Our Loan Signing Industry Has Certainly Changed Over the Last 5 Years!
by Joan Bergstrom, Certified Loan Signing Agent, Instructor, Author
I have been a Notary/Loan Signer in California for 5 years and this is my perspective:
2002 - When I started in all the loan documents arrived at my doorstep via FedEx or UPS and the documents were all printed out for me with a return envelope included with the pertinent information filled out. Boy, Those Were the Days!!
I was in this industry about 4 months when a company asked me if I could print electronic documents? I said sure and then hustled to find out how to print these documents. I made mistakes; bought the wrong laser printer because it was cheaper and I couldn’t download some loan packages sent by email. I fixed that problem by going to Costco and buying an HP 1200 on a Friday night, and giving the other printer away. By 2005, 98% of my business was in Edocs and that figure remains the same today.
2004 - There was a demand that loan signers have Dual Tray Laser Printers or they wouldn’t be hired. Well, that fell by the wayside when most loan signers didn’t have this feature. It’s a good idea to have a 2 tray printer (letter and legal) because it will save you money because letter-size paper is less expensive, but it certainly is not a requirement to be hired. Go buy a $20 paper cutter if a company wants the California Deed of Trust on letter-size paper. I bought mine 4 years ago.
2005 - I heard on the Chat lines that you needed to have $100,000 E & O Insurance to be hired by certain companies. I have had a $100,000 insurance policy for almost 4 years and I have yet to be hired by one company because I had this amount. I think it’s a good idea to have this amount but it won’t get you hired. I like EinersonSurety.com to purchase this policy.
In the book I co-authored, “How To Become A Wildly Successful Loan Signing Agent” (Bergstrom, Elliott, and Jones), we suggested a loan signer carry a digital camera to increase business because they could take a picture of borrower’s driver’s license and social security card if the borrower didn’t provide a copy to be sent back with the loan documents. Those days are definitely over and no one needs to buy a camera for notary work.
2006 - Another change is I no longer need an Efax number because all the companies send all documents to my email address as an attachment. Last month I got at total of 2 faxes and I do approximately 60 signings a month.
2007 - Background check for loan signers. I will be very surprised if any company asks us for a background check! For Calif loan signers go to www.notaryclasses.com and download a free background form for you to print out. California Notaries have had an extensive background check when we passed the California State Notary Exam.
I would like to thank Sharon and GoGetNotary.com for asking me to post an article. If anyone wants to talk to me personally my phone number is 951-522-4919 and my email address is joan.bergstrom@yahoo.com.
©Copyright Joan Bergstrom. All rights reserved. Joan Bergstrom is a Certified Loan Signing Teacher for NotaryClasses.com based in San Bernardino, California, and co-author of How to Become A Wildly Successful Loan Signing Agent. Joan also has a successful loan signing business and says being in the field keeps her current on industry changes and trends which she shares in her classes and frequent updates for her book. She is also a member of the GoGetNotary National Advisory Council. For more about Joan, visit her page at GoGetNotary.com/Get/JoanBergstrom or her website at JoanBergstronNotaryPublic.com.