Signer cannot pass credential analysis or KBA (Never will show up in the meeting and will have one more time but they must wait 24hours)
Signer’s ID will not scan or is expired/damaged (have them retake the ID that not expired, if expired read the notes then you have two options in Florida Accept or deny, Florida notaries have options when it comes to expired I.D. )
Video/audio quality drops during the session (normally wait until stable normally happens when signer is on a phone as them to move to a better location, If it happens in the beginning use trouble shooting skills to resolve)
The signer joins from a phone and has trouble finding the document or signature fields ( have patents and guide them to the location)
A witness is required but is not available, is in the wrong location, or cannot complete identity verification ( you can offer a witness you have hundreds at any given time)
The document has incorrect notarial wording or is missing pages (correct the wording to your state requirements or)
The platform session freezes, disconnects, or does not save correctly (never stay logged in for over 4 hours, I suggest 2 hours then relogin)
A signer does not understand that the notary must be physically located in their commissioning state ( explain to the the signer that the County and State must always be where the notary is at no them)
Are you saying the signer and RON notary must both be in the same state? So a Florida RON notary cannot notarize for signers in other states? Please clarify.
From what I gather from Antonio’s experiences, signers OFTEN STRUGGLE TO UNDERSTAND that notarial professionals can be located in a DIFFERENT CITY or STATE without affecting the VALIDITY of the notarial act. MP
@LKTHORNTON1 A Florida remote online notary can notarize a document for a U.S. Citizen who 18 years old, has a valid government issued identification, credit history, and social security number. The signer can be located anywhere in the world, that’s the simple answer. One important detail, we must disclose to any signer outside of the state of Florida, the notarial act being performed is happening within the geographic borders of the state of Florida and falls under the jurisdiction of the state of Florida. As for the situations presented, we have to stay in compliance with our state’s statutes. For example, if the signer fails KBA or credential analysis after the allowed attempts, the signer must wait 24 hours before trying another session. Some platforms now offer biometric validation. We should not to coach or advice the signers on how to circumvent the verification processes. We can educate the signer about the various verification processes available that’s offered by the RON platform being used. As for the technology, equipment, problems with notarial wording, missing pages, or any other type of errors/mistakes, I address those potential matters during the initial conversation and quoting my fee.
@antonio Yes and No regarding Foreign Nationals identification cards. Yes, we can notarize remotely for Foreign Nationals, who have approved passports that have been stamped by United State Department. See the Florida Statute §117.05(5)(b)2 allows a passport issued by a foreign government to be used as a government‑issued identification credential if it is stamped by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (now U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). I had a RON notarization for a Foreigner passport rejected by an financial institution because the signer’s passport didn’t have the approved stamp by the the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service or social security number/verifiable credit history.
Carl, yes, it must contain a stamp-form border control. I also stated that you should read the company notes, as they will advise you of any specific conditions or requirements. Every day, I handle multiple foreign signers. Some are acceptable and can be completed, while others are not. With every notarization, there are going to be situations where the answer is either yes or no, depending on the circumstances.
Let me get straight to the point: If you are completing 100% of every remote online notarization that comes your way, I would question whether every session is actually being properly validated. In the real world of RON, not every signer or transaction will meet the requirements to proceed.
As a RON notary, you will encounter situations such as:
The signer has no acceptable identification.
“Here is a photocopy of my ID.”
The photo on the ID clearly does not match the person appearing for the notarization.
“My son will serve as the witness,” only to find out the son is 12 years old.
Documents or circumstances that simply do not meet the requirements to complete the notarization.
I could go on and on.
The reality is that RON involves making judgment calls and, sometimes, saying no. If your completion rate is in the lower-to-mid 90% range, you are probably doing things correctly and following the proper procedures rather than simply approving every session.
As of today, my completion rate is 95.04%, and I consistently remain above 90%. If you are maintaining a 98% or higher completion rate, more power to you—but honestly, you may be doing something I haven’t figured out yet, because in the real world, not every RON session that comes through the door is going to qualify for completion.
In essence, RON or mobile services each has to adhere to our state’s statutes and not all RON orders will be completed, due to unforeseen occurrences. We are impariah in the notarial processes and should be compensated appropriately regardless of the outcome of the notarization.
I’m not really agreeing with you on this one at the moment. Since we are all 1099 independent contractors, we are compensated for jobs we successfully complete. If you read most 1099 contracts, that is clearly stated in the agreement. When a job—or in our case, a “session”—cannot be completed, it is generally considered a non-completed assignment.
Yes, it can be frustrating not to receive payment for a session, but let’s look at it from a different perspective.
Let’s say a contractor averages $1,500 a week. If they are unable to complete 5% of their assignments, that represents approximately $70.00 a week in work that doesn’t generate revenue. Even with that, they are still generating roughly $78,000 a year.
Now, let’s look at the $700 in question. If that amount represents approximately $3,640 a year in lost revenue, I would look at it as part of the cost of doing business. In my case, if I lost $4,000 a year due to non-completed sessions but was still generating approximately $78,000 in annual revenue, I would simply write it off as a business expense and keep moving forward.
That’s just the way I look at it. In business, not every assignment is going to be completed, and not every opportunity is going to result in payment. The key is looking at the overall numbers rather than focusing on every individual loss.
You do have other options if you are not in the states Notarize is established in. You can try BlueNotary and OneNotary if you are experienced in RON. You can also get trained by connecting with NotaryCam and then move to a different platform once you get the experience.
Here are a few of the perks I have found since making the transition to RON in 2020.
It takes less time to do a real estate closing.
The technology for identifying the signer is strong enough that it greatly reduces the chance of fraud. If they don’t pass the KBA, they don’t get to sign. And, their face and ID are scanned to confirm that they are who they claim to be.
Except for rare occasions, I no longer have to worry about getting documents too late to make the next appointment on time. When I do, the signing is delayed at most for 20 minutes while I get the documents uploaded and initial elements put on.
I no longer have to fight traffic to get to my destination to do the closing. Even better is not facing showing up at the location for the appointment and no one is at home, or the documents are not correct and they have to reschedule. With RON, corrections can be made quickly and still get the closing done.
I have eliminated $500.00 per month on travel expenses.
No more printer and toner expenses.
The signer(s) get a completed copy of their package. No more blank copies for the signer(s).
The documents are delivered to the company within 10 minutes of completion, including copies of the signer IDs that are required by the company. This means no anxiety about trying to make the drop off at FedEx and UPS. And it means the contracting company no longer needs to worry about late or missing packages.
I can get more back to back closings done in a day, which means my potential earnings increase.
My journal is done electronically and my platform provider keeps a secure copy for 5-7 years in case it is needed. No need to purchase and store my journal or go through the time involved filling out the journal while with the signer because it is all being done electronically while the signing is going on.
These are just a few of the perks. I am still glad that I made the switch to RON and still have no intention of going back to paper.
@monikap I concur & have direct experience with many of @antonio 's identified points (excerpted above) with an additional challenge to add to the listing . . .
CHALLENGE: Often when there are two [2] signers, they will logon via two separate devices & there is an “echo chamber” or ‘reverberation’ effect in the audio portion.
SOLUTION: Ask the 2 signers move away from one another until the echoing effect stops (usually at least 1 room away).
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