Sorry, This Notary Is No Longer Doing Loan Signings

by Sharon Hassler, Founder/Webmaster, GoGetNotary.com

I’ve had a couple of complaints from companies looking for notary signing agents in our directory and finding active web pages for people who have left the business. There’s nothing we can do about this. We don’t know who’s no longer working as a notary and, frankly, our members have paid for their web pages, and we can’t just arbitrarily start taking pages down. Of course, having outdated info online works both ways. I’m about half way through our signing company directory and finding some signing, title and mortgage companies have closed their doors but their websites are still up as though they’re open for business. I have to verify every company with a phone call. Imagine the frustration of companies trying to call notary signing agents and hearing “This number has been disconnected…” over and over.

It’s a transitional time for everyone in the industry. You can help by making sure your contact info is up to date on every notary directory listing/profile/blog/web page/website/free ad you have online. For instance, you’d think phone numbers would stay current because you can take them with you when you switch service providers, but many notaries are using only cell phones now and have discontinued their land-line phones. Was that disconnected phone number posted anywhere? How about an email address? Has that changed? Or maybe domain names weren’t renewed or haven’t been forwarded to an updated profile.

This is the perfect time to update all your online postings and don’t forget the obvious: your website. If you haven’t kept track of all sites where your info is available, start fresh with an XL file now, or, if you still prefer writing it down on paper, you can download a tracking form here. I’m guilty of not keeping track, too, so that’s one of my New Year’s resolutions. If you haven’t kept a list, do a search for your name and the word “notary” to find your Internet placements.

As you update your info, post a notice somewhere on that listing/page/site that says something like this: UPDATED JAN. 4, 2009. CERTIFIED NOTARY SIGNING AGENT AVAILABLE FOR LOAN AND LOAN MODIFICATION SIGNINGS. (Might as well get a few keywords in that statement.) Then, it’s a good idea to change that date each month or every other month. If that’s too much effort, at least revise the date on your top five notary directories or other Internet sites.

©Copyright Sharon Hassler. All rights reserved. Sharon Hassler, Founder/Webmaster for GoGetNotary.com, is a former loan officer, real estate agent and marketing consultant. She served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. For more about Sharon, visit GoGetNotary.com/Get/Sharon.