Posted by Isabel Stevens on 12/1/10 6:24pm
Msg #363509
Why does everyone have a problem with the NNA?
Maybe I'm naive, but they've always been fine as far as I'm concerned. What am I missing?
| Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/1/10 6:40pm
Msg #363520
they profit off of us, give out incorrect information,
manipulates state SOS and other local gov't, etc....
| Reply by Teresa/FL on 12/1/10 6:42pm
Msg #363522
pretend to be the authority on all things notary... n/m
| Reply by FlaNotary2 on 12/1/10 6:50pm
Msg #363525
I used to think very poorly of the NNA. Since becoming a member I think they are OK. They don't help our profession any because they are constantly creating more competition by actively recruting new notaries. In that sense they are not the "advocates" they claim to be. However, they are definitely active in the notary world and are generally respected by state authorities and even some lawmakers. Their articles are nice to read if for no other reason than the fact that I love reading about notary stuff.
Don't knock it until you try it. There is room for improvement but they are not that bad of an organization. I've actually grown to kind of like them. But I still think the AAN and ASN are better. (I am no longer an ASN member only because I didn't want to pay dues for three organizations.)
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 12/1/10 7:08pm
Msg #363530
Guess whose idea it was that Signing Agents
get $65 for signings....not to mention they put themselves out at the foremost authority for notaries and their advice and primers are fraught with errors.
I called them for advice about 4 years ago - when I first got started here in FL - the answer I got to my question turned out to be wrong; I referred to their primer on a couple other occasions - turned out that was wrong too - I threw my primer away and have not turned to the NNA since.
I've heard it may have changed, but they convinced many companies that background checks were *imperative* and theirs was the only one good enough - in the meantime they wrapped their services into a bundle - so in order to get their BGC you needed to become a member AND be certified through them, whether you wanted to or not - $100 more or less. Many notaries resented that little tactic.
I'm out of breath - did that info help??...
| Reply by desktopfull on 12/1/10 7:13pm
Msg #363534
The screw they put in every NSA's back! n/m
| Reply by Les_CO on 12/1/10 7:20pm
Msg #363535
You asked….My opinion…
You are missing……. The knowledge….experience….perception… understanding, and ability to implement, understand, or complete our part as NSA’s in this business. What we do is important, it is of value. It usually affects the largest purchase/ownership/value a US person will make. It should not be taken lightly, and at least some of it should be for the public good. It's not just a 'point&sign' job. The NNA is a dupe filled; private, avaricious, uninformed organization that only cares for profit. Their job is to create as many 'member' NSA's as possable...Skill...knowledge...understanding... who cares?Not them.. it's body count (dues) that that matter. This is a business for PROFESSIONALS. Not part timers or casual between afternoon tea, housewives. If you are too uninformed to actually know what this business is all about, you belong elsewhere, and a member of the NNA.
| Reply by James Dawson on 12/1/10 8:18pm
Msg #363546
I became a member of the NNA at the same time I became a notary. I became a NSA as a result of meeting some very savvy, intelligent Notaries, NSA, Owners of SS, Escrow Officers, Brokers After becoming a notary.
The NNA Organization did not develop me to where I am today but they are responsible for me being here like you. I give them credit for that, They market, they got my attention.
Now that I know what's up, I can say your personal growth and development is up to you, not any individual organization.
I also attended a very bad high school with a lot of incompetent teachers and horrible facilities. That didn't stop me either.
You must get to where you want to be and not rely on anyone else to get you there. IMO
| Reply by James Dawson on 12/1/10 8:20pm
Msg #363547
ps...I definitely do not get my advice from them LOL n/m
| Reply by Patsy Cabiness on 12/2/10 8:49pm
Msg #363696
James I so agree with you regarding the NNA and your self growth. What I think of the NNA is that at a time when I was fairly new and trying to educate myself, their online training, although kind of expensive, helped me grow as a notary.
Also, I have had many a "blind" call from a TC/SS who said that they found my name on signingagent.com, the NNA website for finding agents associated with them.
There are some websites out there that ask for payment just to be listed. They don't offer training. At least, I only got listed on the NNA site after I completed a course and got a background check.
My business has grown considerably since I made the investment in the training and backgroup check.
They are what they are. An association that you can benefit from and also one that survives by charging lots of fees for their perks.
I am happy with them.
| Reply by JanetK_CA on 12/3/10 4:04am
Msg #363718
"They are what they are. An association that you can benefit from and also one that survives by charging lots of fees for their perks."
See how you feel in another year or two when your current "Certification" expires and you have to pay for the same thing all over again - now that you have experience under your belt and presumably know what you're doing. 
Yes, there are a ton of associations out there that would be happy to take your money and offer little or nothing in return. However, there are also a very few others that most of us feel are much more worthwhile than what "XYZ" offers, including right here at Notary Rotary. Who knows... your business might have grown even more had you started here, instead of there. (And this site does offer an excellent training program created by The Signing Registry.)
To the original poster, here are a few more items (all just my opinion, for the record!)
* Market Saturation - promoting unrealistic expectations about potential earnings (for newbies) to sell classes and memberships, supplies, etc.
* Influence on Fees - setting a supposed "minimum" fee schedule which helped to fuel an industry-wide trend to reduction in fees. (Of course, there were other factors, as well, but it seemed to start with their recommendations.)
* Market Manipulation - they are convincing more and more large settlement/title companies that they should only hire notaries who have paid for *their* certification and background check (BGC) services. To many, this feels like unfair trade practices that discourages healthy competition. It may not be illegal, but it sure feels unethical. And BTW, their BGC is less comprehensive than others available, including some, like in my state, that are a prerequisite to even getting a notary commission. When they first started selling their background check services, they used inaccurate, misleading info to promote it (i.e. "a new law...", referring to Graham Leach Bliley, which had passed many years prior. Soon everyone started to decide that NSAs now had to have background checks. [Does anyone know if all title/escrow/lender employees have to have a background check?]
And the certification is pretty meaningless, too, imo. I had their certification before I ever did my first signing. Thousands of signings later, I no longer have an NNA certification, but does that mean I was a better NSA when I was "certified" than I am now? I don't even know how to express how absurd that is!
* Shameless marketing - for example, a couple of years ago, a few items in California notary laws changed. The SOS sent out a newsletter and/or had all the information about the changes posted on their website. It was info that I felt could easily be absorbed in much less than an hour, being generous. "XYZ" turned that info into a half-day class, using the bullet points from the newsletter as questions that would be taught at the classes for $75, if I recall correctly. Oh well, they ARE a business...
I admit they have done some good in the area of lobbying on legal issues here and there. And I think there are other ways they have and could contribute to our field. E.g., I used to enjoy the magazine when I was a member, but that was before I found this and other online forums from which I've learned a very great deal more. Bottom line, I believe they've done more harm to the NSA field [as opposed to non-NSA Notaries Public] than they have helped. And because of their business practices, they've lost the trust of many of us.
One more thing... when I was a member (and others have experienced the same thing), the calls I got from that site tended to be the low-paying companies. I don't think I ever got a call from there from any company that I would work with today. Also, unless something has changed, the way their database was set up, I had no way to view how my listing looked to hiring parties (unless I did something unethical and created a dummy company) so I could see if my info was even showing up anywhere or if it was accurate. And from the info there, it seemed like lots of people had decided to do just that! That was always a concern for me because when I was looking up companies, there was clearly lots of bad data there. I imagine the notary data base was no better.
Like I said, this is just my opinion. We are each entitled to make our own. But things are not always what they seem on the surface.
| Reply by J Trejo on 12/1/10 11:28pm
Msg #363564
Les is right about them. I agree.
| Reply by HisHughness on 12/2/10 12:04am
Msg #363565
***What am I missing?***
Isabel, you just shouldn't ever pose that kind of question to me. That's just the juiciest of low-hanging fruit. However, it's nearing midnight, and I still have to give Lucy the Chihuahua her massage before bedtime, so I'm going to pass and comment solely on what's wrong with the NNA.
Suppose you went to a dealer who represented an artist named Nathan Samuel Amberson, and purchased one of Amberson's prints. It is numbered NSA10/15, meaning you got the 10th out of 15 total prints. Because of the low print run, you pay a premium for the piece.
Then, four weeks later, you discover that there are an identical 30 other prints that the dealer has run of Amberson's print since he sold you yours, and that he continues to make even more prints. The print you bought is now worth only a fraction of what you paid for it.
That is what you are missing. The NNA, which boasts that it represents notaries and signing agents, actually represents itself almost exclusively. It isn't worried about the value of the print it sold you; that transaction is over and done with, and NNA has gotten its money out of you. Now it is in the business of selling more prints -- creating more notaries -- who will be competition for you. And that's where its major business is, creating a revenue stream by creating more notaries, not by servicing the ones it has already created.
That's what you are missing. And that's why anyone who wants to make a viable business out of his or her notary commission thinks NNA stands for Not Nice at All.
Does that make it plain enough?
| Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 12/2/10 9:21am
Msg #363585
PERFECT Hugh...just an awesome answer! :) n/m
| Reply by Virginia/PA on 12/2/10 10:38am
Msg #363598
Very well said. I said the same thing in 2003
but I didn't compare it to selling prints. I said that as there was becoming a slowdown in mortgage applications that the then current x number of NSA's would already have fewer signings available to them and the NNA was pumping more competition into the market so that the then current NSA's potential for making a living was diluted even more.
| Reply by Virginia/PA on 12/2/10 10:39am
Msg #363599
P.S. I keep my membership for the company listings -
its larger than NotRot, but it is not kept current by any stretch of the imagination.
| Reply by Moneyman/TX on 12/2/10 2:52pm
Msg #363642
Clear to me. Good post, Hugh. n/m
| Reply by Isabel Stevens on 12/3/10 11:53am
Msg #363759
WOW! Love all the responses
HisHughness, although a little hostile sounding (not sure why that's directed at ME, but anyway) was hilarious.
Seems I was missing some very good insight into what the NNA stands for.
And as someone else said, I, too, have only gotten low paying companies calling me from my NSA directory listing.
Thanks for all the different perspectives.
|
|
