Posted by JimAZ on 9/5/13 7:04pm
Msg #483355

Competition

I just found out who my competition is in this area. PostNet in Sahuarita. Scumbag owner has been building a customer list from my packages. Then market low balls me because he can write off all printing to his so called business. He pays college kids to do the signings for $25 and pockets the rest. Title Source, LSI, Service Link and anyone else, you are getting $25 point and sign from this Sahuarita crook. How do I know. Kid at the counter told me so today. My future packages will go out elsewhere.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/5/13 7:55pm
Msg #483364

OMG, Jim. That's awful. How is he getting away with

acting as a ss & getting someone else to do the signings. Are these college kids even notaries?
If it were me I'd notify those cos. of his tactics.
I just got an email the other day from an ss, stating that if anyone is using a partner, etc., that they must be notified of the notary's name. I know of several people in my area that have others working with them. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but then the cos. need to know. I was always told we weren't permitted to farm out the work. When they hire me, they're expecting that I'm the one going out to the signing.

Reply by Darlin_AL on 9/5/13 8:00pm
Msg #483367

Won't be competition from federal prison as

this process only violates several Acts of Congress: GLB, for one. He's probably notarizing the paperwork when he gets it back from his "signers". Besides, the contractual agreements with those he's working for. It's fraud.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/5/13 8:02pm
Msg #483368

Also, PostNet is a franchise operation. I'd report him to

them also. IMO it's a violation of privacy/confidentiality if he's using the info on your shipping pkgs. to market to those cos. You're right--he sounds like a real scumbag.

Reply by jba/fl on 9/6/13 11:32am
Msg #483444

My thought as well Darlin_AL - they are couriers

and he is the notary. Interesting....you would have to ask your former companies, if you know who the TC processors are.

Reply by JimAZ on 9/5/13 8:43pm
Msg #483373

I'm gathering more evidence than a "Kid at the counter" by contacting customers I had a good relationship with who abruptly stopped calling. Business didn't stop in Sahuarita/Green Valley, so who replaced me and why? Stay tuned.

Reply by Notarysigner on 9/5/13 8:59pm
Msg #483374

Re: Competition PostNet co-founders Steven J. Greenbaum and

Brian Spindel , I would contact them and ask if this is being done with their knowledge.

Reply by JimAZ on 9/5/13 9:09pm
Msg #483375

Re: Competition PostNet co-founders Steven J. Greenbaum and

Thanks, Like I said, if I can get more evidence than the "Kid at the counter" I will not hesitate to contact them.

Reply by jba/fl on 9/6/13 11:33am
Msg #483446

Is the "kid at the counter" a notary? Others?

That should be your leading question.

Reply by Lee/AR on 9/5/13 9:57pm
Msg #483381

Not the first time I've heard of that with these types of places. It's just another reason I use the dropbox. However, paying college kids $25--that's a new one. Jim, a trip to your recording office might turn up some info. Who is signing as 'the notary'? The kid or the PostNet guy?

Reply by Malbrough_LA on 9/5/13 10:08pm
Msg #483382

Lee typed what I was thinking as I've been reading this. You want evidence? Go to the public record. Hike a quick trip over to Clerk of Court to access the record. Depending on what you find out, give an attorney a call if you're friends with one (from my experience, it never hurts to befriend your local attorneys and judges). Remembering that attorneys are also notaries, one may take this as a personal affront and be more willing to move some magic strings. Works for me quite often

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 12:28am
Msg #483387

Horrible! Horrible! n/m

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 12:32am
Msg #483388

Re: Horrible! Horrible!

It just occurred to me, if he's doing it to you, he's probably also doing it to other notaries who are dropping off their docs there.

Maybe the kid has a gripe against the boss, and if you take him out to eat, and give him some money, he will tell you exactly how the boss is doing it.

It is a good idea to go down to the county recorder's office, but how will you know which properties to look up? That sounds tricky.

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 12:43am
Msg #483389

Re: Horrible! Horrible!

I can't get over what an evil, low-down, back-stabbing, dishonest, thief that guy is. There are not enough evil adjectives for him.

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 12:45am
Msg #483390

If we can do anything to help . . .

Like everyone here write a bad review on their website, just let us know.

Reply by redd on 9/6/13 8:20am
Msg #483408

I have been suspicious of this type thing myself. Went to drop off at UPS store and was placing my closing docs in package. The worker seemed to want to take over and wasn't inclined to seal it up. I have no doubt she wanted to look through my package. So I stood there and stared her down until she sealed it up. So yes, from then on, I use drop box more often. Also, more and more borrowers are quizzing me about how I get signings. They will say, "I'm a notary". I learned the hard way a couple years back to keep my mouth shut!!! Or sometimes I will say I'm a paralegal (truth) and then change the subject.....like "oh your dog is so cute - what's his name..."

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 10:14am
Msg #483426

When borrowers ask about my work, I lay it on thick about working evenings, weekends and holidays. I point out that "right now", they are home and I am at work. I tell them that my husband complains that I am never home, and I am glad that he does all the cooking. I say that I could not do this job if I had young children at home, but my kids are grown and gone. I point out that I pay for all the paper and ink, and gas. And no benefits or vacation pay. One time the borrower got so concerned that she told me to bring my resume to her work the next day so she could get me a $10 an hour job. I tell them about times that I almost missed graduations, and holidays cut short because borrowers changed their minds about appointment times. (That does not happen any more, because I just don't schedule ANYTHING on an important date.) I tell them I even had to bring my phone and appointment book on my honeymoon, as well as my stamp and acks in case they were needed. And finally I tell them that if they DO go into business, they will be competing with ME, and I have been in this territory for 13 years, and I do have a paralegal background. (I also point out that the my income takes care of MY bills, but I don't have a big house like them, and their mortgage payment is more than I make in a month. (I have a mobile home.)

As for postal drops, I am very suspicious. The minute they start asking questions, I NEVER go back. One time I left a package at the counter of a postal drop, and it did not go out, so my policy in general is to watch them put it IN the bag. I don't care how long I have to stand there. But with this OP, the owner might have been sneaky and played it cool and waited until he left, which means he already had a system for stealing notary work.

At Fed Ex, I was upset when they first started insisting that some of their employees become notaries. I thought they would all want to moonlight as mobile notaries. I found out that they didn't want to become notaries, and they didn't like doing the work. They would call me and ask me notary questions (that's fine, we were friends and they were doing Fed Ex GNW.) They would say to me, "I would hate to have your job - this is hard enough. I don't like the liability factor." They were all glad when Fed Ex stopped doing notary work and they didn't have to do it any more.

But I think the difference is that for this OP, it is the OWNER that is doing it. It takes ambition and smarts to open and run a business. The people who work at Fed Ex basically want to go home at the end of the day and not complicate their lives. The owner at PostNet is always thinking how to make more money, and so stealing other's work (and livelihood) is not beneath him. To me, that shows he has no integrity, and I would not patronize a place like that if I knew the owner was doing that. He has no integrity and he is violating privacy. I don't want someone like that handling my packages, my credit cards, my cash.

I overheard someone say once at a shipping place that they shipped a ring, and the package arrived on time, but the ring was stolen out of the package. Everyone hands their credit cards to waiters all the time, and they could copy that information and abuse it. If someone has no integrity, who can deal with them at all?

This notary's post is really upsetting to me. We all work so hard, we all have bills to pay and families to support. This is literally taking the food out of his mouth. He took the time to market these clients and build a business, and PostNet is just helping him self to this notary's hard work and his money. It REALLY upsets me.

Reply by CJ on 9/6/13 10:26am
Msg #483429

When a borrower asks about my job, they are basically saying, "Wow, tell me, how can I dip into your pocket and help myself to your income" I REALLY want to say "Tell me how to split your income with me, and I will split my income with you". I'm sure NO borrower is willing to share their income with me, so why should I help them take MY money? It's VERY rude of them to ask about our jobs. VERY rude. Evil and selfish.

My sister has moved in with me. She is destitute and homeless. I love her very much, and she is a good roommate, but I cannot afford to have her be a mobile notary. If she takes some of my income, I could lose my house, and then we BOTH won't have a place to live. My husband and I say she can live here for free, as long as it takes, even forever, and we will support her and feed her, and not charge her anything, but she can't be a mobile notary. (I turned her on to Field Inspections, and it's giving her gas money and pocket change, so that's working out.)

Reply by Laurily on 9/6/13 12:58pm
Msg #483466

Jim-that is horrible! But I am curious-when you are dropping the package does this guy know you personally to know that you are a notary? How would he know what your dropping off? I always have my packages in the envelope and ready to drop-I never load them while at the drop off location. and I never tell anyone behind the counter who or what I am.....but your post does give all of us an eye opener...what a shame..

Reply by Jennifer Title Source on 9/6/13 4:16pm
Msg #483500

Thank You, Jim. We will look into this on our end. If you ever have a question like this, you can always reach out to [e-mail address].

Reply by jnew on 9/6/13 4:19pm
Msg #483501

I donot allow the clerk at the overnight delivery drop to seal my packages. One insisted it was okay and I told him that my client insisted I seal it myself. I hate to say it but the cardboard overnight packages from UPS can be easily opened and closed without evidence that this was done. I order the packages separately and seal them twice with transparent packing tape. I then hand it over for delivery. Using proxies to notarize documents won't work with a couple of the customers you mentioned. I know that LSI audits their notaries by doing quality followups on their notaries. One of my nieces was contacted after the refi about how the notary was dressed and whether the documents were signed and sealed by the notary in their presence. This guy is begging to be busted out by one of these quality checks.

Reply by JamesLee/VA on 9/6/13 8:46pm
Msg #483554

I have my sealed when I walk in. I also use my own sticky label that can not be torn off without destroying it. Also if you get into the habit of writing "confidential" in your own signature across the flap and envelope, the person on the other end will know its been tampered with if it doesn't match up.