Hi All, Hope everyone finds themselves happy and well. I have been real busy with my new business and have not found the time to say hello and as they say, there is no time like the present. I came in to say Hi and of course "surfed" just a little of the board.
One post really caught my attention. This particular post and the replies to it really surprised me. I will in advance apologize to calling the poster out (as the post itself, regardless if I remove the identifying information, will reveal the poster's identity) but will not apologize for my opinions on the post and what I think about the poster's business decision and the effects decisions like this have. I do hope all who respond to my post are able to understand the difference between one questioning a business decision and one launching a personal attack. This is business--on a business forum---and on this business forum I am going to seriously question one's ability to make a sound business decision. I am also going to question whether or not they should be in business, specifically whether they have a right to be in business.
Here's the post
"I am a new notary who just accepted an assignment. Problem: don't have a laser printer or DSL yet. The docs were sent by e-mail and I need to know if I could convert my Lexmarkx63 to do the work need. Please hurry with answer as I have appointment in about 1 hour."
Now what we have here is just this------Someone decides to be a notary/signing agent. They saw some ad in the paper or heard it on the radio and said--"wow maybe I could do that." They are more than aware they are not prepared and lack the proper equipment to do an assignment but they do nothing at all about it, instead they wait for the phone to ring. I can only hope they put more time into educating themselves for this business then they did in preparing their home office for it but I think I already know the answer to that (just pure speculation). The phone rings, someone asks if they can do a closing. There is no doubt this signing was scheduled and contracted out as email docs--the signing was in an hour. They knew well and good the documents were coming by email and they didn't have a chance in hell in downloading them, printing them and having them ready for the homeowner to sign. They did not care whatsoever. Instead of being respectful to the other members in the lending industry that have put forward the proper effort, preparation, and financial investment into their business (yes someone has already put out the cash for this loan to get to the table ---credit pulls, processors, abstractors---nothing is free) and instead of having any respect at all to their peers, the notary/signing agents now or formerly in the business that have established the business to the point that caused this person's phone to ring, they without regard say, "yes, I can do it". No respect at all to the homeowner who has set this time in their day to sign a large loan that puts their home up as collateral and deserves to feel confident in the people they are working with, no respect to the escrow officer that puts in effort, no respect to the SS that will definitely take a hit on their integrity as this loan has no chance whatsoever of being done on time--who cares about the marketing efforts they put in for this contract with the title company or the lender. Who cares about the marketing efforts of the title company guaranteeing to the lender that this will close smoothly----regardless of their efforts, it is out of their hands. Who cares about the commission only LO who the customer will place fault on when the end of the transaction goes bad---the closing is the last thing the customer will remember about the loan experience--forget any referral business out of that loan. Nope--can't say we aren't prepared and at least allow the chance of the job being passed to a prepared professional notary/signing agent that will only say they can do it when and if they can do it. But hey-----that notary/signing agent "professional", a profession now that someone is going to pay them in exchange for a service, will demand that 50,100,150 dollars--whatever it is --because "darn it, I took the assignment at the last minute, had to go to Kinko’s to print, used MY money to get the docs, and it closed"
Just can't say, "No I am not prepared for this transaction" because they might not call again instead they decide I can do it somehow---I will post at NotaryRotary and then sit and wait to see what others tell me what I should do as the hour ticks by---Those people on NotaryRotary better be nice and if they aren't well, I just say they are mean to "newbies" My Goodness---Unbelievable.
Now instead of drilling home the importance of preparation and how such a decision affects the notary/signing agent part of the lending industry and how it reflects of some of you work so hard to command the air of professionalism you strive for in this industry--Instead of telling that person to call whoever hired them and tell them what a horrible business decision they made and fess up-------NotaryRotary posts instead educate this person about pay ---PAY???? Yep, make sure you get that edoc money--above all else, no doubt. And I quote from the post
"ask the scheduler whether the docs will be overnighted or if they will be edocs (because, above all else, you need to charge more for edocs than overnighted docs)."
When one shows such a lack of preparation in their business and has no regard how their lack of preparation may affect the other business' in an industry especially in an industry where one's actions are interdependent on the other players in the industry --when they fail to realize that they themselves are representing the notary/signing agent profession to others in the lending industry and to the customers of the lending industry----when they fail to prepare but demand a place---do you want them to represent you when you have done all the preparation, when you have done all the education?---do you want the other players in the industry to see you as a peer or someone who has no vested interest at all in the industry?---Do you instead want to make sure you tell them they can get an extra 25-30 bucks because the documents came by email?-----well when no one says anything and only tells another how to increase their pay, that is what you are allowing to happen.
As I have stated before, my post will without doubt result in flaming posts directed at me---some will not even look at the business aspect but instead go direct to the personal level—they will read all of this but fail to think any of it through in a business sense. They are the ones who refuse to look at the notary/signing agent function as a business, a integral third party vendor business in the a multi-billion dollar lending industry. Not just a little part time gig you try to schedule around getting the kids to soccer or getting the oil changed. You want to taken seriously and respected as an important part of an industry--well make your peers act the part and you will.
Those of us who think business minded and look for professionalism in this industry need to respond very assertively when we see posts like this in our business forums, although like myself, we often choose to scan what someone has said in response to a poor decision, agree with one says wholeheartedly and then see the flames that follow. However, when we do just sit by, we are allowing, even supporting, the notary/signing agent business to not be taken seriously by the other players in the industry. There is no way if others in the lenders industry scan our profession boards we can be taken seriously. Who cares if the --she's mean" or she is "one of the rude ones" or my all time favorite "someone is always new sometime" follows when a bad business decision is called out for what it is. Isn’t it better to show those entering our industry how to run a responsible reliable business and be called mean every once in awhile rather than tell them how they could have earned an extra $30.00 and not comment on horrible preparation? If I am investing a hundred thousand dollars or more, American pension dollars no less, and my recouping my investment in the event of foreclosure is dependent on a set of documents being signed correctly, I do not want to put my trust in an industry that chalks the mistakes of those new to the industry on their business forum up to "everyone starts somewhere" and the "you have to be new sometimes" comments-- that is nothing but excuses, the business world doesn’t do excuses. Let’s tell it like it is---you need to prepare and educate yourself. Don’t work in our business until you do and most certainly don’t look for our support until you do. We will answer every question you have as you prepare to work in our business but don’t tell us you have a signing scheduled in an hour and now is the time you have decided to educate and prepare yourself. If you choose to do that then you need to call the people that are PAYING you to train you—tell them you have no clue what you are doing and you have none of the equipment to do the job. Do you think an appraiser goes on an internet forum an hour before an appraisal is scheduled or due, announces he’s “new” and proclaims he doesn't have MLS ability in that county or do you think he might ask someone about getting setup before he/she takes the work? Do you think a lender looks for licensure to close/fund loans in a certain state before they contact a customer or do you think they do that an hour before close but still tell the customer they are prepared? Do you think an abstractor calls a local title company and asks how to do a title search when they are driving to the court house? Get professional—get prepared—don’t make all of us look like fools. I bet that Kinko’s employee was impressed. How can you say there is ANY integrity in that homeowner’s data when you have a community college dropout trying to figure out how to download and print your docs during the eleventh hour before a close. I have to chuckle –I think of some of the people here who have put no effort at all into preparation and complain that they might have to give their SSN to a SS but yet they have no integrity at all for a borrower’s financial information.
The notary/signing agent business that has tried and struggled to assert itself as a reliable value-added part of the lending industry. This business has proclaimed over and over again "we are a very important part of the lending process and deserved to treated and paid for the value we add to the industry." However it is the same business that shelters and even coddles those that enter it with no preparation at all---no education in the industry; entering it with overall laziness and lack of any effort to properly educate themselves in the industry coupled with what I can only describe as a half thought out idea to make a few extra bucks a month. This laziness and the coddling only functions to decrease the overall value of the notary/signing agent business to the lending industry. Those who read our profession boards who contract out loan signings have every reason to doubt the competence of those they hire. They see the ridiculous posts and how they are answered—directing one with no respect at all to their business just being told to make sure they get that extra 30.00 dollars. Faxbacks are for a reason, the confidence level of the others members of the lending industry is non-existent when it comes to the notary/signing agent business. I even read a post where a notary was thinking of calling a borrower that had a closing scheduled at three in the afternoon and asking if six would be ok for them since her garage sale was scheduled until five. Other posters told her ok—do it. Now what would you think if that was you borrowing all that money? What would you think about the people involved in the transaction? More and more very large wholesale lenders are no longer allowing mobile closes----they will only allow an in house close. Gee, after some of the posts it is no wonder why, Guess they are just mean.
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