Two notaries assigned to same signing

Hello everyone! I had an interesting experience this morning. I got an offer for a signing last night around 9:30 PM for a typical refinance this morning at 6:30 AM ET. The money was too good to pass up and it was a short a drive so I took it. I asked if I should confirm with the signer (I don’t like calling people past 9:00 PM) and was told not to worry since it was late. I showed up around 6:25 AM this morning and was invited in by the husband while we waited for his wife. She came out and looked at me very confused and told me she just got off the phone with the notary who told her she was a couple minutes away. When the other notary arrived we compared docs and found we had the exact same packet and were assigned the same job by different signing agencies. We both attempted to contact our respective companies but since it was so early, neither company answered. After comparing orders, it was apparent the other notary was assigned the job before me and the borrowers said she had contacted them yesterday around 7:00 PM. The borrowers said she since contacted them first they would be doing the signing with her. Has anyone ever had this happen to them and what was your outcome?

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This happens occasionally when agencies are duking it out to get a chance at the job first. We get caught in the middle. Usually it doesn’t get this far though with two packages. Something went haywire.

This just happened to me for the first time this week. However, this happened from the same SS. I arrived at 6:15 pm for the 6:30 pm signing and signed into the platform. One minute later, someone drove up and parked in the driveway. I thought it might be the signer and when I introduced myself, he said that he was the notary from the same SS. He called the SS and it turned out that he had the signing the day before but never confirmed with the signer, so the SS sent it back out and I answered it, received it, and confirmed with the signer(s). Since the signers had confirmed with me, I took the signing and the other notary left. After nearly 200 signings, this was the first time this had ever happened to me.

Exactly what I thought. Seems like an error by the title company, not the signing services.

I could see how that could happen. Glad yours had a good outcome for you. I just received a follow up and they’re going to pay me $45 for my travel and docs. A far cry from the $215 fee I had negotiated but at least it wasn’t a total loss.

Yeah, that’s a huge difference. However, from my view, you had already won just by negotiating a $215 from a SS! Mine wasn’t for nearly as much.

That’s true!!! It was last minute; definitely not the norm.

I would definitely confirm all signing when I get it. Thanks for sharing.