The Future of the Notary Signing Agent

Typical Signing Day

2010-12-13T19:18:00.000-06:00

Well, yes and no to the typical. What is typical these days? Numbers are not what they used to be, here anyway but the typical part is the ever changing part.
Had a signing 45 minutes away at 3 pm. No problemo. Then today got call to do an esigning here in the city tonight for 6 pm. Again, no problemo. Some of the docs for the esigning still need to be printed and get wet signatures. Had to leave at 2 for out of town signing. No docs for 6pm when I left for out of town one. I'm able to get emails along the way. Emailed company asking about the printable docs. Emailing going down the interstate (that I know of it is not an illegal act to text/email YET here in Iowa, could be wrong) anyway, nearly sideswiped a cop in the process so tried to abstain from it further. Signing out of town was a pain and had to hurry it along because I would have little time to get things together for other one when I got back. Don't like to hurry borrowers along but then coming up on 1-1/2 hr signing it's time to start hurrying things along. Was feeling stressed due to time and no word on docs for 6pm.

Once back in car, called to report and emailed to check for next signing before beginning to drive even though I knew my variable time was running slim was determined to not text/email while driving. No word came back on my inquiry for docs and if this signing was truly going to take place. Often times when we have to beg for docs it can be that its not gonna fly that day. Finally made call while driving to confirm with borr for 6 pm. Very delightful lady eased my mind that 6 or 6:30 would be fine she would be available all evening. Finally an email back...........................................................................................................................................
Signing will not be taking place this evening so .......................................................................................................................................................................................
My day was stressed for NO GOOD REASON. BAH!
Deja Vu of days of the past. Signings are coming more often lately and esignings seem to be kicking in a bit.
Do you realize how long esignings have been talked about?
I have been a signing agent since 2003 so I guess it's been coming for at least 5 years of which I have been a signing agent for going on 8.
http://unitednotaries.com/forum/topic?id=5858
Linda Kassis, Signing Agent with Halitek Industries

Quality or Quantity

2010-05-25T14:18:00.001-05:00

My mind is working this morning on the concept of a company who allows themselves to strive for bottom dollar Signing Agents.
On the one hand one might think the dollar would add up for the company with the more low dollar signings they can book but on the other hand, how many hours of looking does it take to get that bottom dollar Signing Agent when instead they could utilize good ones at a more reasonable price which would not only allow more volume but also more satisfactory/competent completion of loan signings.

If one were to book in a signing with a signing agent for $75 and it took one hour to find the Signing Agent.
On the other hand, if it took all afternoon to call around to find that $75 rather than paying, say, the competent, reliable Signing Agent the fee of $145. A difference of $70. Let's say that employee is paid $9/hr. If it takes them 4 hours to find the cheaper signing agent, then that is an additional cost of $36 (additional 3 hrs work). So now they are still ahead by $35. But what if they were to utilize that other 3 hours of the coordinators time to book additional signings. If they are able to give in (which they did) and pay the $145 then they are out $35 profit but booking more signings would still accomplish profit and likely a less stressed employee if they do not have to tick off a bunch of Signing Agents in the process in the calling around for lowest price.

This is not to mention the call backs, the signings where coordinators or closing agents have to spend their time on the phone getting a less than adequate Signing Agent to go back out and fix mistakes or missed items that were missed by the Signing Agent. Time spent talking to borrowers about mistakes or omissions. The time delay on completion of a Loan due to dangling unfinished items.

It all stands to reason to me, that while you (companies) can have the best of both worlds; quantity and quality, you choose not to. It is Corporate America, I know, and often times the execs calling the shots can't see the forest for the trees. And they are the high paid individuals, as always, who don't have a clue. That is why I work for myself. :)

United Notary Association in conjunction with Halitek Industries, LLC

Benefit to Consumer: Using a Notary Signing Agent to help sign your loan

2008-02-22T14:58:00.004-06:00

Among mobile notaries is a special group of notaries called 'Notary Signing Agents'. For the remainder of this article I will refer to them as NSAs. An NSA is firstly a notary public to witness signatures and administer oaths where applicable on certain notarizations. Secondly, the Signing Agent duties can be a breath of fresh air for a borrower. In signing my own home loan years ago, I went to a local Escrow office in Sioux City, Iowa. The documents were placed in front of me and I was hard pressed to get many details from the person who watched me sign them. How an NSA differs from many Title or Escrow officers is that they will spend the necessary time with you and at your convenience of time and location. A loan signing can be a daunting experience for many borrowers. They have very little knowledge of the process and are not familiar with the documents. Enlisting the services of an NSA can set your mind at ease. A professional, knowledgeable NSA will walk you through the documents. The NSA cannot give you advice or opinions about the loan. If you have questions such as what is my interest rate? Did they set up an escrow like I wanted? What is the length or term of the loan? These are questions that the NSA can point out the answers to on several documents within the package.

When I explain to someone what I do as a profession, I often hear, 'I wish you would have been around when I signed my loan. They stuck the pile in front of me and told me to sign.'

A good NSA will be certain that when they leave the signing with that signed loan package, they have done all that they can to find answers to your questions and they feel you are comfortable with what you are signing.

An NSA actually has a very hard job. We must stay unbiased, so we cannot give opinions or advice and we cannot act as an advocate for you, the borrower’s part, or on the part of the lender. There are times we may find something unusual and all we can do is point it out and if it seems strange to you, you have the option to question it with your lender.

Unfortunately, the lender may give you answers that are biased to his own pocketbook. In other words, he may give the answer that you want to hear so that you will sign the documents. It may not be true. It is imperative that there is someone who can aid the borrower in making an informed decision. There is a multitude of information on the internet that may enlighten a borrower of their rights and information regarding the lending process but #1. How many people will actually do this research; and #2. How many know where to look. Places a consumer may look for information would include the Consumer Information section at www.UnitedNotaries.org and www.HUD.gov .

I think the NSA should be required to be licensed and given more ability to act as a counselor. If this had been done, maybe we wouldn’t have so many foreclosures on our hands. If the NSA had the ability to counsel maybe they could have been a little more forthcoming in asking the borrower if they were aware that in one year or two years their interest rate could begin to spike. Now keep in mind, I have not dealt with any of these exotics that have such a possibly out of control interest escalation option. I have dealt with several loans that had an initial ‘teaser’ rate and in one or two years it would become adjustable. I ALWAYS point out when it can change and how much at each change date and what the lowest and highest the interest could become. The general comment I received was, ‘That’s ok. We will be refinancing before two years is up’. What happened if any that I was the NSA on? I don’t know. I can only speculate that maybe the borrower has some late payments or some other credit issues that reduced their credit score to where, at the point where they attempted a refinance, it was not possible. I hear tales of borrowers starting to receive solicitation calls to refinance and it is not until that time that they have been made aware that the loan is going to begin to adjust (This is not on the loans I’ve handled, but across the country). This type of scenario can only lead me to believe that the NSA who handled their loan did not point these things out on their note, as I do. This is why I feel strongly that the NSA profession needs to require a licensing that outlines and trains that these things are imperative to review. This cannot all be blamed on the NSA, either. I wonder how many of these loans were signed at either a Title or Escrow office opposed to with an independently contracted Signing Agent.

In the coming months I will be working toward making contacts within the state of Iowa to require licensing of an NSA. It is unfortunate that we cannot create a mandatory training and licensing on a national level. There is already too much diversity within the notary laws from state to state. The last thing we need to do is add more in the way of lack of uniformity.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, American Escrow Association and American Land Title Association have been diligently working toward Uniform Closing Instructions (UCI) over the past few years that are coming to fruition this year, however, they are a voluntary set of guidelines that lenders and Title companies can ‘choose’ to adopt or not but without them being enacted into legislation or federal regulations, they still run the risk of being so uncertain, so ‘up for interpretation as applicable to state laws’ that I do not think they will serve to correct the problems or inconsistencies we currently run into.

Hired as a Notary or Signing Agent?

2008-02-18T13:29:00.003-06:00

It has come to my attention that some are receiving calls from borrowers to notarize the few items within a loan package for them. I am aware of instances where the NSA is insisting to charge a full signing agent fee even though the borrower only wants them to deal with the pages/documents needing notarized. I think this is a scam and I think the borrower may see it that way also. This does not reflect well on the profession as a whole.

I understand there are companies who contact the NSA and tell them they only need them for the few requiring notarization but they end up dealing with the borrower performing all signatures at the meeting. In the instance of being hired by the borrower, you must clarify with the borrower what you have been hired to do. If you have only been hired to perform notarizations then be certain that is all you do and quote your fee accordingly.

Here is a link to another article on this subject by Diane Cipa on Radical Title Talk: http://radicaltitletalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/duplicative-effort-continued.html

Why We Do the Things We Do?

2006-04-30T12:37:00.001-05:00

As with many day to day business activities and somewhat rituals or habits sometimes people fall into a rhythm of simply doing certain things because that is how they were trained and never asking why. 'That's the way it's always been done and who am I to question why?'
There is an old tale someone once told me of a college getting a new dean. As he was being shown around by one of the faculty they stopped into the cafeteria for lunch. As they were discussing items where they could cut costs the faculty member introduced him to the cook and involved him in the conversation of cutting costs. At some point a subject came up of how the cook makes two tapioca puddings every day and every day he throws them out. When asked why he makes them his response was that the previous cook had always made two tapioca puddings so in his training he learned to do so and never thought to question why he made two and threw two away. He simply did it without thinking why. History behind this is that two deans ago liked tapioca pudding and requested it be put on the menu. In the event that someone were to sit with that dean and also wanted a tapioca pudding the previous cook was instructed to make two tapioca puddings every day.
Moral of the story is: DO ask questions. DO ask why something is done. Sometimes when someone has done something for so long they forget why they do it and it takes a NEW perspective in the picture to really evaluate the true reason certain things are done and if they still meet the needs or are futile and need to be disregarded.

Iowa Mobile Notary Service

2006-04-27T17:35:00.001-05:00

It's quite difficult to find a notary when you need one! Ya, you can go to the bank if you want to do it on your lunch hour or breaks but once you get off work they are difficult to find. There are now Mobile Notaries to serve your notary needs at your convenience. I am in NW Iowa. I can be located by going to my website at halitek.com
Mobile notaries have been around since the late 80's and growing in numbers.

Having so much fun building a notary website!

2006-04-21T17:42:00.001-05:00

Well! I have created several blogs on Blogger.com. I placed the links to them on the 'My Blogs' page on my website www.halitek.com. I decided to make a Blog for my enthusiast remarks on the satisfaction I'm getting in creating this site. It started out as a site to refer my clients to. Through my reading on several forums I find people asking for help or where to find things. As these have come to my attention I have tried to find and post these items on my website. If you have any items you would like added feel free to email them to me. I'll do my best.
In my searching for more ideas to add, I had heard so much about blogs and never knew what they were. I did a search and low and behold, here I am. I am posting blogs also to help people network and troubleshoot.

Having questions about Quickbooks?

2006-04-21T17:37:00.001-05:00

If you have questions about using QuickBooks, I have Quickbooks Premier and would be glad to try to help. Please realize I am only another user and nothing I post is anything more than amateur help.

Signing Agents: Is business slowing?

2006-04-20T18:54:00.001-05:00

Notary Signing Agent: What the Future Holds

2006-04-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

What the future of the notary or signing agent holds is unclear. With the increase in identity theft and mortgage fraud the NNA is working with government officials to inact new laws to implement e-notarization. With e-notarization the industry will become more electronically oriented. There will no longer be physical stamps and physical signatures but rather 'all digital'. A document being notarized by a notary will be on screen in a computer and they will have a passworded notary seal and signature which will be accessed from the Secretary of State each time they use it. Such as in the case of the mortgage industry, a notary will sit with the borrower viewing the necessary documents on a computer screen. You know how you sign a signature pad when you use your credit card at the store? Well this is how a borrower would sign, then the notary would access her seal at the SOS Online to notarize that document. All these documents would be at an online secure site. Once signed and notarized the file is saved. At that point the lender can retrieve it to fund the loan. These documents will have code behind the scenes of when each document was signed and since the code tells of any changes made after that date, it is quite fraud proof. Think of it. No longer can the lender ask us to backdate (which is illegal). Also a notary with an expired commission cannot notarize. When the commission expires or is suspended it can no longer be accessed by the notary. In addition, the impersonating notaries will no longer be able to function. It is said and I believe it to be true that total implementation of e-notarization across the nation will be many years off. I believe the states will start by allowing notaries to sign up to be either an e-notary or the normal notary.

Earlier skeptism said that with the onset of e-notarization the notary public would become obsolete. Actually the notary will become more a part of security within our country and abroad. E-notarization will take a higher level of commitment on the part of the notary public, financially and training. There will be training and testing involved to have the e-notarization option available to you. A Notary will have to purchase a laptop, cell phone, wireless internet, webcam to hook to the laptop and a digital program such as Enjoa or Digisign for signature and electronic journal entry storage.

The companies I see at the forefront of this new wave are NNA (National Notary Association), MISMO (Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization)Their mission is to develop, promote, and maintain voluntary electronic commerce standards for the mortgage industry. There are many more but I'll leave that for another time. These as well as many others are working in conjunction with the FBI, CIA, FTC etc to minimize fraud and terrorism.