Posted by Malbrough_LA on 9/27/13 1:33pm
Msg #486268

As it currently stands in my area:

Transactions are down, but I do not attribute that to anything other than the month of September. (September is always the slowest month around here regardless of what business you're in...unless you're in the school supply business, but I digress). Most of my work has been general notary work due to the incredibly low offers I've been receiving to perform closings. Someone is taking them in my area, but I was unsure who it was. This is where things get intriguing.

I received a call earlier this month for a closing and the offer was...a slap in the face is a kind way of saying it... I had city, address info, etc. I turned the job down. Funny thing. I live in a rural small town area, and I personally know the gentleman that lives at this address. The light bulb goes off and the detective hat went on. I wait 30 minutes, call the company back, get a different person and say I spoke with someone earlier about doing a job at xyz. "Oh, we filled that assignment." Winner winner chicken dinner.

Closing date comes and goes. I speak to my friend that lives at the house. "Sure wish you would have been there, Ryan. It was a wham bam, sign here, sign there, initial here, bye. I felt rushed and slightly confused." Who did the signing if you don't mind me asking? I now know who in my area has disgustingly aborted prices for the rest of us.

Long and short, I'll leave myself signed up for closings; however, I'm mostly gonna stick to GNW until the SS TC side realizes a) how their clients are being treated at the table, b) errors are not worth the low cost, and c) fast signings like my friend experienced have already been argued in Louisiana as a "duress" situation.

Reply by 101livescan on 9/27/13 1:41pm
Msg #486272

I'm LMAO because I hear all the time:

The last notary showed up "pickled" and smelled awful, singed my eyebrows.

The last notary had me meet her at a massage studio where she worked.

The last notary was two hours late, said she overbooked.

The last notary had to come back twice for signatures.

The last notary came with her dogs and they crapped all over my yard since I wouldn't let them in my house.

The last notary took two hours to get us signed up and was clueless about our loan after all that time. We couldn't get ahold of our LO, because it was late at night. We were ready to fall asleep at the table.

The last notary was so inappropriate and very nosey.

The last notary said we had to make this fast, because she was on her lunch hour and had to get back to her full time job. She was wearing jeans because it was casual Friday at her work.

Get what you pay for! I still work for only the best, and leave the rest, well to those types described above.

Reply by Edward Cooke on 9/27/13 1:50pm
Msg #486275

It's sad to hear that Louisiana notaries don't realise that by "lowballing" they'll never recuperate what they've spent to become notaries. I won't take the state exam until December, but so far I've spent $840 at Univ. of Louisiana for tuition and parking for the prep course, $480 in books, and $275 for a prep seminar in Nov. (not counting misc. expenses and fuel). It would take MANY $60 signing offers just to earn back what I've spent to try to get my La. notary commission. So, as has been said: stick to what you think you're worth .... and a La. notary is worth a LOT (especially since the June '13 exam had a 12% pass rate and the Dec exam has been made harder with the goal of a 6 to 8% pass rate).

Reply by Malbrough_LA on 9/27/13 2:10pm
Msg #486279

I hear ya Ed. That's where things can get "sensitive" in my opinion. I've actually told a SS before who questioned why I couldn't accept her company's low fee. She said "This is what we pay all other notaries. You are just another notary, right?" No...no I'm not. I'm offended at the mere mention that what I do is just stamp and sign. I wasn't even gonna begin to explain to her what a commission in Louisiana meant cause she'd never have gotten it. But, it's a big damn deal. The exam I took had a 7% pass rate. It's going to get harder due to the Northwest segment in the banking industry pushing legislation through for a temporary "second class" of notary for anyone that passed 1-2 segments of the "bar" exam that expires in 2 years. That rubbed the current Secretary of State, the bar administration, and several others the WRONG way. Because the SoS administers the test, get what's gonna happen for future Louisiana notaries? Harder tests for the next 2 years until the temporary notaries lose their eligibility and the legislation lapses.

Good luck on your test, and if you need any help, get in touch!

Reply by HSH/WA on 9/27/13 2:45pm
Msg #486284

Re: SS got pissed because I said doing

their HELOC which is only 35 pages and only has a few notarizations but is a full fax back was still worth more than the $50 they are offering. I think they are having a hard time finding notaries to do it - hence her frustration with my refusal to do it. It is still a lot of work and worth more than they are offering.