Notary 101 Training Courses - Do We Need Them?
Are notaries training courses worth the time and money? Well it depends on what state you live in.
In some cases training courses are required to receive your commission.
I will list them later on in the article.
However, if a notary does not live in one of those cursed states should they take the course? I would not sit on either side of the fence on this one because the training course can be invaluable if you have never done a signing or just starting out in the industry.
But, I for one have never taken a course and no one that I have worked with ever set foot in the notary classroom.
We pride ourselves on knowledge of the industry and chalk it up to experience not classes.
Another huge problem with notary training programs and classes is that there are a million out there.
I can't believe some of them actually get people to sign up and go to their training sessions, probably in their barn.
"Now sit on your Haystack Mr.
Jones, and be quiet!" Notaries actually pay these people to give them a certificate that they printed out at Kinko's once they have completed their training.
I am not being completely fair to all notaries or companies regarding courses.
There are some large sites that offer training like NNA, though I hate saying that name, where you can take training that is required for training states, or for non-training states, just to learn, get the certificate, and tell your grandma you graduated from something other then cubbies.
Prices vary, but here are some examples that we found in doing our research.
Side Note: remember that these examples are the bigger sites and not a single notary who has sparklers on his site offering training courses.
Notaryclasses.
com is a pretty good site where you can do your state required courses and exam, and also training on becoming a signing agent and mobile notary.
It is a site that I affirm to be credible and the owner is a nice guy as I spoke with him a few times regarding the site.
The classes or "seminars" as they like to call it are $125 to $199 depending on what package you want.
Back to NNA, this is a resource you will want to keep around as you develop your notary skills.
Though it is hated by many notaries (including me) it is a site that has all the resources at the notary's disposal.
They offer training as well.
Required training for the required states is $99.
They beat NotaryClasses with their $169 signing agent training.
These are the two biggest sites that offer alternative training to the state required one which some (me) would say is all you need.
I am going to stop harassing the sites and say some good things about taking a training course.
This may be difficult for me but I will do my best.
There is a lot a notary gets with his or her money when they go to training seminars and take alternative courses.
You can take a course called "How to escape costly mistakes", a great course to take if you are not to sure liable wise what being a notary entails.
If you take the NNA signing agent training course you also get a live Training Seminar (select a location, date and time convenient to you), opportunities for Q&A, and demonstrations of loan document signings.
A notary also gets a free 1-Year National Notary Association Membership (a $52 value).
This could be good to begin advertising your new business.
I still don't think it is worth it though.
Most of it is a scam to get more money out of you.
The states that require exams are smart and I would have no problem if all of the 50 states did.
Here are the states the require course education before taking the state exam to become a notary.
CA, CT, DofC.
, FL HI, LA, ME, MO, NEB, NEV, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, UT There are a lot of them.
If your state is on there I would not fret about the required exam, it is much simpler than people make it out to be.
It is not like the SAT's where you have to go through 10 cups of coffee and a red bull just to get through it.
Look into it notaries! And don't let me be the judge on how well you want to know your stuff and how serious you want to take your job.
In some cases training courses are required to receive your commission.
I will list them later on in the article.
However, if a notary does not live in one of those cursed states should they take the course? I would not sit on either side of the fence on this one because the training course can be invaluable if you have never done a signing or just starting out in the industry.
But, I for one have never taken a course and no one that I have worked with ever set foot in the notary classroom.
We pride ourselves on knowledge of the industry and chalk it up to experience not classes.
Another huge problem with notary training programs and classes is that there are a million out there.
I can't believe some of them actually get people to sign up and go to their training sessions, probably in their barn.
"Now sit on your Haystack Mr.
Jones, and be quiet!" Notaries actually pay these people to give them a certificate that they printed out at Kinko's once they have completed their training.
I am not being completely fair to all notaries or companies regarding courses.
There are some large sites that offer training like NNA, though I hate saying that name, where you can take training that is required for training states, or for non-training states, just to learn, get the certificate, and tell your grandma you graduated from something other then cubbies.
Prices vary, but here are some examples that we found in doing our research.
Side Note: remember that these examples are the bigger sites and not a single notary who has sparklers on his site offering training courses.
Notaryclasses.
com is a pretty good site where you can do your state required courses and exam, and also training on becoming a signing agent and mobile notary.
It is a site that I affirm to be credible and the owner is a nice guy as I spoke with him a few times regarding the site.
The classes or "seminars" as they like to call it are $125 to $199 depending on what package you want.
Back to NNA, this is a resource you will want to keep around as you develop your notary skills.
Though it is hated by many notaries (including me) it is a site that has all the resources at the notary's disposal.
They offer training as well.
Required training for the required states is $99.
They beat NotaryClasses with their $169 signing agent training.
These are the two biggest sites that offer alternative training to the state required one which some (me) would say is all you need.
I am going to stop harassing the sites and say some good things about taking a training course.
This may be difficult for me but I will do my best.
There is a lot a notary gets with his or her money when they go to training seminars and take alternative courses.
You can take a course called "How to escape costly mistakes", a great course to take if you are not to sure liable wise what being a notary entails.
If you take the NNA signing agent training course you also get a live Training Seminar (select a location, date and time convenient to you), opportunities for Q&A, and demonstrations of loan document signings.
A notary also gets a free 1-Year National Notary Association Membership (a $52 value).
This could be good to begin advertising your new business.
I still don't think it is worth it though.
Most of it is a scam to get more money out of you.
The states that require exams are smart and I would have no problem if all of the 50 states did.
Here are the states the require course education before taking the state exam to become a notary.
CA, CT, DofC.
, FL HI, LA, ME, MO, NEB, NEV, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, UT There are a lot of them.
If your state is on there I would not fret about the required exam, it is much simpler than people make it out to be.
It is not like the SAT's where you have to go through 10 cups of coffee and a red bull just to get through it.
Look into it notaries! And don't let me be the judge on how well you want to know your stuff and how serious you want to take your job.
