Disturbing Trend

You don’t need a union, you need better business. My notary signing agent business has been my only source of income for the past 11 years. During that time I have worked hard to find business directly from title companies so that I would not be “held hostage” by signing companies forced to take the pennies they choose to throw my way. Right now less than 5% of my business comes from signing companies, and I quickly say no to any company that does not pay me the fee I want.
Signing companies are middle men, we don’t need them, they need us. It does take time, patience, persistence, hustle, hard work and a little luck to get direct business from title companies, but once you get it you won’t have to worry about what signing companies are willing to pay.

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So… Do you have any tips on approaching Title/Escrow companies?

Check out my post here

Or This One

Or This Other One

However, you need to be an exceptional notary to get and keep good title company business. If realtors and signers don’t walk out of your signings saying something like “That was the smoothest / easiest signing I’ve ever attended” you might find it difficult to form profitable relationships with title companies. The bottom line is if you can’t make the escrow officers life easier then they don’t really have a reason to use you and keep using you.

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Jasmin, I’m in California and primarily do general notary work for the reasons you stated. The pay is good, I rarely print and my travel is most often under 10 miles one way. The best part is I am paid on the spot. I also do third party or direct client signings, but my fees are the same $15 per signature plus mobile fees, and a small charge for billing if required. I enjoy my work and it is not stressful. However, it is not my only source of income. If it were, I would definitely have to pick up the advertising pace! Currently probably half of my clients are repeat business.

In our Wisconsin area we are being hit hard with Reverse Mortgages, Debt Consolidations and now Courier type of work. Each person has an opinion on this subject. Not the issue.

I just started receiving emails from ‘attorneys’ that look like this: “In my first email I mentioned about my late client whose relatives I cannot get in touch with but both of you have the same last name, so it
will be very easy to make you become his official next of kin based on the basis with administration of letter appointment as he die without a written WILL.”

What alarmed me is that the trained notary will understand this is fake, the new notary might grab onto it. Please folks, be very careful.

I believe, due to the internet revealing my information, I’m being overrun by scam calls. Companies have bought a bank of cell phones and routing calls through that. It’s a daily process. Perhaps time to change my number.

I agree that the current trend is not good. It is not good for anyone. The Title Companies take a big risk in in having an inexperienced or inept notary going to a client. I would venture an estimate that the overwhelming majority of good notaries turn down these ridiculous low ball jobs. I live in a rural area where at least 95% of assignments require a minimum of 45 minutes drive each way on two lane roads. I always preview the signing docks before leaving my office to make sure that there are no surprises or missing documents. I always double check the docs before I leave the house. When I return to my office I need to finalize the documents and drop them off at the nearest Fedex facility or UPS which is 45 minute or 35 minutes from my office. I can truthfully say that I am working for less than minimum wage for these $50 to $60 signings. Then, on top of it all, I have my expenses: car expenses, printing expenses, business and errors and omissions insurance, state fees, and on and on. Starting in 2019 the IRS is getting tougher on small businesses taking losses and will be forcing these companies to use Hobby classification for their business. Therefore, I do not have the luxury of taking those low ball fees. If the IRS asks me why I turn down business, I will tell them that my business model is to make a profit. I turn down any jobs where I will take a loss. Everyone can do what they want. The signing agencies are not taking cuts in their “share” of the fee. Why should the notary public be taking those cuts?

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I have to ask, as a notary public you are not subject to self employment tax on the notary portion of your job.
?

Notary fees have already reached bottom in my world. I get even lower fee offers all the time, they are like science fiction to me, I don’t respond. I receive $85 a signing usually, $90 rarely, $100 is very rare although that use to be the bottom a few years ago. I’m not surprised escrow companies are lowering fees. Believe it, they don’t care what we notaries think or have to say about it, newbies are waiting in the wings to grab the lower ball signings, experienced notaries with years under their belt be damn. I get it, I understand it, just the way it is. Cheers to all. :relaxed:

That is my understanding from my NC notary handbook… No Tax

mglatfelter makes a very good point about working for little or no profit and how the IRS views this (they consider it a hobby and will disallow deductions… and might ever go back to previous years).

On the federal level, there is no self-insurance tax. However, you do have federal income taxes, and in many states, you have a state income tax. No free ride on taxes for the notary.

They are lowering their fees to signing services. You may know them by the name “middlemen”.There is nothing inherently wrong with middleman. It’s just that escrow companies have made the decision that they are not worth the money that they have been paid, That does not mean that the Notary is worth less.The fee reduction is to the signing service, not the notary. I wouldn’t accept a lower fee because of this reasoning.

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I would like to add another perspective to this conversation. Escrow / Title Companies get their business from lenders (banks, credit union, etc.). Those financial institutions are always looking to lower their fees to be more and more competitive. I retired a few years ago from a $5.0 billion credit union, where we on an annual basis bid out our title / escrow business. One of the areas that I saw fees being reduced were in the Notary Fees; used to charge clients $250 or more for a closing. Those were slowly lowered down to $150.00 or less by the escrow companies to keep the business and allow us to remain competitive against the big banks.

I’m not defending escrow / title companies - rather providing more insight behind why they lower their fees, then the Signing Companies have to offer a lower rate for the signing. Unfortunately I do not see this getting better, and when RON becomes widespread would not be surprised to see fees lowered even more.

Thank you for that viewpoint - but what comes to mind is…looks like the middleman should be eliminated and title/escrow should deal direct with the notary to fairly compensate them

And I agree with you about the effect RON will have on fees - and believe it will have a detrimental impact on the NSA field as a whole.

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We are notary exempt. My first year as a notary I filed my tax return myself and found this tax break for myself. It didn’t go through the first time and I got a letter from the IRS. I then copied the part of the tax code that said we are exempt and included it in the letter. The next two years I filed I went with a professional tax preparer and have so far been using the Notary Exempt on payroll taxes.

Hi Angela, Sorry I missed your comment. Things have changed very much since the climate in 2018, even now while I am on hiatus, there are still daily offers to take signings. Are you still offering notary services? I would like to know how you get jobs where you don’t have to print? I am usually requested to print double copies of everything and the wear and tear and constant needing to keep up on toner and paper is just rolled in with all the other stresses about accuracy and shipping deadlines.

Payroll taxes and Self-Employment taxes are two different things. I can’t speak to you having to pay “payroll taxes” at all - but I can tell you that all that is exempt from SE tax is that portion of your fee that can be attributed to the state-mandated fee you can charge for notarial acts …

So, for example, in Florida, we can charge $10/notarization. If I do a signing for $100 and there are 6 notarizations, $60 is exempt from self-employment tax but the entire $100 is taxable income subject to any deductions and credits.

By taking that exemption though, keep in mind you are shorting yourself - the SE tax is what is normally deducted from your paycheck, and matched by the employer, in a regular job - this effects your social security earning and subsequent benefits, including any disability you may be entitled to (you in the general, not you specifically, but each person).

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Read your post @LindaH-FL as I’m preparing docs for 2020 tax filings. Thank you for contributing as much as you do. I learn so much from you.

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I have also currently suspended my business due to the coronavirus and underlying health issues within my family. I am fortunate to have other resources.
As for the jobs where you don’t print, it’s referred to as “general” notary work. Notaries are needed for lots of documents, such as power of attorneys, various property deeds, business affidavits, trust signings, DMV paperwork, divorce paperwork, etc. My direct clients provide the documents and I am just notarizing. In California, it’s $15 for each notarized signature, so along with your travel fees, it can be worthwhile. For 3rd party work, in addition to my regular fees, I charge for extra time, mailing, and printing.

General notary work is similar to loan signing work in that you have to build a reputation and clientele over time. I just prefer this type of work, but it doesn’t mean it’s easier or doesn’t have it’s drawbacks. Accuracy is of the utmost importance when notarizing client’s “original” documents. Issues with signing “capacity” happens more often when you are the only contact. You may encounter more sick or disabled people, especially if you work at hospitals, nursing homes and retirement centers. Only you can decide which type of work suits you. Maybe a combination of both?
Hope this helps.

I don’t see this as a RESPA issue, just the way the business has evolved. Title & Escrow Companies used to have their own Loan Signing Notaries. Then without enough business at times they went to having them work on a per loan basis. Then along came what I will call the “wholesalers” who tell escrows pay me the $125 you charge the client and I will get you a Loan Signing Notary any day to time you need it. So the title / escrow companies now ship their work to the wholesales such as C2C, who now takes a cut off the $125 to cover their operations costs and pays Notaries $75.00 for each loan. The real problem lies is that we started to accept $75.00 instead of insisting on $100 or better. I have seen instances where when the Signing Company is desperate or last minute they can go up to $100, $125, or even $150. Even if they lose on one loan signing, they make it up on the 100’s of others they broker out. Not defending them - simply the economics of how the business runs. When I work directly with my Escrow Officer i get the full fee if I am slow or the offer is really close to home I might take a $75 from C@C just because its close and I have nothing else going on.