Debbie CuhaGet in touch

Fix the structure.
The people follow.

I'm Debbie Cuha. I co-founded DirectLender.com and wrote the SOPs that ran 280 offices. Today I run NotaryLTD in Park City and the Center for Global Change, the nonprofit Aaron and I started in Nepal. And I still build operations that run without the owner in the room.

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Scale: 280 offices, 3,000 people, 1,000+ loans a month.

Portrait: Debbie Cuha

Brand shoot pending

What I do now.

FounderNotaryLTDMobile and remote notary firm. Loan signings for lenders and title, estate documents, remote online notarization.Park City, UtahCo-founderCenter for Global ChangeOur family nonprofit. Eighteen years helping raise the children of Rainbow House in Nepal, plus medical camps in the Himalayas. I still run it.NepalPrincipalSoil Global RealtyReal estate brokerage serving Orange County, from Newport Beach to San Clemente.Orange County, CACFOSynergy Group Inc.Real estate and mortgage technology investor, plus construction and development from plans to sale.Newport Beach, CAConsultantSOPs and operationsProcedures, seats and weekly numbers for teams, brokerages and lenders, written by someone who ran 280 offices.Real estate + mortgage

Thousands of signings. Every detail right.

I've been a notary since 1994, first in California and now in Utah, and a certified loan signing agent since 1999. I've handled thousands of loan signings for lenders and title companies.

When the 2008 crash hit, mobile notary work is how I helped hold our family together. Today that work is NotaryLTD, a mobile and remote notary firm in Park City, Utah: loan signings, estate documents, and remote online notarization.

A signing is an SOP with a deadline. Miss one page and the loan doesn't fund.

Visit NotaryLTD
Children from the Center for Global Change programs in Nepal, on temple steps
Nepal, with the kids from our programs
Detail: why

The work behind the work.

After 2008 took everything, Aaron went to Nepal and came home changed. He made me go back with him. I didn't want to. When I walked through the gate at Rainbow House, the children were holding a banner they had painted by hand: “Debbie ma'am, will you please be our mom?” I broke right there in the dirt. And I stayed.

For 18 years we've helped raise those kids and put them through school, and run more than half a dozen medical camps in the Himalayas through the Center for Global Change, the nonprofit we co-founded. I still run it today.

Same rule as the office: if it lives in your head, it isn't a system. A medical camp at altitude runs on checklists or it doesn't run.

Next: the Sahara. MDS Trek Morocco, October 11 to 20, 2026.

70 to 120 km across the Sahara on the route of the Marathon des Sables, 7 nights in the desert bivouac. Aaron and I are doing it to raise money for the Center for Global Change and our families in Nepal.

Month end was a war. The first week was Cabo.

Seventeen-hour days. Every loan, every file, every condition, nothing left on the table.

Then the first week of every month, the winners got on a plane. Houses on the water. A boat we kept in Cabo eight months a year. Not because we were generous. Because they earned it.

That's culture. It doesn't come from a speech. It comes from a system so clear that performing is the only option, and a reward that matches the work.

The arch at Cabo San Lucas at sunset
Photo: Christopher Kuzman / Unsplash
Detail: reward

The first week of every month. Eight months a year.

Twenty-six years of building the machine.

  1. 1990s

    Second out of 100+

    Learned mortgage at LoansDirect.com. By her second month she ranked second out of more than 100 loan officers.

  2. 1999

    Co-founds DirectLender.com

    Started in a spare room in Huntington Beach. As CFO she built the loan products, bank lines and every SOP. 280 offices, about 3,000 people, 1,000+ loans a month. Bear Stearns offered to buy it. They turned it down.

  3. 2008

    The crash. Then the rebuild.

    The crash took everything. She worked mobile notary jobs, kept the books, and held off the collectors. Then she co-founded the Center for Global Change and rebuilt as CFO of Synergy Real Estate, closing 500 to 750 transactions a year.

  4. 2010

    Dominion Partners

    CFO of a real estate private equity fund. Distressed acquisitions, rehabs and sales, with a written policy for every role.

  5. 2015

    Synergy Group

    CFO of a real estate and mortgage technology investor in Newport Beach, plus construction from plans to sale.

  6. 2025

    NotaryLTD

    Founded a mobile and remote notary firm in Park City, Utah. Loan signings for lenders and title.

Previously licensed in real estate in California, Nevada and Florida. Notary in California 1994 to 2017, Utah 2025 to present.

The SOP work. Here's how I build an operation.

Coaches set the goals. Systems make them stick. For teams, brokerages and lenders, I write the procedures that turn a plan into a Monday morning.

Level 1 of 4: SOPs

  1. Write it down.

    If it lives in your head, it isn't a system. Lead intake, follow-up, listing launch, the handoff to close, the weekly meeting. Every process gets a protocol, and every protocol gets an owner.

  2. Right people, right seats.

    Most teams hire the wrong role first. We map the seats before we fill them, and we have the discipline to move people who don't belong.

  3. Inspect what you expect.

    Seven numbers, every week, on one page. Standards that get checked get met. Standards that don't get checked become suggestions.

  4. Then the culture shows up.

    Not from a speech or a retreat. From systems so clear that performing is the only option, and rewards that actually match the effort.

A sample of what I write.

This is SOP-02 from my free kit, the follow-up procedure that stops new leads dying in the CRM. Every SOP I write has an owner, a trigger, a measurable standard, and steps a brand-new hire can follow.

Get all 12 SOPs

SOP-02: Speed-to-lead follow-up

Owner

Assigned agent or ISA

Trigger
A lead is assigned and accepted.
Standard
First call within 5 minutes in business hours. At least 8 attempts over 10 days. Every attempt logged.
  1. 01Minutes 0 to 5Call. No answer: short voicemail, then a text.
  2. 02Minutes 5 to 10Short email with one easy question.
  3. 03Day 1, laterSecond call and text at a different time of day.
  4. 04Day 2Call and text with something useful about what they asked for.
  5. 05Days 3, 5, 7Call, plus email or text, alternating.
  6. 06Day 10Closing-the-loop text. No reply: move to nurture.

Checklist

  • First call within the standard
  • Voicemail and follow-up text sent
  • 10-day schedule loaded as tasks
  • Next step set before hanging up

Track weekly

  • Median minutes to first call
  • Contact rate within 10 days
  • Appointment-set rate
Drawn by D. CuhaSheet 02 of 12

The 12 SOPs every team needs before hire number two.

Fill-in-the-blank templates, a 30-day rollout plan, scripts and the numbers to watch. Free.

Send me the kit
  1. SOP-01Lead intake & routing
  2. SOP-02Speed-to-lead follow-up
  3. SOP-03Long-term nurture
  4. SOP-04Buyer consultation
  5. SOP-05Listing appointment prep
  6. SOP-06Listing launch
  7. SOP-07Under-contract handoff
  8. SOP-08Transaction to close
  9. SOP-09Weekly team meeting
  10. SOP-10Agent onboarding: 30 days
  11. SOP-11Weekly numbers review
  12. SOP-12Past-client touch plan

From the field notes

Agent Onboarding SOP: The First 30 Days on a Real Estate Team

An agent onboarding SOP gets a new agent productive in 30 days: access on day one, a named mentor, role-play certification before leads, and a 30-day review.

How to Write a Real Estate SOP Your Newest Agent Can Follow

To write a real estate SOP, pick one repeatable task, name one owner and trigger, set a measurable standard, then test it on your least experienced person.

The Listing Launch SOP: Every Step From Signed Agreement to Live

A listing launch SOP turns a signed listing agreement into a live, accurate listing on the promised date. Here are the steps, the checklist and the owner.

Let's talk.

Operations and SOP projects, speaking, the Center for Global Change, or a notary appointment. I read every message.

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