I know this has been said many times on here but it’s worth mentioning again.
These companies contact me all the time and try to get me to take jobs for under $100. I refuse every single time. If the job is under $100, it’s not even worth the time for me to print the documents out, travel, spend an hr or 2, and then have to send the documents back. It’s just not worth it.
If more notaries would band together and refuse to take these lowball jobs, then the companies would be forced to raise the pay.
The only reason they give out these $85, $50 and even $25 jobs (yes, I was offered a $25 job) is because somewhere, there’s some poor sucker who will accept it. (not trying to insult anyone but I am saying that it’s time to recognize our worth)
These companies can’t function without notaries. Let’s make them respect us.
You’re preaching to the choir, but I’ll give you a loud AMEN for that. Also want to mention that I’ve increased my counters to these way too low fees offered to $125 and am getting that more often than not. Just sayin’…
Concurred 100%! Please stop working for free or even at a loss! Know your worth! I did one last night for Fidelity and got $200 for refi, and another $150 for refi from a signing company:) Thank you Lord. And I’m booked through Saturday! All came through direct phone calls:)
I did a job last Thursday (they contacted me directly) and I charged $110. They messed up the document (not me), and asked me to come do it again Tuesday. I charged $110 again plus another $30 because they needed it mailed. They didn’t complain about the price AT ALL.
People will see the worth in what we do if we make them see it!
What most people do not realize is that the signing services typically are the ones attempting to capitalize of the low ball effort. If people simply ignore them they’ll get the point.
If a individual can pull my name from the net, call to ask if I’m available to notarize her sons high-school drivers affidavit and OFFER $100.00 to come to me to have it after hours; we know signing services can definitely do better.
Not once have I dealt directly with title, attorney, etc and needed to reject the offer of work for challenging my rates. They know what they are paying for and the value of it.
I agree. I get email and text all the time and I refuse to accept them. I am told that I can get another Notary for less price. I tell them, then I guess you better call them.
I absolutely agree with Calvin.Jam, but see another side to it - those who are starting out really need the practice and accept these lowball signings to get their feet wet. Unfortunately in many businesses it’s a case of “can’t get hired without experience” so in the beginning, people may feel they need to prioritize experience over earnings.
The best thing to eliminate these bottom-feeding signing services is to write your Congressman and Senators to look into getting some regulations on these crooks. I have suggested that they post a $1 million dollar bond in each state where they do business. Most of them cover a multitude of states. All those who don’t pay the notaries will be paid from the bond which they have to replace or they aren’t allowed to do business in that state until they do so. If enough notaries get this regulation pushed thru Congress, it will eliminate all the bad ones. So get those letters in to your representatives in the House and your Senators!!
I have been a active notary for 34 plus years. I paid the price to maintain my education, my credentials and what ever it took to be a knowledgeable, efficient, trustworthy notary. Just this past month I had (6) cancellations. I am certain it was due to the SS secured a lowball notary. The sad part of this is these were SS I’ve had worked many times for past years. If it is all about the almighty dollar for the SS then so be it. Eventually, it will come back at them. As many worthy notaries stated, “it is not worth the time.”
I’ve noticed that you can always ask for more if they call you directly, as opposed to a mass email or text blast. Don’t let that opportunity go to waste. Never accept anything under $100 if they call you on the phone. You can negotiate with a live person much more effectively than with a text or email blast.
Totally agree. I have pretty much stopped doing loan signings. They pay low and can’t plan. Everyone calls with less than 4 hours notice. If I am out I can’t even get back to my home office to print and review docs. If the lender sends docs that are printed and marked for signatures, notary and clear instructions I may do them. Otherwise the chances of a mistake go up exponentially.
I have been in lending and banking for 20 years so I provide great service and accuracy is excellent. But, not worth my time.
Anyone work with Rapid Sign Now ( CA ) ? 80 % of these clowns are nothing but deadbeats. My list of NGs is HUGE. at some point most of these agencies will get more sloppy work for the low fees & their lender clients will tell them to pay us what we’re worth… I’m a 40 year senior real estate exec. & spend all the time needed with clients who expect much hand holding on applications & closing docs. I am turning down 40-50% from these jerks. Sometimes after seeing the docs & instructions I go back and raise my fee or tell the to blow off & take me off their list…
Newbie here. Still in my first 30 days as a signing agent but I’m taking the mandatory WFH time to complete the Notary2Pro training so I’m ‘OOO’ on all SS platforms. I must agree the lowball offers are insulting. Earlier today, I turned down 7 “offers” from an I9 verification company because each offer was for $20. TWENTY bucks? Even in an IMPERFECT world before COVID-19, I wouldn’t take a $20 offer. So after a few email exchanges and several phone calls - I decided to respond formally to each emailed opportunity with “I decline your offer. (City) is xx miles roundtrip. $20 is too low.”
I now never accept anything less than $90 as my bare minimum but usually I required over $100. But I never would have gotten to this point if I didn’t accept $75 at first. I’m THANKFUL for lowballers who offer $75 b/c they give newbies a chance. Then once business picks up, your fee should increase. I thought of it as an internship I had to get through before I could demand more.
Sorry, but I think you’re wrong. It would be one thing if Companies were thinking to themselves that, “Let’s give the new guy a chance but we’re going to give him $50 or $75 and then after a few months, he will move the rank and start earning $150 jobs.”
That is literally the last thing they are thinking. They are trying to lowball us plain and simple. They want to make as much money as possible while squeezing us.
Sorry my post probably wasn’t clear. I know low ballers have no intention of paying us more. They’ll always lowball. That’s why you move on to better companies as you gain experience. McDonalds will always pay minimum wage but high schoolers get a job there to add it to their resume so they can later get a higher paying gig with Google. I have no problem with lowballers… I just don’t accept them bc I have plenty of higher paying options.
I am new at this and so sorry to say I started off taking some of these low ball offers not knowing any better and was so desperate to get my first loan signing assignments. Now that I have been educating myself with websites like this, plus experience with some loans (12 max), I quickly learned to stop taking these offers. The problem I have is that when these assignments are sent to me there is zero information as to how many pages, how many notarial acts and signatures, and instructions. I have asked before accepting the job but was told they could not provide me with this information until after I have accepted the assignment. My loan assignments have ranged from 30 pages up to 185 and with such a huge range my costs exceed what I end up making. To print out two full sets of 185 pages each is a lot of paper, especially if they request legal size. Assignments also have a wide range of notarial acts and again it has ranged from 6 entries in my journal up to 23 (which has been the norm lately). I also have to use my own certificates because they do not have the correct wording required in California. My latest disappointment was an assignment I took at a very high price ($300), and I assume its due to the coronavirus risks. I turned down several other assignments with a decent price, printed out two sets of the loan documents and the borrower then called me wanting to change the Deed to include his wife. The job was cancelled after contacting the signing agency, the title company and then back to the borrower via instructions I received. The job was cancelled and I received nothing for all the work I spent and expense of my ink and paper. I asked for at least a cancellation fee and they refused, I asked for reimbursement for my expenses and again it was refused. I am still very new at this and just wondering if this is the normal thing to expect. Also keep in mind that I completed about 7 assignments with this company with no complaints and so disappointed with how they handled this assignment. Another complaint I have is many times they send the documents just an hour or two before the scheduled appointment. This has left me with no time to print out and review all the documents, read the instructions, prepare my journal, and drive at times 35-45 minutes one way. I am also surprised at how many errors there are in these documents i.e. incorrect dates, signature lines, missing Riders to the Deeds, etc. They make sure to include all the deductions in my fee if I don’t do this and that, but what about all of their mistakes I have to address to them and wait for new documents to print out? I also thing this is unfair. A $25 deduction if the staking order is not correct, but conflicts with the instructions from the lender or signing agent, etc. Advice from the experts would be greatly appreciated, I am new and confused on how this has been working out for me. Thank you for reading.
I think you need to say b-bye to this company. Or, when you get a large package (which I consider to be anything over 125 pgs)…promptly e-mail with RETURNING THIS ORDER in subject line. In body tell them ‘I require $XXX for this due to pkg. size. Please send new Confirming Order or Re-assign & advise.’ Mostly, you’ll get the requested fee. During the ‘canudo’ call or upon receipt of order, TELL them you’ll need docs X hours prior to Appt. Also, they truly may NOT know how many pages, but if this co. is doing many loans for the same lender…they darn well have a pretty good idea and are just trying to con you. Which is why I said to say b-bye.
Thank you Lord. And I’m booked through Saturday! All came through direct phone calls:) 