For notaries moving into loan signings
Start loan signing work without guessing at the rules.
Plain-English guides to what your state requires, what signing companies expect, and what can wait. Every rule links to its official source and the date we checked it.
Browse by topic
Five topics, colour-coded so you can tell them apart at a glance. Each guide answers one question.
Getting started
Getting started
What a signing agent does, the steps in order, and how long each stage takes.
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Your First Loan Signing, Step by Step: Before, At the Table and After
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How Long Does It Take to Become a Loan Signing Agent? A Step-by-Step Timeline
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Signing Agent Background Screening: What’s Searched, How It’s Scored, and How to Fix Errors
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How to Become a Loan Signing Agent: The Steps, What’s Required and What’s Just Expected
State rules
State rules
Each state researched from its own official sources. Only states we’ve checked are listed.
Equipment & E&O
Equipment & E&O
What your state requires, what signing work adds, and what can wait.
Finding signings
Finding signings
Signing services, title companies, profiles, and spotting scams.
Training & courses
Training & courses
Whether certification is required, and what each course’s published terms say.
State rules
Check your state
See which states we’ve researched from official sources, each with a link and the date we checked it. Not listed yet? Your state’s commissioning office (usually the Secretary of State) is the source to trust.
JUL 1 2026
Scam alert
Fake signing jobs and spoofed emails are aimed at notaries
The National Notary Association’s July 1, 2026 bulletin describes two scams notaries have reported. In the fake signing assignment, a “client” pays more than your fee, asks you to refund or wire back the difference, and the original payment later bounces. In closing wire fraud, scammers posing as a title company or buyer email altered wiring instructions.
Separately, the FBI warned on June 16, 2026 that criminals are posing as the owners of vacant land, using fake IDs, to sell property they don’t own through real estate agents and title companies.
Sources: National Notary Association, Notary Bulletin, “Don’t take the bait,” July 1, 2026 · FBI IC3 public service announcement, June 16, 2026 · checked Oct 23, 2026
Your checklist
- Confirm payment instructions by phone Use a number you already have on file, never one from the email
- Never send back an “overpayment” No legitimate client overpays and asks for change
- Check unexpected requests before you reply In: How to become a loan signing agent
Recently published
What you can count on
Sources
Every rule has a link and a date
We quote the statute or the state office and say when we last checked it. Forums tell us what to write about; they’re never the evidence.
Law vs. practice
Required is kept apart from expected
What your state requires is listed separately from what signing companies ask for, so you don’t pay for extras before you need them.
About us
Honest about who we are
We aren’t notaries, signing agents or attorneys, and we don’t promise signings or income. If a guide ever has affiliate links, it says so at the top.