Why Companies Pay Some Notaries but Not Others?

Maybe I am unexperienced when it comes to this question (i’m in CA and have only been a signing agent for a little over a year), because I am puzzled as to why some notaries will post about companies not paying them for months to the point where they have to take extended measures to collect their pay, while other notaries will have a great experience (paid on time) with the same company! Is it due to the state, the notary’s quality of work on the assignment, etc.? It seems that quality isn’t the issue in some of these cases if the company has used the notary for more than one job. Can some of you veteran notaries out there please shed some insight? Thx

Not a clue. However, I have both noticed and experienced the situation where some hiring companies want an Invoice sent w/the package. Miss that little detail and you’ll likely have to fuss around to get paid.
Fewer still want one invoice for all signings done in a month at the eom. Again, miss that and you’ve created a problem for yourself. It really actually PAYS to read the instructions completely.
That being said, sometimes you have to be really aggressive and annoy them repeatedly until you get paid. Never, ever just let it slide.

I have wondered about this also.

NotaryRotary.com has ratings on companies with comments from notaries. Generally 4 and 5 star companies are great to work with.

Three star companies can be a mixed bag. I look at how the star rating is trending and how the comments are worded. If the trend is upward I will generally accept their assignment with a discussion about what other notaries are saying regarding slow/no payment and stipulate they have to agree to my terms of payment which I enforce timely. If a 3 star company is trending downward I require payment in advance.

When looking at notary comments, evaluate what and how the comments are worded. Poorly worded and #&$@ (off color) comments get less credibility while properly worded comments get more credibility. Likewise, vague favorable comments such as ‘met my fee’ and ‘paid on time’ get less credibility while ‘paid in 15 days’ gets more credibility.

ALWAYS invoice every customer, ALWAYS. Establish your invoicing policy and follow it. Yes, some signing companies have methods that they want you to follow and they are varied, as mentioned in the previous comment. You can comply with their requests (understand they are requests) just invoice them per your invoicing policy as well.

Some companies automatically create an invoice, in their accounting program, when you complete the signing and say you don’t need to send an invoice. Send an invoice regardless of how their system works. Be consistant with your system or you risk the chance of not remembering who you have or need to invoice and create an accounting nightmare, for yourself, that can take hours or days to clear up.

I have only encountered one company that want’s all jobs invoiced at the end of the month. What is worse, they want the end-of-month invoicing to be done through their website. If a notary has all invoices posted to the siging service’s website, I wonder why they need the notary to do an end of month submission; shouldn’t they be able to print the statement themselves? The company I’m refering to offers $45 to $85 for a large document package. In my life, I have learned a low fee includes more work and more headaches than a respectable/appropriate fee, no matter what the industry is.

Incedentally, Title companies pay all fees at the time the loan is finalized. This issue only exists with Signing Services and generally with low rated companies.

All unrated or 1 & 2 star companies have to pay in advance per my company’s invoicing policies.

I have no idea, I think the companies try to get newbies. They pay once or twice to gain your trust and then never pay again. This was my experience with one company. Be leary about the companies that say they pay once a month and then one month send you a great deal of assignments.

This will be the first time, and if you are smart, the last time they miss a payment.

I have had some companies that pay great, but once in a while, payment on a job won’t come in for a long time. At 30 days, I call anyone unless I know their procedures pay later. I have been told by these late payors that they are still waiting to get paid from escrow and while they don’t say it, it seems perfectly clear that they don’t want to front the money unless they have to. As much as they take out of the cut, this shouldn’t happen, but unfortunately it does.

Some notaries take time to read the pay period

My contention is that: Notaries located in the same state as the signing company have less pay problems since they have easier access to Small Claims courts or are located within a distance where they may personally appear at the signing company location. If I do go to small claims, when I file the complaint including a written request forI, “a time compliance order of 15 days” to be included in the judgment. The theory is that judgments are difficult to enforce and non -payment is common. The time compliance order if not met raises the issue of contempt of court.

I have don’t issue threats, at 60 days I write to the lender and title companies, if there are numerous complaints on this site I include a copy of the complaints. At the 90 day mark I file a complaint with the controlling state agency. I strive include Internet Fraud and Theft of services in those letters.

I have been doing loan closings 13 years and sometimes work directly with title companies. Not all title companies pay immediately. I have some title companys that take up to 30 to 45 days to pay but, they do pay. What I will say is, if you are working everyday and doing 2 to 4 closings a day you will start to get steady checks coming in at all times. Hang in there :wink::blush:

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Don’t do signing for ASAP Notary out of Southlake. The do not pay their notaries. Or they take there darn time to do it.