questions related to the assignment up front⊠Anything unasked and important/relevant to the signing can be expressed to them in a conversation that will take no more than a minute or two. Sheets of written instructions canât compare, IMO. But, to each his/her own.
I believe it was Accountable Agents who used to send a checklist with the documents - a list of bullet points that served as a nice reminder of some details to watch for - notary had to initial next to each one that it was followed and send it back with the package
I, personally, loved that list. It was easy to complete and, IMO, not at all a slam at my abilities - I make a shopping list of things I need from the grocery store as everyone needs reminders now and again - I was not one bit offended by it âŠmaybe that sort of thing, rather than a novelette of instructions, would better serve you AND the notaries you contract withâŠ
Just a thought.
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As if the low fees were not bad enough, more and more signing services are going out of business and stiffing the notaries. As the real estate market shrinks, so does the pool of signing services and notaries. My advice is to turn down the low paying jobs that are prolonging the pain and delaying solvency for those who remain. When the signing service canât pay you and you canât pay for tires or toner, itâs time to stop enabling.
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I agree that SigningAgent does not have a ranking system based on preferred notaries. I can do a search of the same zip code 10 different times and receive 10 different results. If you donât believe me, try it.
They also donât up-rank members vs. non-members. Additionally, Iâve never had a caller tell me they found me on SigningAgent for loan signings. I am one of the few paid NNA members in my area and itâs roulette on my ranking each time.
The NNA âcouldâ do so much for their members in SEO but choose not to. And it doesnât benefit members who do quality work on a regular basis vs. those who have no idea what they are doing.
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Iâm not certain I understand why you have singled me out for response about perceived shortcomings of SigningAgent.com in a post that seems more appropriate for feedback directly to them, but I will engage. @mike7 requested advice from notaries on a particular challenge he was facing, and I was simply one of many who offered up some thoughts. Had you read farther into my post, I suggested them as an example, âor some other trusted directoryâ, offering similar or better resources. I am aware that the NNA and SigningAgent have their limitations and the information they present is not always the most updated and is not universal to all states. But they are no more error-prone than Signing Services that will give you a list of instructions that stand in contrast with those from the title companies who have contracted with them to hire the talent for their orders, as some of you have expressed. And, title companies are as often error prone with the documents released to us for signature. Iâm sure that more than just I have had packages for one signer and another signerâs name may be in the documents, or documents are released with a former rather than a current name of a signer, or pages from a prior set of documents were inadvertently included with a âcorrectedâ set. In my estimation, we all fall short on occasion. However, I offer up the NNA and SigningAgent as examples not as an endorsement but because their names and what they offer seem to be the most universally recognized in the industry. And I will continue to do so because they seem to be the standard bearers more often than not by title companies and signing services seeking certified notaries for hire.
But I ask you to recognize that any information I offer up is not exclusive of other resources that exist nor as demonstration on limitations of my personal experience. I simply do as others of you do by inserting myself where I feel I may have something to offer that is relevant to the topic. And, it is always take it or leave it; not expressed for the purpose of soliciting counter narrative on my opinions. But, I thank you for sharing. Iâm certain it will benefit someone.