Here’s my latest cancellation. I printed and prepped purchase file (2 sets), drove 25 minutes in difficult VA/DC traffic, met signer at her office. Fifteen minutes into the signing and the title company calls to say it’s cancelled because her FL house had to be inspected again after hurricane (we’re in VA). I ask the signing service what their policy is regarding fee, and they tell me they’re paying me $50 (print and trip fee). I always thought that if the signing gets cancelled and you’re already there, you get your fee.
I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.
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Depends on the agreement you had with the company. My business policy was always 50% of the agreed fee if a no sign; if a signing completed but no fund (rescission or whatever reason the deal didn’t go through) I’d done my job so full pay required.
Something you have to get straight between you and hiring party before accepting the assignment.
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I don’t do the half-fee thing if I’ve printed, traveled & sat there while they try to get issues straightened out… it’s full fee or go fish.
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Under these circumstances it’s a full fee cancellation. In a couple of instances I’ve had an agency tell me I had to be at the assignment 15 or 30 minutes before they will consider full fee. Since most agencies require that you show up at least 10-15 minutes prior to signing appointment, that condition has already been met. So, full fee!
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Thanks Linda. So you review that with the signing commpany before you accept the assignment?
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So I’ve told them their “policy,” which they probably made up on the fly, is wrong. What else can I do about it?
How would you address that with the signing service then? Are you supposed to start arguing? I told them it’s unfair, especially since I had to drive through DC Beltway traffic to get there.
Always double check their policy for cancellation before you accept a signing. Not all signing services are the same some will pay you the full fee and some a deducted fee and some not at all.
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I’ve never heard of showing up to a signing, starting it, and then not getting paid the full fee. The signing service collected $175 from them. They will still get their fee. They don’t reduce their fee because it didn’t go through.
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You never argue; you politely discuss. Is this policy stated on order, website, contract? If yes, then you should have addressed it before you did any work. If it isn’t in writing, it’s open for discussion. Some less than desirable co’s will play the gotcha game…bury no-pay policy somewhere when they send docs for printing. That’s also when they are most vulnerable & open for discussion.
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So when you accept an assignment via email, the first thing you’d ask is about their cancellation policy? I’d think that would be a turnoff and they’d just move on to the next one.
Yep…if they lhen unassign–you’ve dodged a bullet.
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Never argue. But, make certain you are speaking to the right person. Fee discussions are never an issue to address with a scheduler. Always discuss with vendor management. When I have run up against this issue I will ask for their policy on no show or in person cancellation. Then I will negotiate if the policy is not in my favor, especially if I have had to spend any time waiting while lender and borrower need to hash it out.
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If they don’t pay just write off the balance as uncollected. If you use notary gadget there’s an option for that.
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No, just print and travel. The trick is to sign them earlier and get it dropped by the time (before) they cancel the order.
Life as an loan signing agent can have it’s challenges, such as cancelations and payments. Like others pointed out, you have to know the hiring company’s compensation policies, especially for cancelations. As Arichter stated, never argue with the hiring company. In a situation, where I have personally met with the signer, while in the process of completing the loan signing assignment, the hiring company calls to cancel the order. I will imply that full payment of the fee is expected for I have met my obligation with the company. I have found a having a diplomatic conversational tone, goes a long way with companies in those types of situations. If I get any push back from the hiring company, I will need to reevaluate if I will do any future business with that particular company. Most times in those situation, things never get to that point. I have always been paid the full fee for any signings, where I have met with the signers, regardless if the signer or company cancels the appointment during the signing process. Now on the other hand, if I am on the way to the destination and the appointment gets cancel. I only expect a trip and print fee to be paid. Unless, the travel time is greater than 15 minutes one way. But that’s why it’s important to make sure that everyone is on the same page on things.
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Thanks. I was actually at the signing when I got the call from the title company. I was assigned this by the signing service, so of course I didn’t bring up my fee at that point. On my way home, I called the signing service to tell them it was cancelled and asked about their policy. The owner told me I would get $50 (print and trip fee). I didn’t argue but was pretty ticked off.
Here’s the kicker. About one hour later, they call me back to say it was back on and asked if I could go back. At that point, I was sitting in a restaurant getting lunch. If the signing service had been decent and agreed to pay the full fee, I would’ve gladly gone back. At this point, I wanted nothing more to do with this signing company. Also, my holiday (Rosh Hashanah) was about to start in about an hour, and I would never have made it back in time with traffic.
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Fletcher is absolutely correct on all this, in my opinion. A very rational and professional approach.
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I printed 200 pages drove 35 minutes out into the middle of no where, got halfway through the signing and the deed was listed incorrectly so we had to stop. That was after I tried to double check this ahead of time. They reassured the signer that everything was done correctly but it obviously wasn’t. I was paid $40! It was in the small print so what was I to do??
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That’s not right at all. I can’t imagine treating people like that. Id let them know how wrong it is and that id never work for them again.
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