Yet another new company to me. I was asked to do a standard refinance for $75, it was right around the corner so…I accepted. I started the download of 175 pages times 2 and realized it was a reverse mortgage on a Labor Day weekend on Saturday. I tried to call…no answer. I called the Title Company who were pretty rude. I JUST got the documents I didn’t know nor was I told it was a reverse which…in general is $175 or I don’t accept. Am I in the wrong here?
Well, yes and no. Yes, cuz $75, even around the corner, should have been a non-starter. No, cuz hiring party did NOT accurately describe the job either.
Hello Megagain 2002, I agree with Arichter yes and no. Your fees are your fees. We do not give “a break” simply because they are right around the corner. We have certain companies we deal with that due to volume business we do occasionally bend that rule. As to the hiring company misrepresenting the signing, we have had the same thing in the past and we handle it by contacting the hiring company and if they do not respond, we hold on the signing until we get a hold of the hiring company. No response=No signing. If you let them take advantage of you once, it will surely happen again. Set them straight. We do not do reverse mortgage work and we refer all that come our way to an associate who is out of are area. End of discussion. Eventually they will get the message and learn how to represent the signing, and if they choose not to use your service, you are better off without them. Lesson learned.
Phil
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The first place companies look to reduce expenses are the notary fees. We are low on the food chain. It is sad that Lenders, Title Companies and Signing Services are willing to sacrifice all of their hard work just to low ball and risk having a no sign. We are the most valuable link in this process. I wouldn’t think twice to call and renegotiate a new closing fee. You were deceived without full disclosure, This is the game they are willing to play so believe me the loan officer had a few words after a no sign showed up in their email. Serves them right, but sad for the borrower.
I think this is a lesson learned. Anytime a company calls me, but especially a new company I have not worked for, I always ask 1) what type of closing and 2) what is your payment turnaround time period. If those two answers aren’t satisfactory, I don’t take the job on the front end. Had I been in your predicament because I neglected to ask up front, and I couldn’t contact anyone at the company who hired me (I might have asked title to provide me a better contact number but not “dumped” on them), I would just rack it up to a learning experience and bit the bullet (done the closing).
And, if it wasn’t the intent of the hiring company to be deceitful? You won’t know unless you get the opportunity of talking to someone. Not doing the closing just puts a blot on your reputation and chances the loss of a client, when there might have been simply a misunderstanding.
You must always be the professional because as cchauss said, we are the bottom of the food chain. In any business, you don’t have to keep it professional, but being professional may make you more successful.
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Did you check to see if the Downloaded package contained two copies (1-for the borrower and one for you to send back). i encountered that problem on two of my reverse mortgage before I realized it. I realized it when the borrower was signing the documents they were appearing twice, Now when I received a Reverse mortgage, I ask is both copies in the email package.
My standard fee for this particular city is actually $75 and they go up from there depending on the job. I do need to ask more questions when dealing with new companies though. I did re-negotiate my fee ($175) and did the job because I am a professional, but lesson learned.
$75 is my standard fee for this City so that wasn’t the issue it was everything else…I renegotiated to $175 but in general I typically don’t do Reverse Mortgages. Small town but I am glad I did it because I knew the woman and have several friends in common.