I live in New Mexico, and some of my signings are in very remote locations, often without cell phone service. I’m considering letting the signing companies know that I will be wearing jeans (and a nice blouse and nice shoes) to these appointments and here is the reason why.
Last week I had to drive five miles off of the main highway on a freshly graded road in the mountains. There were a lot of rocks exposed. I didn’t have cell signal and a storm was coming in. It was an evening signing.
When I was done and leaving, my warning light came on that I had a low tire. 18PSI in a 32PSI tire. By this time it was raining, I was on a dirt road and it was dark. I was in my dress clothes and dress shoes. I was blessed to be just up the road from my signer, that had a shop. I returned and he kindly put air in my tire. But we could hear the leak. Now I had to change the tire. He moved some things and had me pull into his shop, where he had equipment to quickly jack up my car, and change my tire out of the rain. (I compensated him!)
My thought was that if it were not for him, I would be changing my own tire in the mud and rain in the dark. I didn’t have signal so calling my roadside assistance doesn’t do me any good. I don’t mind changing my own tire, but the thought of doing it in nice clothes bothered me. I would have ruined my shoes. Most of the people that live in these remote areas could care less what I am wearing and most wear jeans all the time. I don’t believe they would mind at all.
So, I guess I will be packing a bag with extra clothes, shoes and a towel/rag to add to my emergency kit in my car. And I will pack unopened batteries too. The ones in my flashlight, that haven’t been used in years, were dead. And I will put a piece of cardboard in my tire area of my trunk to have something to kneel on in the mud. I thought I was prepared for emergencies, but this showed how I could do better. Thankfully on EVERY assignment, I let my husband know when I should be home. I know this doesn’t apply to urban notaries, but for those of us that travel outside of the city, I hope it’s a reminder to be prepared.
And as a side note…each time you rotate your tires, have them check the air pressure in your spare tire. I haven’t done that this past year and my spare was low too. Not bad, but it would have given me anxiety knowing it was low on air trying to return home.
You might try some khakis, which can be as tough as jeans but more acceptable in a business environment. And I echo your advice about checking the air in the spare.
I’d do everything you said except tell them. Jeans are quite acceptable nearly everywhere these days anyway…and, as you said, your signers won’t bat an eye…but the scheduler/company just might. Ashton…khakis don’t ‘hide’ stains like jeans do…
What an experience you had! I’m so glad that you had a resource to help you out and appreciate your attention to emergency preparedness. Also, I add all my signings to my Google calendar and give my husband access so he can see exactly where I am. We also have a Life360 app account so he can track me. 
My comment may not agree with some of the other comments. Khakis do come in different colors, which do not show stains so easily. Why risk a business relationship over wearing unacceptable clothes. Most of my casual business work pants or khakis that are blue, gray, black, or brown. We can not always predict those unexpected weather conditions or automobile breakdowns. In Florida, I been to locations that are unpaved/dirt roads. I quit wearing clothes that needed dry cleaning, because I never knew the home environment of signer’s residents. Heck, I performed loan signings on top of garbage cans in front of the signer’s garage. Also, we must keep our integrity intact by honoring those signing agents agreements that we sign with companies. Don’t forget, some companies perform surveys on our performance and dress.
I agree. I will just put extra clothes in my car. It’s not as easy finding those types of pants for women. I understand the importance of appearance.
SS here. I would not bother informing them. If they have 2oz of common sense - the dress business casual “rule” is not for farms, oils fields or construction sites. We get that. But, be reasonable. jeans and polo or nice top fine; short , tanks and flip flops - heck no.
I’m in Arizona and I wear nice jeans with nice clean sneakers and have never had a problem. Not even when I do a signing at a bank or title company. Here we deal with rock landscaping, dirt, and every now and then having to run back to your car cause there’s a snake or some other wildlife in the path to the front door. And dogs too. I wouldn’t call the SS service I’d just do it.
Some of the places I’ve traveled in Texas, if you’re not wearing jeans and boots clients don’t fully trust you.
I totally agree that there is no reason to “dress up” to go to clients who will likely be in jeans themselves. They DO NOT care about what you’re wearing. They just want to get their papers signed.
I hope that you get paid well for traveling to remote locations in the dark. There really is personal risk in doing that and we deserve to get compensated fairly for it.
A good portion of the time when I’m in a title office everyone is wearing jeans AND they have more holes and rips in their jeans than jean material!
I am sure my input won’t be popular, but you sign an agreement with the companies you work for that you will present yourself in a professional business manner, that does not include jeans. I have had signing agents come to my house to do my personal closings, and I am appalled at how they present themselves. If necessary, you could take additional clothing with you in a bag in the car, Tennis shoes and jeans if necessary. But you are representing a company, and you are often the only person that the borrowers will see. You absolutely need to present a proper, professional image!
And I completely agree. I have put additional clothes and shoes in my car.
And so that some can see how remote I can be, here is a screenshot. Often two hours away, in towns that I’m lucky have a gas station.
I’ll echo the need to check the spare.
My son ended up needed to get a tired patched, and he put the spare on. The spare was in such bad shape that I am amazed it held the truck.
We had to buy a replacement tired, so I also asked for their best used tire to use as a new spare.
Then I got to thinking about it and my 16 year old car probably needed a new spare too, so I arranged for that.
That spare had completely dryrotted, but you could tell that that it had never actually been on the ground.
When my dad would by new tires, he used to take the best tire our of the the old ones to replace the spare.
I strongly suggest anyone with an older car check their spare.
I have a personal saying that we always wait a little too long to replace razors, tires, and strings (violin, guitar etc).
clean jeans in new mexico and a nice top totally acceptable especially in the areas you are.
i tell the signers if anybody asks tell them i had a tux on they laugh…out here i wear dress pants and khackis with a collared shirt
out there dress neat as your signers
its nobody’s business
To me, heans are acceptable, as long as they are nice. On the phone thing. I live in denver and got caught with no signal after i slid off an icy road in the mountains. I was able to call 911 though, who dispatched a tow truck. Not sure that would work in NM. .
I too live in NM and have performed signings in very remote locations. I always ask the borrower if I need to drive my little car or 4-wheel drive pickup to their house. I learned my lesson after I came to a river crossing (no bridge) in my little car, on my way to a borrowers house. Everything worked out fine for that particular signing but it sure was a lesson learned. Better safe than sorry.
If being broken down at night, in the middle of nowhere (maybe at a solo male signer’s house), doesn’t make you vulnerable enough, now you’re going to start changing your clothes? My advice is just to wear jeans. You’re in rural NM, not Manhattan.
I feel your pain. I live in rural Missouri and can travel for miles upon miles on gravel roads and have often thought about wearing jeans, especially when it’s raining or snowing and you are traveling these roads. I have had borrowers ask me why I don’t wear jeans and when I told them why, they said they would not have minded if I wore jeans.
The companies that we are representing have no idea where we live and what type of roads that we are traveling on. They are more worried about getting the paperwork signed so they can make their money. I had one company ask me if the place where I was going was rural. This was after I told her what my price was to get the paperwork signed. They only look at our mileage from one point to the signing point and not realizing that in rural areas we don’t have UPS or FedEx around. For me, that’s another 60 miles round trip added on to my trip.
I keep a pair of coveralls and utility gloves in the trunk.