Posted by Mike Goodey on 9/6/13 7:41pm
Msg #483542

NNA Certified

I wonder how much NNA has paid lenders to force us to get certified through them? Just got an e-mail from a top company requiring an NNA certification even though I have been certified for 8 years...oh, sorry, but not with NNA. If I refuse, I will get signings from lenders who do not require this but will get less and less work. Who does the NNA think they are?
They have a monopoly on notary training and the fees to prove it.
All I can do is shake my head...and hope I don't hear any rattling.

Reply by PegiT_MN on 9/6/13 7:56pm
Msg #483548

What I am having a hard time grasping is that the mortgage industry is so regulated and I find it very hard to believe that lenders are going to force us go get certified through a private sector for profit company who is going to require us to pay dues to them every year in order to do loan closings.

I did notice that the company who has sent the e mail is out of California and so is the NNA. Quite possibly they have jumped on NNA's bandwagon, but I do not believe other companies have. I think it is just the NNA bullying people into believing lenders are requiring us to be certified through them.

They need to tread lightly because I see a class action lawsuit just around the corner.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/7/13 7:12pm
Msg #483665

It's about their aggresive marketing! They've been doing

that for years--pushing the concept of bgc's & certification to lenders, tc's, etc., and then pushing it on the other side to supply same. They work both sides of the market--create demand & supply. It's too bad that the cos. don't realize that this isn't THE top notary authority in the country. I won't get into politics, but people join the NRA in much the same way. I think NNA is following that model. How to get rich, rich, rich & become a very powerful lobby!
I took the advice of someone when I was starting up, joined the NNA, did the certification, bgc, etc. Then I found that a book I bought from them, "The Virginia Notary Law Primer" contained a lot of erroneous info.
Also, a couple of years down the road they wanted more money from me to RENEW the cert/bgc.
I won't give them another cent or support them in any way.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 9/7/13 7:18pm
Msg #483666

Re: It's about their aggresive marketing! They've been doing

Real non-profit organizations that represent members in a particular field have officers and a board of governors that are elected by the members, either directly, or by representatives of various regions. ABA, AMA, NEA, and IEEE are all like that. I don't know of any notary organization structured that way.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/8/13 10:40am
Msg #483688

I don't know that they represent themselves as a non-profit. n/m

Reply by jba/fl on 9/8/13 10:32pm
Msg #483704

As others have done, I belonged to NNA many years ago (03) certified and BKG checked and held all their little requirements to the tune of $150+ per year to do so. Then found that BKG expired after 2 years, and oh, by the way, so does your certification. BAH - bye bye!

Had I continued on in this manner I would be having to renew once again for about the 5th time - a real PITA #1, and so unnecessary #2. I did renew once as all the companies were utilizing scare tactics that if you didn't, you would fall off the face of the signing earth. When I renewed, it was the same book as previously - no updates to the wrong information contained therein - and I was wondering who really needed to be certified. Nonetheless, I did it for I wanted to work.

I was never asked by the people who were asking me to work. After a few years, a few companies did begin to ask, but I blew them off as they would not meet my fee. What was the point? Just a couple of days ago I got that same letter Mike Goodey is speaking of, if he was talking about Doc Pros. That's ok, I have been doing some work for them this year, but just recently got paid for work in Feb and Mar with an unsigned check. (Stalling tactic? I don't know - but I was furious. The check has since been reissued, it cleared, and I have been turning them down consistently for past month or so.)

I have no desire to chase my money - you contact me, I do the job, I communicate all details and now, as far as I am concerned, the ball is in your court and when you return that volley it is with my check, under 35 days with no reminders or nudges on my part. In today's business climate, with businesses trimming back, stalled the same as we are due to interest rates rising and new rules and regs., extending credit has got to be tightened and limited even more than before. Caution is necessary because of all the "ifs" lurking about.

Now I have EN screeching in emails to me that I will be placed on an inactive list if I don't come up with further requirements. This, after each month I get all the stars they can give for doing great work, because some unknown lender saying it must be done. Since they won't budge a nickel for going out of my immediate area, they can just find another. Sad to say, they are now fired by me.

I am basically retired now with an interest in working on my terms only. I don't care if I only get 10 signings a month, or even 5. If my experience is not worth anything, if recertifications are done with faulty workbooks and out of date sample questions and data, and if I have to answer to the test then companies do not need me to work for them. There must be another way to make money and I intend to find it. I'm fed up with the "lowest common denominator" attitude and treatment so I think I will take my ball and find a new game. I will, of course, continue to work for those who value the relationship we have that don't cave to pressures to do this, do that, do the other in order to get their business.

In all honesty, when newbies come here I sometimes cringe for they don't know what they will have to endure and how they may think it is just part of the overall process. (no, I am not talking about how they get treated here on NR, but by the companies who will rip them apart, pay them as cheaply as they can if they even pay after all the deductions that are threatened take effect). And those companies will be telling them to spend, spend, spend over at NNA to be paid little, again if at all. All followed on the heels of their SA course - "you too can make big bucks", and we all know that this horribly deceptive practice is on some who can least afford it right now. Just greed.

I wish I could totally quit - retired sounds so good. I am weighing options.