What is a Loan Signing Agent? - Notary Public Skills at a Whole New Level!

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I can't help talking about this business. I think it's the best side hustle that you can make a full time income doing, if you wanted. I'm excited about it and I've told EVERYONE I know to look into it, because I think it's the best kept secret job in the mortgage industry. But, many times throughout my journey of becoming a notary and my loan signing agent, I've gotten a quizzical look as I've talked about the position, and been asked again and again, what is a loan signing agent?
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Well in order....

 to explain what a loan signing agent is, I need to take a step back and explain what a notary public is and how the two fields relate.

​What Does a Notary Public Do?

A notary public is a position that is commissioned by the State you live in, that can witness and validate someone signing an official document. 

A notary public needs to meet certain qualifications in order to demonstrate that they are of strong moral character, reliable and a good candidate to ensure that notarizations are done legally and correctly. According to the Oregon Secretary of State the requirements include:

• Being 18 years old and a resident of Oregon
• Completion of an acceptable notary public training program
• Never convicted of a felony or crime involving fraud, dishonesty or deceit 
• Passed the notary public exam

There are several other criminal convictions that can disqualify you from becoming a notary public so make sure you check with your state. The Oregon Secretary of State lists the qualifications for becoming a Notary Public here.

What Does a Loan Signing Agent Do Differently?

A loan signing agent is an extension of the notary public position, and uses their commission from the State to do a similar job.

Click here to learn more about Loan Signing!

Any time a real estate transaction occurs such as a purchase, a sale, a refinance, a reverse mortgage and more, there are many documents that are required by the lenders, or the county or the state, to be completed with accuracy. Several of these documents are legally binding, and several of them must be documented that the person who is putting their signature on the paper is who they say they are. 

That is where a loan signing agent comes in. They use their loan signing agent training to make sure all the real estate documents are explained to the client and they use their notary public qualification to make sure that the documents are lawfully signed according to the State's requirements.
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Simply put, a loan signing agent is a commissioned notary public who has had additional training to be able to understand the various documents associated with a real estate transaction, be able to explain the documents to a client, and complete the notorial acts that are required in the loan document package. 

Can a Loan Signing Agent Do It All?

Yes! Once you train in becoming a loan signing agent, you can still perform notorial acts of many different documents that still need to have a notary public's certification for legal purposes. When you become a loan signing agent, you can register with signing services, or online databases that people can use to find a notary public that is able to do an assignment. These signing services typically focus on serving escrow officers, mortgage officers and other real estate professionals. But, I have gotten an assignment to notarize an annuity which was a very simple transaction, from one of these signing services.
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Also, a loan signing agent can still offer their services as a mobile notary public, as I do, and be available to travel throughout their region and notarize documents as they need to. You'd be surprised at how many official documents need notarizations including adoption paperwork, wills, trusts, advanced directives and even notary public applications!

Is a Loan Signing Agent in Demand?

As I mentioned above, all real estate transactions require a loan signing agent to notarize several documents within the document package. So, for every home bought, sold, refinanced, reverse mortgaged, a home-equity-line-of-credit (HELOC) opened, there is a need for a loan signing agent. The National Association of Realtors estimated there were approximately 5.34 million real estate sales in the United States in 2019. That number doesn't even include refinances or HELOCs. Each and every single one of those transactions had a loan signing agent present to make sure that the client's signature was appropriately documented according to the rules of the State. 
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My mentor has been in the loan signing agent industry for nearly 20 years, trained thousands of loan signing agents, owns a loan signing agency, and says that the mortgage industry is always in desperate need of GOOD loan signing agents. A good loan signing agent is a notary public that can walk a client through a set of documents confidently, quickly and accurately so that the real estate transaction goes smoothly for everyone involved. 

Should You Become a Loan Signing Agent?

If you are a notary public, or considering becoming a notary public... the answer is yes!
A loan signing agent can do all of the tasks that a notary public can do, and their thorough training can qualify them to be an instrumental part of a real estate transaction. Ultimately this leads to you being more valuable and getting paid more! In the next article, I'll explain how much a notary signing agent can make when they start taking on loan signings... the number might shock you!

If you're interested in learning more about becoming a loan signing agent and taking the best loan signing agent training there is follow this affiliate link to Mark Wills' Loan Signing System, the same course that I took to start my loan signing business. 

Thanks for reading!