Hello my fellow notaries:

Recently I have been receiving a large number of requests for edoc signings, where the loan package is e-mailed directly to the notary as opposed to being sent as an overnight package. These signings often pay higher fees since the documents have to be printed out by the notary and consist of two copies, one copy to be signed and returned and one copy to be left behind as a borrower's copy. This can easily be two hundred pages or more and can take upwards of 30 minutes to prepare or longer depending on the notaries computer setup.

The problem that has been recurring time and time again is the documents often come right at the last minute, which does not leave enough time to print and travel to the signers home in time to make the scheduled appointment. This wouldn't normally cause too much of a problem except the signing appointment is almost always made in advance by the title company or lender to accommodate the borrower's schedule, usually with explicit instructions not to change the time. Several times I have arrived late only to apologize on behalf of the lender or title company for not sending the documents in a timely manner. And in some cases no apology is good enough and the finger gets pointed at the notary even though we are not at fault. We are simply at the mercy of who prepares and sends the documents without a lot of power to hurry the process along. Lenders and title companies just do not realize that notaries cannot receive and print documents 15 minutes before a signing and still be expected to be on time for the scheduled appointment. This can also have a huge and detrimental affect on your schedule throughout the rest of your day causing you to have to push back appointments or even miss already scheduled appointments altogether.

To combat this problem many notaries have developed their own policies which can include indicating upfront when receiving an appointment that a certain amount of time may be needed to properly print everything and travel to the appointment. Some even go as far as to set a deadline and if the documents are not received charge an additional fee or do not do the appointment. However notaries that use the latter approach often find themselves burning their own bridge and can often be removed from companies databases never to be called again. There can be a happy medium. By informing the company upfront of the time needed and keeping in contact with them, this can eliminate many late appointments. However this may not always work. I often will go a step further and keep in contact with the borrower letting them know exactly what is going on. This allows the notary to be able to back out of an appointment or change an appointment time without being the scapegoat. In fact, if the borrower complains to their lender, the notary is almost always exonerated and sometimes even praised due to the constant communication with the borrower.

Whichever method you choose just make sure that you are respectful of the borrowers time and that you use your time wisely. Also, stick to your principles because services that employ notaries have the mindset that there are many of us out there and if one of us does not adhere to their policies than another can always be found. We must all stick together and not let title companies, lenders or even signing services take advantage of the notary. Remember, without us real estate commerce can literaly grind to a halt.

The Notary Guy
Matthew D. Valera
www.bayareanotary.com