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Notary Signing Agent Academy vs Loan Signing System: Which Course Is Right for You?
Becoming a loan signing agent is one of the most lucrative and flexible side hustles available to commissioned notaries today. Instead of making $10 to $25 for a standard notarization, loan signing agents routinely earn $75 to $200 per appointment for guiding borrowers through their mortgage documents. It is a fantastic way to build a scalable notary business.
However, you cannot simply read a manual and wing it. A single misplaced initial or a missed signature can delay a real estate closing, cost you your reputation, and potentially ruin your relationship with a signing service. That is why investing in a high-quality training course is non-negotiable.
If you have spent any time researching this career, you have undoubtedly encountered two heavyweights in the training space: the Notary Signing Agent Academy and the Loan Signing System. Both promise to teach you the mechanics of loan signings and how to get hired, but they take very different approaches—and they come with very different price tags.
Let’s break down exactly what each course offers, compare them side-by-side, and look at why the Notary Signing Agent Academy ultimately takes the crown as the best value for most notaries.
A Brief Overview of the Contenders
The Loan Signing System (LSS) Offered through LoanSigningSystem.com, this is arguably the most famous loan signing course on the market. Created by Mark Wills, it has trained tens of thousands of notaries. LSS is a massive brand with a heavy marketing presence, a large Facebook community, and a well-known partnership with the National Notary Association (NNA). It costs $347.
The Notary Signing Agent Academy Offered through NotaryTrainingSchool.com, the Notary Signing Agent Academy is the smart, pragmatic challenger. It focuses heavily on practical, step-by-step training without the fluff. More importantly, it was built to be a complete business system, equipping students with proprietary tools to actually run their business efficiently. It costs $175.
Side-by-Side Comparison
To figure out which course is right for you, we need to look at five critical categories: price, curriculum depth, tools included, support, and certification recognition.
Price
- Notary Signing Agent Academy: $175
- Loan Signing System: $347
There is no dancing around the math. The Academy costs exactly half the price of LSS. For a new notary trying to keep startup costs low, saving $172 is a massive deal. That $172 can be better spent on your E&O insurance, a dual-tray laser printer, or marketing materials.
Curriculum Depth
Both courses cover the same core material. You will learn how to identify and properly execute the key documents in a loan package, including the Note, the Deed of Trust/Mortgage, the Closing Disclosure (CD), and the Truth in Lending (TILA) statement.
Both programs also teach you how to handle common borrower objections and how to avoid the dreaded "callback" from title companies when a document is rejected. The Academy’s curriculum is highly streamlined, focusing strictly on what you need to know to do the job flawlessly from day one. LSS offers a very similar curriculum but pads it with slightly more general business advice.
Tools Included
This is where the two courses diverge significantly.
The Notary Signing Agent Academy operates on the philosophy that training is only half the battle; execution is the other half. When you enroll, you get access to proprietary business tools that save you hours of administrative work. This includes a custom PDF Splitter tool (more on this below) and a GPS routing tool to map out your appointments efficiently.
LSS provides excellent marketing templates and scripts, but it does not provide software-based business tools built into the course platform.
Support
The Loan Signing System boasts a massive, active Facebook group. It is a great place to read about other people’s experiences, but it is largely crowd-sourced support. If you have a highly specific question about a tricky loan document, you are relying on the community to answer it.
The Notary Signing Agent Academy focuses on personalized attention. Because the student base is more focused, the instructors are highly accessible. If you are stuck on a specific document scenario, you can get direct, expert answers rather than sifting through thousands of Facebook comments.
Certification Recognition
Here is a notary industry secret: title companies and signing services do not actually require a "certification" from a specific training course to hire you. They care about two things: your state notary commission and your ability to not make mistakes.
Both courses issue a certificate of completion. LSS has a partnership with the NNA, which is a nice feather in its cap, but taking LSS does not replace the NNA’s official background check and signing agent exam (which is the actual industry standard). Both certificates serve the same primary purpose: proving to a signing service that you took the time to educate yourself.
The Key Differences
Now that we have looked at the basics, let’s highlight the specific areas where one course pulls ahead of the other.
Where the Notary Signing Agent Academy Wins
1. Unbeatable Value and Lifetime Access At $175, the Academy provides lifetime access to all materials and future updates without any hidden upsells. You get the full blueprint for half the cost of the industry giant.
2. The Proprietary PDF Splitter Tool If you have ever printed a 150-page loan package on a standard printer, you know the nightmare of sorting. You have to print one copy for the borrower and one copy for the lender, and if you mix up the pages, the whole signing is ruined. The Academy’s PDF Splitter tool allows you to separate the borrower and lender copies with a few clicks before you even hit print. This tool alone is worth its weight in gold for saving time and preventing errors.
3. The GPS Routing Tool If you are doing multiple signings a day, driving back and forth across town kills your profit margins. The Academy includes a GPS tool that automatically optimizes your driving route, saving you gas and time.
4. Personalized Attention You aren’t just a number in a sea of 50,000 students. The Academy’s team actually gets to know your business goals and helps you troubleshoot specific issues.
Where Loan Signing System Has the Advantage
1. Brand Recognition Mark Wills has built an absolute juggernaut of a brand. The name "Loan Signing System" carries weight simply because of its market saturation. Some newer signing services might recognize the name instantly on your resume.
2. The NNA Connection LSS has a direct marketing partnership with the NNA. If your ultimate goal is to work specifically for the NNA’s signing service arm, having that LSS certificate on your profile can provide a slight, albeit minor, warm-and-fuzzy factor.
Who Should Choose the Notary Signing Agent Academy?
The Notary Signing Agent Academy is the clear winner for the vast majority of notaries. It is specifically designed for:
- Budget-conscious notaries: If you want to keep your startup costs as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of your education, this is your course.
- Tech-savvy notaries who value efficiency: If you appreciate tools that automate your workflow (like the PDF splitter and route planner), you will love the Academy.
- Notaries who want a complete business system: You aren't just learning how to point out where to sign; you are getting the operational tools to run the back-end of your business smoothly.
- Learners who want personalized support: If you prefer direct access to instructors over navigating a massive public forum, the Academy’s approach is far superior.
Pro Tip: If you are starting from absolute scratch and need your notary commission as well, check out the Notary Business Launchpad. It bundles the Academy’s top-tier signing agent training with everything you need to get commissioned and launch your business—it is the ultimate value package.
Who Might Consider Loan Signing System?
There is no denying that Loan Signing System is a good course. It has successfully launched thousands of careers. You might consider paying the premium $347 price tag if:
- You are highly brand-conscious: You believe that having the most recognized name in the industry on your resume will give you a psychological edge when applying to signing services.
- Budget is a non-issue: If you have plenty of capital to invest in your business and the $172 price difference genuinely doesn't matter to you, you will still learn what you need to know from LSS.
- You love massive community groups: If you thrive in huge, bustling Facebook communities and prefer crowd-sourced advice, the LSS group is very active.
Conclusion: The Verdict
When you strip away the marketing hype and look purely at the return on investment, the Notary Signing Agent Academy is the undisputed winner. It provides the exact same critical knowledge needed to safely and professionally conduct a loan signing, but it does so at half the price.
More importantly, the Academy elevates itself from a simple "video course" to a true "business system" by including the PDF splitter and GPS routing tools. These practical additions directly solve the biggest pain points new signing agents face: printing errors and inefficient routing. Couple that with the personalized support and lifetime access, and the choice becomes obvious.
For a notary looking to maximize their profit margins from day one, the Notary Signing Agent Academy is the smartest, most practical investment you can make in your new career. And if you need your foundational notary training too, the Notary Business Launchpad bundle is a no-brainer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need a course to become a loan signing agent? Yes. While your state notary commission legally allows you to notarize documents, mortgage loans involve highly specific, federally regulated paperwork. Without formal training on how to handle the Closing Disclosure, identify missing signatures, and manage borrower expectations, you will likely make errors that result in title companies refusing to pay you or blacklisting you from future work.
Will title companies care which course I took? For the most part, no. Title companies and signing services care that you are an active, commissioned notary with adequate E&O insurance,
Learn More: For the complete guide, visit our Complete Guide to Notary Supplies: Everything You Need in 2026 page.
a dual-tray printer, and the competence to get the
