Signing notices with only 1-2 hr notice

Has anyone noticed that all the text notices (Snapdoc among others) are coming through now with only 1-2 hrs notice? How does anyone print the docs, check them over, drive to the destination and back to their office, scan docs and get the docs to fedex to go out same day without going crazy. If it’s just a few pages, that’s possible, but I’m seeing purchases and mods within this time frame. Not to mention the low fee offered. And we are expected to do all this with no errors. Traffic in our city is a constant problem and if the signing is between 4-6pm, you need a larger commute time even for a close by signing.

Yes. I also receive a lot of same day signing notifications from them. I get a limited amount from Title through Snapdocs but a ton of Debt Resolutions which suck. Not a huge fan of Snapdocs.

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Snapdocs is a lowball exchange.

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SnapDocs has it’s purpose. The agencies using it are low-ballers lots of times. I get the notices but ignore them. When the agencies using the service who attempt to do at my cost fail to get a response they typically call with a price that meets my standard.

And yes… the debt packets are horrid. I had a peer accept one. She asked me to go over it with her. Still nervous… she asked me to go with her to make sure everything was done right. I explained who I was and what my role was there. The signers were elated at having me there to make sure everything went smoothly.

Needless to say the signers were misinformed?

I advised them that we could not answer questions as long as we were serving in the role of notary. Once they decided on a no we talked as neighbors. They were denied assistance after Harvey flooded their home, was spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually shattered. And to top it off… this was their 1st home and 1st flood experience. They felt this was their only way to start moving ahead.

They lived less than 3 miles from me. My home was completely under water and I would never consider this. My home was still under water when we met. I gave them resources to get the help they needed.

I bought everyone diner (we met in a Italian restaurant) We went over their budget, spending habits, credit, etc. Yeah they over extended BUT it was nothing they couldn’t work from under with discipline.

I decided then I would not take on that work regardless of the fee offered. I can’t see myself helping people to hurt themselves when there are far better options.

I ran into them about 8 months later… talk about completely different people. They got the help they needed and actually improved on the budget we set by saving even more and relying on credit less than what we discussed.

They are a success story on their own.

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I get a LOT of job offers with the time as “ASAP”. What does that even mean? I don’t know where you live, but I am in the Los Angeles area, and traffic here is a nightmare! I got two offers this morning, and the time they were requesting was in a half an hour. The is NO WAY to accept, confirm, print, organize and get to the signing location in that amount of time.
Maybe they will learn their lesson when enough newbies take the jobs, show up late, do a crappy job that requires a second visit. Then hopefully they will let their clients know we need more time.

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I refuse them or charge 50.00 early fee & as far as the low fees that’s all you guys accepting 40.00 fees and newbies doing it. We all need to go on strike for 1 week & turn this around. These signing companies are cropping up daily they pay Snapdocs 2500. a month so they squeeze us to death. One signing co yelled at me that she was only making 5.00 from paying my fee and I said better you than me.

WAKE UP PEOPLE even if you have to get a part time night job to support your lifestyle until you build up your clientiel that’s better than accepting 40.00 for a signing
My base is 125.00 up to 150 pages x 2, scan backs add 25.00 room rental is on them and the cost varies. Over 60 miles round trip I add 50.00. These signing companies do nothing but locate you and send emails. I’ll quit before accepting that low a fee. They think you’re a pushover only you can stop it

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Well God Bless you. There are not enough angels out there, so keep up the good work, and I no longer accept those debt things either!

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Usually when you are given short notice on a signing request that is impossible to meet, you are expected to call the borrower and arrange for a later time, if possible. If you and the borrower are not able to agree on a later time, just give it back and let them find someone who can meet the original time. If they can’t find anyone, it’s their problem, not yours.
It seems as if some signing services “only” get these type of job orders. It seems to happen more at end of month, when everyone is rushing to get their loans closed. Personally, I tend to ignore these types of signing requests, as they cause a lot of stress and can lead to mistakes because of the “print and run” nature of them.

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I rarely get a scan back with a same day shipping requirement for a new assignment. That usually occurs in case of a corrective assignment where someone (even me) has forgotten something on a packet. However, if a non-corrective scan back is required, some companies want you to ship without approval and some insist you wait for approval. So the urgency might be to get that scan back in and not shipping the actual packet.

The term ASAP means for you as the notary but sometimes the signer is not available in time to ship the documents by cutoff. In this case I will get back to the booking company and explain the situation where I offer a scan back as a possible work around. This flexibility can only happen if you reach the signers right away so that the assignment can be reassigned with a closer notary if need be. I would rather return an assignment than risk not making the cutoff. If I don’t get the signer on the first call, I send a text as some people do not like to answer unfamiliar numbers. Once 15 minutes have passed following a text, if I still have no reply, I let title know.

When accepting an assignment with such urgency, the safest way to come through is to only accept an assignment near to your office for printing, or print it at a library or outside company like FedEx. This is ok as long as it is only a few pages, but can cut into your margin if it’s a large package and two copies are required. In case of shipping the same day, it helps to be familiar with the last drop times for FedEx and UPS in the area you are servicing. It’s difficult to keep track of every office, so I simply remember the ones that have the late cutoff.
Being stressed, so far is part of the work. Mistakes caused by rushing are costly, many companies insist on immediate scan backs of corrections and also that you ship the corrected document at your expense. On signings that are too costly to return for missed signatures, etc, always double check at the table. It saves so much time and money to do so.

Simple. I rarely accept signings with a short notice even when I have no other signings that day. Reason: I try to minimize or eliminate potential grief with signings. “Why did I agree to take that signing?” I’ve asked that question many times over the last decade, and the answer is always another question, “Why, why?–you knew better.” Exceptions: I will occasionally do a short notice (or long distance travel) signing if the $$$money is right.

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Let me add to my original post. I very rarely take these short notice jobs, mainly because the pay is too low. Accepting short notice jobs only increases stress and potential errors. I value my work proformance and do not want errors. I just don’t understand not only who is doing these jobs for so little pay but who can possibly complete them without errors. Perhaps they are negotiating with the signers for a later date, usually title doesn’t allow that unless it’s the signers request. I see a lot of one page offers coming from snap docs and I can only assume they are for someone who missed printing or signing a page, who doesn’t have time to correct their own errors because they’re off on another quick job.
Thanks everyone for the input!

Debt Resolutions are still here and some Company’s make Us print 2 copies {40pgs) and some don’t…they’ve offered me as low as $40 but I Always counter bid the fee depending on distance and how many copies…the Most I’ve rec’d is $75 so far…But don’t get me wrong I’m Not a fan of these…but when it’s slow and pay is decent And its Close By… I’ll do them sometimes

Unfortunately this happens a lot. I even get it from my local title co. that I deal with. I believe it’s more the banks fault than the title company that is just trying to accommodate the lender. Still, the title company needs to have some boundaries when it comes to last minute closings. When I worked as a closer in a bank the large title co. that we used for refi’s had a cut off time for when they needed docs by. There was usually a 5 hour window that they would have. (in other words, if we wanted the loan to close at 6 pm that same evening, we had to have docs to them no later than 1 pm that afternoon). Maybe if we all stick to certain standards they will come around, but unfortunately, I’m sure there will always be someone that’s willing to jump thru hoops to run around like a chicken with their head cut off to make a buck.

I often get last minute requests from the sc. I will do it if I have nothing else and it is nearby. I don’t drive as far as I used to since fees have not gone up in so long. Gas prices have gone up though. I haven’t reduced my fees and I still get a fair amount of work but not as busy as before. We need to stick to our standards, and not take less than what we are getting now. If you are doing refi’s for 75. you are not making money after you add in expenses and time driving there and back. Unfortunately, many newbies do not know this until they get going and figure it out.

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Why would you EVER print a full set of documents at a Fedex office? The cost of printing alone would wipe out the entire fee that you’re being paid for the job. If you’re not able to do the job on terms that work out for you, don’t do it at all. Give it back and let them worry about it.

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Non-issue, I don’t take short notice signings.