Something New – Part 2

I have had a busy few days doing something that I only do once a month…usually.

Being a Notary is interesting. You will ocassionally get requests to do stuff. Fun stuff, boring stuff, just stuff. As a Notary, you are considered a ‘Trusted Party’ and as such, you can do site inspections for all variety of companies, such as Equifax who uses Notaries to go to car dealership locations when they move or make some other change to their contact information. They want someone to go there, take all variety of pictures, ask a bunch of questions and basically ensure that thier location is legit. This same kind of thing even applies to houses/townhomes, etc and even buildings that are under construction – being built or renovated – where the owner is not local or just busy. You would go to the address, take a bunch of pics – usually a specific set of required/requested pics and upload through an app.

Sometimes, you’ll receive a request to complete I9s, which are documents that employers want for ID verification. These don’t require Notarizations, but as a “Trusted Party”, you can ID a person and ensure information they write on the form is correct. There are stories of a Notary accepting an I9 gig, getting paid per I9 and upon arrival, finding out that there will be 400 of them. This is not usual, but certainly possible.

Re-Signs. This is when you are asked to go to and Notarize a document or documents that is having to be resigned. Usually, there was an error in the original signing or a document was damaged or destroyed and Title or the Lender needs a replacement doc. Those are always quick and easy.

You will get requests to Notarize Power of Attorney docs, Wills and Trusts, Pre and Post Marital Agreements – Attorneys can be a great source of work that is outside the norm for a Signing Agent. There is a world of random one-off document Notarization requests that will come your way. Figure out what you might charge for a random thing and go for it. From a money perspective, sometimes, every little bit helps.

All of this brings me to why I’ve been busy lately. I work with a Title Company that brings in a number of Notaries (‘How Many’ varies a little from month to month) in at the end of the month. They pay us all a flat fee for 1/2 Day or a Full Day of work and you get to hang out with a bunch of Notaries. It can be fun, or boring, a good time or not. They will usually feed you keep you hydrated. Not a bad deal really. Especially if you become a regular. It’s kinda nice to have a regular thing.

This month was a little unusual for me, as they asked me to come in for 4 days. I was only able to accommodate 3 1/2, but they were happy and so am I. The hard part, honestly, is having to get up and get ready early enough to make it to their office like an employee. After working for myself for so many years, it is a struggle. 🙂

I am positive that there are other things out there that Notaries get to do (outside of Mortgage docs) that I have left off my list. If you have something, leave a comment and let us all know – share the wealth.