I had a closing earlier today where the ss included in their instructions to scan the documents for review and to await approval before dropping them at UPS. I.sent the scans but didn’t get an approval notice. I sent an email asking if it was OK to drop the documents but I didn’t receive an answer. Do you just drop the documents without approval, or hold them until tomorrow?
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Yeah, that often happens. When it happens to me, I call first then send a detailed email explaining the situation and if I don’t get a response, I drop at Fedex/UPS and advise the SS by way of the order assignment portal. It would not be right/fair to the signers to delay their package from reaching the addressee on the label on time. I get yelled at occasionally and I simply ask what course of action should I have taken. . . wait indefinitely?
Any ideas from other notaries on how to do this differently?? I am all ears.
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Good question. My best clients never ask me to hold until scans are approved. They’ll say to drop immediately after scanning. The ones who want you to wait for approval clearly don’t trust that your documents are error-free. In those cases, sometimes I’ll hold them overnight for approval, and sometimes, when I’m 100% sure there are no errors, I’ll drop them anyway, even if they haven’t approved them yet. It all depends on the company that I’m dealing with. Over time, you learn a company’s habits and tendencies. Some don’t give you the “all clear” to drop for three days….simply because that’s how long it took them to get around to reviewing the scans. My personal preference is to drop ASAP. I want to get that package out of my hands and back to the lender.
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Thank you for your answers. This ss can be a little picky, but I checked, and double checked and then checked again. I just returned from UPS. They’re out of my hands. I will take a chance on getting yelled at. Let’s hope not. 
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I do pretty much the same as you do. On one hand, they check up on you at every step in the process to make sure you’re going to do everything on time, then THEY delay the process by not approving the scanbacks in time to ship. If they’re going to insist on you waiting for scanback approval, then they have to be standing by to approve them ASAP when you send the scans to them. The only way you’re going to get in trouble by shipping before you get their blessing is if there are actually errors that need correcting. So, if you’re going to ship before they tell you to, be very sure that the package is clean and it won’t come back to bite you.
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I always practice “putting myself in the other person’s shoes”. If you paid someone to do something, and they just went ahead and did the opposite of what you asked, how would you feel? That request is pretty common in our industry, and it puts us in a tough spot, making us potentially liable. If anything happens to the signing package while it’s still with us, we could get blamed. I usually tell the company I’m working with that I don’t want any liability issues. I’ll scan the docs and drop them off by the end of the day or the next morning.
I have cut offs that are early. I will communicate that. I had one yesterday that I called and asked for approval or the truck will leave without them.
The only service that wants to approve is the service that sells training to make you white glove.Because I always get the service mail reminding me White Glove Notaries don’t have to scan.
With no errors returned - maybe that should be the caveate not the purchase of training.
Let me guess…….to be a White Glove Notary, you have to pay for their training.
Wow you are really good at this Steve - that’s exactly correct.
here’s what is interesting there are several Title companies who will text to book me and say you don’t have to scan.
Then the signing service told to hire me will send me the order and say disregard the waiver of scans we still need them.
Which is about power . These are services contacted by title where title says hire this notary at this fee for this date and time. Must make them nervous.
But I don’t try to cut services out when I market I send my fees page to the Titke Officer and say I am available for schedule on XYZ platform.
Apparently XYZ is bugged about not being able to retain more of the fee they charge.
Oh well.
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Quite honestly, I do what’s convenient for me. Sometimes I will drop right away other times I will hold them till tomorrow. It really depends on how long it takes for me to get an approval if I’m waiting for one. And it really annoys me when if I do wait for an approval and I inquire as to whether or not they’ve been reviewed I get no answer. We are supposed to be at their Beck and call when they need something but when we have a question or need something, it’s like pulling teeth to get a reply. I had one that indicated they wanted scans. It said nothing about waiting for an approval so I went ahead and dropped them. about 9 PM that evening I received an email that the docs have been approved. Please drop immediately for tomorrow delivery! ridiculous! Obviously an automated email, but still.
I had that earlier this year. Both the signing service and title company did not communicate well. It was a morning closing, came home and scanned. Followed up. At 3:30 I left to drop the package to ensure same day pickup and then received the clear to drop sometime in the evening. As a side note, there weren’t any directions saying to wait for approval. However, by the time approval came, the sellers were HOURS away with their final load for their move states away.
From what I can tell, signing services like to retain a minimum of 50% of the fee….preferably more if they can get away with it.
It can be very frustrating and nerve racking to wait for scan approval. I check with the local UPS/Fedex stores for their very last pickup. Some of the places I go to are not likely to have an actual UPS/Fedex location. The pickup points inside other stores often only have 1 per day and none on weekends. When I send back the confirmation to the signing service, I let them know how close I am coming to a cut off time based on the appointment. Submitting the scans from the signing table can help to expedite the review process so that I may be arriving at the shipper as the approval is coming through. For a signing I have tomorrow, I have already received permission that I may miss the cut off for the last pick up. That way, everyone’s expectations are set. I don’t want to rush the folks that are signing any document signficant to their lives, and I do want to respect the signing service stipulations. Communication can be key, and knowing in advance the last pick up time can put everyone’s peace of mind at ease.
Sounds like the same company. I also had to argue with them about the acknowledgement verbiage. They wanted me to include “executor for the estate of….” California notaries cannot do that. We can only acknowledge that we have verified an individual not their capacity. Eventually, I won but they never did acknowledge that I was correct lol
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The signing company is in Florida. I use to work for them years ago before scans were a thing. There are only a few signing services I work for anymore.
I’ve gotten picky here lately as well too. It’s not worth the frustration along with the low pay. But there are definitely many signing services that I truly enjoy working for and appreciate.
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I send a last call email, double check that package and drop it. Let them drop the ball, not you. You have the trail of emails requesting they send you approval, and if they don’t oh well, we are responsible for getting that closing out in time.
Next morning?? They should have the package the next day. I’d never hold a package waiting for their ok by end of day cut off. I’m a professional, check 3x my package for anything that could be missed or wrong, and I drop it at the last cut of time of the day. If I didn’t think I could do my job, I shouldn’t be in this business. Even the idea of being checked by the teacher bothers me, but accept it because a lot of newbies mess up, and I get they work with a ton of notaries, but bottom line, let me do my job that I am responsible for, drop the package, get the receipt. I send them an email or note on the platform, they have 30 minutes to review, then dropping the package. Proof I waited, proof I tried, they are the ones that need checking their closings, and not blame us when the package doesn’t arrive the next day.
Local cut off is EARLY and I always communicate that with anyone that wants to approve before I ship. It doesn’t happen very often these days. FedEx cut off is so early any appointment after noon is getting it shipped the next day. Just the way it is.
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Before Covid, Fedex stores were open late (some 24 hours). Now they all close by 7pm.