The job as you describe it is not one that I would take on. I try to avoid jobs with faxbacks and extensive travel (especially into remote areas) as they quickly fail the cost-benefit assessment. Also, my safety always comes first.
In terms of pricing, I’ve tried to narrow down the companies I work with to those who pay fast, have simple loan packages and aren’t excessively demanding (faxbacks are excessively demanding IMO).
Companies I work exclusively with are:
Universal Notary (pay $90 in 3-4 weeks)
Excel Notary (pay $100 in 2-3 weeks)
Safe Signings (pay $90 in 2-3 weeks)
I’ve found these groups to be the most reliable in terms of quick payment and are all easy to work with.
I also have a day job, so will only take very local loan signings on nights and weekends for added income. If you’re doing this full-time or are short on cash flow it will be harder to turn down work. That said, work with people who respect you and the work you do.
If a company calls you and says, “Hey, can you travel to X to do a signing tonight?” Don’t be afraid to say, “Give me one sec, I need to check where this is.” Then hop on Google maps and plug in the location and see if it’s worth it. If it’s not, don’t be afraid to say, “Sorry, this one is out of my service area.” They will call you again but remember they will usually call the most available notaries first, so it’s a judgement call.
P.S. Do some research on all the notary forums and make sure you list your name in EVERY signing agency database that has a good history while avoiding those with poor histories. I know turning down jobs is no fun, but if doing the job makes you feel short-changed or taken advantage of, it’s not a job worth taking.
Thank you for sharing the info Ken. I have been a notary a very long time but I did not go online and sign up with companies until recently. We had our own net branch and I signed up docks for the company. I am well versed on mortgage documents including the new TRID and TILA but it seems they want notaries to do all this extra work for very little. I could be wrong but it seems like it.
@Deluxe Your post is right on! however, can you elaborate on “per signature” pricing you explained? In California we are allowed to charge $10 per signature max regardless of the “time of day” or “Day of the week” I know that you’re trying to convey the importance of pricing our work out to where it makes sense & we can all make a profit & not give away our work.
Reading this information, really no company should be holding on to notary fee for 45 to 60 days. If I am advised of this up front, I refuse the closing. I know it is slow out here right now for closings, but there are still companies that will pay within 30 days and some within 15 days. Superior and Bancserv are excellent companies to work with.
Ken, yes they are lying, the problem is they are a small business and don’t have cash flow. some companies pay within a few days with an e-check, so I suggest ask about their terms do the work if you can live with their terms. I personly don’t want to live with 30 to 45 days when I know the title company cut their check within a week of closing if not days, I know
I owned my own mortgage Branch before I retired we were paid a couple of days after closing, Why we have to wait 30 to 45 days?
In the 1980’s when interest rates were 20% companies that held/invested money they owed you would make the a lot of money, much less so today with 1% interest. IMO they are most likely cash poor and don’t have money to pay notaries until they get paid, but then they may be behind on other expenses such as rent and utilities and payroll so they push the notaries to future dates hoping for the cash flow to pay notaries. They need to secure a Line Of Credit to improve cash flow. I have a LOC, they should also.
Pay when Paid is very popular in the construction industry. The problem with this method is when the owner is unhappy with the General Contractor and doesn’t pay the GC then the GC doesn’t pay the subcontractors that completed their part of the work timely and correctly.
I worked as a Controller for a contractor that was several millions of dollars in the red because of Pay when Paid. When I started with the company, I implemented a 30 day due in full payment policy for all of our projects, no exceptions. Five years later, that company was debt free except for a small mortgage on the property.
As notaries, should you be setting your payment policies or allowing others to set them for you?
Yes - this is our business and we should be setting our own fees, just like the appraiser does, just like the independent title searcher does. Everyone’s demographics are different, as is their overhead.
I set my fees based on where I am and what is involved in the assignment I’m given - that can vary greatly from area to area - I’m very rural, so much so we don’t even have FedEx or UPS drop boxes in our town - so in addition to travel to and from the signing location, it’s an additional 30 miles round trip to drop the package…not to mention the time involved to accomplish this. It’s not like I walk out my door and drive 3-5 miles - I can easily clock 40-50 miles and over an hour driving time and still stay within my own home county.
As for the “pay when paid” philosophy - totally disagree with this concept. Our fee is not, and cannot be, contingent on someone else getting paid. IMO I’ve done the job I should be paid. For this reason I feel that if companies do not have sufficient capital to pay their notaries, they should revert to another system - specifically the signers/borrowers paying us at the table and listing our fee on the CD as a POC item.
Now I agree with this 200%. Borrowers pay the appraisal fees and credit reports up front on their loans so they are expecting to pay something and if we are working for the borrowers convenience then they should be giving us a check or cash at the table the minute we do the job! If we overlook something then if it is our fault we need to go back without charge and take care of it asap, but if it is the title or banks fault then they need to pay us to go out again instead of the borrowers,again send check with paperwork to be cashed upon completion or use pay pal.
I totally agree Notarize 24/7 cut check 45 to 60 days and when you contact them, it is as if they are doing you a favor by telling you they pay 45 to 60 days. Notaries keep these companies in business by performing the closings and accepting their payment methods, this will not change until these companies fail to find notaries to work under the payment condition they offer. I will no longer except closings from companies that fail to pay in a timely manner as well as low balling. Payment 45 to 60 days from closing is unreasonable.
Notaries should spend a good portion of their time calling on companies with good reputations and getting them to send you work. Eventually, you end up only getting good jobs from the quick paying companies and you can turn down the slow payers. Operating with an abundance mentality changes things for the positive.
I totally agree with you! In our capacity as “Public Servants”, notarize legally-binding documents. Were it not for us, that sense of relief they feel after we’ve notarized their refinance documents would not exist! In my view, we should be compensated no longer within 30 days of the completion of the loan signing.
just the same with notaries (sorry to answer so late) I don’t understand the logic behind your response. As a notary signing agent for almost 15 years, I too have over head. Let me see, I have to pay my rent space within my house; lights to see and print. I don’t ride a donkey to signings, if I did I wouldn’t have full insurance Nor would I have to pay for gas. Scans and fax backs do cost money (time is money) when lenders are requesting them immediately. the list continues and oh how I’m reminded at tax time.
Can’t speak for Notarize 24/7, but The Closing Group pays pauper’s fees…insulting, degrading fees - unless someone has been successful in negotiating anything higher, the only offers I ever get from them are $75-$85 for distances well over 50 miles from me…and those $85 deals are only offered for packages OVER 2OO pages - WITH faxbacks…pathetic…pathetic that that’s what they think of their notaries and pathetic that notaries accept that fee as fair and reasonable.
