How do you choose the right mobile notary or loan signing agent? There are some wonderful, experienced, professional notaries out there. There are also some notoriously bad notaries, who have been made infamous in the news recently. How do you make sure you find a good one? Here are some of the most important things to look for when picking a mobile notary or loan signing agent:
1. Customer Service
2. Specialized Expertise
3. Professional Standards
4. Professional Credentials
1. Customer Service
Customer service is as essential a quality in a notary as it is in any other service industry. A good mobile notary should be committed to meeting your needs, not just getting your signature and your money. Your notary should:
- Answer any questions you have about the language in your document, or let you know if you need a specialist to answer your question. Some notaries are also attorneys or specialists qualified to give expert opinions on certain topics, while others are not. Good notaries know what types of questions they are qualified to answer and what types of questions are outside their expertise.
- Ask you ahead of time for all important background information.
- Plan with you ahead of time to make sure you will have everything you need ready for your signing appointment, including the necessary number of witnesses.
- Be able to explain to you if a document cannot be signed, the reasons why, and what needs to be done so that it can be signed properly.
- Provide you with up-front fees for travel, odd-hour service, or other extra services.
2. Specialized Expertise
If your document involves a specialized field, such as mortgage loan signing, your ideal notary will be a notary with expertise in that field. You should feel free to ask your notary:
- If they have any training in a particular area of expertise.
- How much experience they have in their area of expertise.
- If special customized language is appropriate for your document. Avoid notaries who attempt to cover lack of expertise by using generic documents to address complex situations. Seek a notary who can handle the specific needs of your document.
3. Professional Standards
A notary is a legal witness bound by professional ethical standards. Never work with a notary who engages in sloppy or unethical practices such as:
- Notarizing an incomplete document with blanks to be filled in later.
- Notarizing a document containing false information.
- Notarizing a document that has been signed by someone who is not present.
- Notarizing a document without proper identification being presented.
- Notarizing a document with a forged signature.
- Notarizing a document without proper witnesses.
These types of practices put both the notary and the validity of your document at risk.
4. Professional Credentials
To make sure you’re dealing with a notary committed to professional standards, look for a notary whose profile displays professional credentials, such as:
- Professional association membership.
- Notary bonds or errors and omissions insurance (E&O insurance) where applicable (specific requirements on these vary by state, but if a notary has them it is generally a good sign).
- Testimonials from satisfied customers.
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