The National Notary Bulletin

3 tips when rescheduling a Notary appointment

By David Thun on June 5, 2019

Updated 6-3-24. Sometimes a mobile Notary or Signing Agent needs to reschedule a notarization. Someone may have a schedule conflict, get sick or have car trouble. If you or the signer need to reschedule, remember to do the following:

Contact the signer to set up a new appointment.
Make sure all signers will be present with proper ID.
When rescheduling a loan signing, contact the lender and signing service immediately.

1. Contact the signer to set up a new appointment.

No matter what the reason is for rescheduling the appointment, the first thing you should do is speak to the signer as soon as possible to discuss a new date and time to meet for the notarization. If the signer has conflicts during the day due to work or childcare, you may wish to offer to reschedule the notarization after business hours or in the evening if feasible.

2. Make sure all signers will be present with proper ID.

When speaking with the client, if any other signers or witnesses need to be present, confirm that they can make it to the new appointment as well. Also, remind the signer that anyone having their signature notarized at the new appointment must have satisfactory proof of identity that meets your state’s requirements.

3. When rescheduling a loan signing, contact the lender and signing service immediately.

If you’re a Signing Agent and it becomes necessary to reschedule a loan document signing, be sure to contact your contracting company right away to let them know. When you contact them, explain the reason for rescheduling. The contracting company will likely have to contact the lender and title company to approve the schedule change, as loan documents are time-sensitive and delays can affect funding the loan. If the lender needs to reprint or resend any loan documents for the new appointment, be sure to check and confirm the dates are correct on the new documents when you meet with the signer.

David Thun is the Editorial Manager at the National Notary Association.

5 Comments

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Dan

28 Dec 2020

A NSA should a) verify a suitable id is available, b) verify the exact spelling of the name vs that on the loan docs.

Kahadda Poston

28 Dec 2020

Thank you for providing this information as a new notary it keeps me cognizant of the procedures until I become confident in my practice.

It's me Notary

31 Dec 2020

Thank you for this. I had a signer that was Amish - They do not take pictures and had no other ID except their identification card, without a photo. How does one really verify identity in this case? I called the company and they said to proceed, but at the same time there was a slight hesitation to do the signing on my part.

National Notary Association

04 Jan 2021

Hello. To help us answer your question, can you please tell us what state you are commissioned in?

Rosalina Medrano

17 Jun 2024

Thank you very much.