What should a title agency include in notary signing instructions?

Ask a post-closer what held up the last file and the answer is rarely dramatic. A date written as the closing date instead of the signing date. A middle initial on the note that isn't on the deed. A rider page nobody initialed. A notarial certificate with the venue left blank. Every one of those was preventable, and most of them were preventable at the same moment: when the instructions were written.

Almost everything published about signing instructions is written for the notary — read them, follow them, don't assume. This article is for the person on the other side of the order: the closer or escrow officer deciding what to put in them.

Why do signing instructions matter so much?

Because the agent at the table has the package and nothing else. They don't know that your underwriter wants the vesting name matched exactly, that the lender's funding conditions require a scan of the Closing Disclosure, or that this particular signer goes by a name that isn't on their ID. If it isn't in the instructions, the agent will do what's standard — and "standard" varies by lender, by state, and by agent.

The error lists that circulate in the notary world are consistent: missed signatures and initials, wrong or blank dates, illegible seals, certificate mistakes, and not following instructions. Notice that the last one is a category of its own. It's also the one you control.

What are the basics every order needs?

These are the fields that get an appointment on the calendar. They're rarely the problem, but they're worth listing because a missing one costs a phone call at the worst time.

• File or escrow number and the property address.
• Signing date, time, and location — and whether the time is firm or a window.
• Every signer's name and phone number, plus who to call if the signer doesn't answer.
• Transaction type (purchase, refinance, HELOC, seller-side, reverse) and approximate page count, so the agent prints and budgets time correctly.
• Your contact for the day of signing — a name and a number that will actually be answered at 6:30 p.m., not a general inbox.
• How the package is delivered: print from a portal, ship to the agent, or e-docs to the signer for a hybrid closing.

What should you say about names and ID?

Name mismatches are one of the top reasons a package bounces. Spell it out:

• How each signer's name must appear on the signature line, and whether the signature needs to match the typed name exactly or a shorter form is acceptable. If the lender or underwriter has a rule, quote it.
• Known name variations. If the vesting says "Robert" and the ID says "Bob," or a hyphenated surname appears two ways, tell the agent up front what's acceptable and whether an AKA statement or name affidavit is in the package.
• ID requirements beyond the notary's own state rules. If the lender wants a copy of the ID, or a second form of ID, say so; the agent's own state rules govern what they can accept for the notarization itself, but your lender's conditions are separate.

What a notary may accept as identification is set by the state they're commissioned in, and it isn't something your instructions can override. What your instructions can do is tell the agent what your side needs collected.

What should you say about dates?

Date errors are boring and expensive. The signing date, the document date, and the effective or funding date are often different, and signers routinely write the wrong one. Your instructions should say, in one line, what date goes on every signature and every notarial certificate — usually the actual date of the appointment — and whether any pre-dated fields are to be left as printed. If the signing gets rescheduled, resend the instruction; a stale date on a re-drawn package is a common cause of a second re-sign.

Which documents need special handling?

This is the section most orders skip, and it's the one the agent needs most. List every document in the package that requires something beyond sign-and-date:

• Witnesses. Which documents need them, how many, and whether the agent may serve as one or must arrange others. Witness requirements depend on the document and the state, so state what your underwriter requires rather than assuming the agent knows.
• Non-borrowing or spousal signatures. Which pages a non-borrowing spouse or co-owner signs, and whether they're expected at the appointment.
• Power of attorney. If an attorney-in-fact is signing, say so, say how the signature block should read, and confirm the POA has already been approved by the lender and underwriter before the appointment. The agent can execute it correctly; they can't cure an unapproved POA at the table.
• Documents that must be notarized vs. documents that must not be. Packages sometimes include pages with a certificate that the lender doesn't want completed, or pages without a certificate that the state requires one on. Flag them.
• State-specific forms and disclosures that need a signature, an initial, or a specific handwritten statement.
• Items to collect: a copy of the ID, a cashier's check, a hazard insurance binder, a signed counseling certificate on a reverse, or anything else that comes back in the envelope.

If the package is large, a one-page "pay attention to these" list in the front of the instructions is worth more than a perfect twenty-page policy nobody reads at the table.

What should you say about scan-backs, shipping, and funding?

Decide before the appointment, not after the agent has dropped the box. State:

1. Whether a scan-back is required, which pages, by when, and where it goes.
2. Whether the agent ships immediately or holds for your clearance. If you want the chance to send them back to the signer, they can't ship first.
3. Carrier, account number, and label. Whether you're sending a prepaid label or the agent creates one on your account, and the address it goes to.
4. The drop deadline. "Same day, before the last pickup" or "next business morning." On a refinance with a rescission period, be explicit about what the rescission dates should read and when the package must arrive for funding.
5. What the agent should do with anything that doesn't ship — the ID copy, the borrower's copy, a check.

What should the agent do if something goes wrong at the table?

Signers change their minds, notice a figure they don't like, or ask a question the agent can't answer. The instructions should give the agent a script for that moment: who to call (and the number), whether to pause the signing or continue with the rest of the package, and what to do if a document is wrong or missing. A signing agent is not an attorney and won't explain loan terms; the fastest way to keep a signing on track is to make sure the person who can answer is one call away and expecting it.

The same goes for a signer who doesn't show, or whose ID doesn't satisfy the notary's state rules. Say whether the agent should wait, reschedule, or leave — and how you want to hear about it.

Do instructions change when you use a signing service instead of a direct notary?

The content doesn't change; the delivery does. A signing service usually has its own standing requirements for its agents — dress, confirmation calls, scan quality, ship rules — and the coordinator layers your file-specific instructions on top. Two practical differences:

• Send everything with the order. A coordinator can only pass along what they were given. Instructions that arrive by a separate email an hour before the appointment often don't reach the agent.
• Ask the service what its defaults are. If their standard already covers scan-backs and ship rules, you may only need to state the exceptions. If it doesn't, state everything.

Used well, a service is an extension of your own roster: your instructions, your standards, carried into a county you don't cover by an agent you didn't have to find. The instructions are what make that work.

Frequently asked questions

AJ

Arron Johnson

Founder of 247 Closers, a nationwide notary signing service staffing vetted, certified signing agents for title agencies.