I didn't realiize this you guys👀

21

WOW WOW WOW!!! :exploding_head: :exploding_head: :female_detective: :female_detective: So this nut at the signing service is just flat out lying Thanks for letting us know

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22

I have done 5 signing for a particular company I have not received payments since august and this was the response:

To all,

It has been a struggle keeping up with the texts and emails so I wanted to just send one email. I will make this short and direct to the point.

The 2nd half of 2022 have been a struggle with new challenges. For the first time, we have had collection issues with some of our clients as well as some bad checks and our bank putting holds on certain deposits. We were able to keep current on notary payments but as business slowed down, it became harder and the list of notaries owed payments started to grow. A recent hold that turned out to be a bad check, only compounded the issue.

All outstanding payments WILL be made but I cannot promise you a date yet. My wife and I have been doing signings and closings ourselves to be able to keep up with payments.

I know times are tough for everyone, especially during the holidays. (This is one of the reasons why I am up at 5:00am writing this as this consumes my mind all day and night.)

With all that being said, if you are in dire need of your payment(s), please reply and add the word PRIORITY in the subject line. If you are able to wait a little longer, do not reply.

I hope you all understand as I want to be totally transparent and honest. I truly do appreciate each and every one of you.

***I responded last week still no payment and no response

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23

While the writer of that memo may indeed be honest and distressed that he is unable to process payments any faster, much of the industry is windmilling payments these days (including this guy?) It happens all the time in all industries. When I was in the fraud investigation business, I was quite amazed to learn how many people/businesses/industries have little or no reserves and are literally month-to-month. So, they windmill.
Who among us hasn’t found themselves in that situation from time to time? It happens. It’s how you handle it that ultimately matters. If you should find yourself feeling the need to windmill, my advice is be honest, be truthful and keep your word. When conditions improve, do your best to settle your affairs as best you are able and with dignity.

Peace to you all in this blessed holiday season.

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24

The typical pay cycle in North America is 30 days. Once the 30 day point is crossed it’s considered a late payment. In many jurisdictions when the 90 day point is crossed it demonstrates intent to not pay, especially if there’s been no communications.

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25

I am also a licensed real estate agent and do BPOs for bank through 3rd party companies. There was a 3rd party company in denver. I liked their software and ended up doing a lot of work for them. At first checks came regularly and then checks stopped. On several occasions i went to their office to collect. Upon looking into them, i found there was a huge class action agaist them with several thousand agents owed millions. I was toov late to be part of that suit, but still went to a hearing where i was allowed to tell of my efforts to collect. I was owed about 3k at that point. Owner’s attorney looked very disgusted as if he just really saw who is client was. Promised payment. I ended up going to the office again where i was not let in. In a followup phone call. I said pay or i was going to the media. An employee met me at their bank where i cashed their check. Turns out, the owner who was a brilliant programmer who had a substance abuse and an expensive travel problem and took monies meant for agent payments. Millions. Years before, I had the same problem from a company out of california. Owed me about 4k. The closed down and i never got paid. That is a big problem with intermediaries. They take the onus off the bank or title company forcl assignment and management, but often are not well vetted.

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26

trying to make us feel sorry for him NOPE He’s a world class con-artist.
Tell him you’ll contact the title companies. That should help him get your payment to you.

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27

Funny how that works. In boot camp that was known as helping someone find there motivation.

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28

First let me say I’m sorry you are going through this.
After 20 years of doing this I have heard most excuses. Thankfully I have only been burned 3 times in 20 years for about $500.00.

My suggestion to avoid getting burned these days is;

  1. If you have agreed to do a job with a new company after accepting do research. If their name pops up feel free to turn it back and tell them the truth that they have an awful reputation of non payment. They will tell you oh it’s just a disgruntled Notary. But if there are several Notaries saying bad payment problem then it’s on them not the Notary.

  2. A few spots to look up is Notary Cafe also NR also Facebook has a great group called deadbeat signing companies 2.0 which has an updated list of bad signing companies, or you can search a company name on that site.

In today’s economy where people are “robbing Peter to pay Paul” I’m afraid this will turn into the game of musical chairs. Please don’t be the Notary that has lost their chair when it comes to payment.

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29

I would like to see a day when a signing service is required to inform the Title Company who their signing agent will be, with complete name and address and amount to be paid. The Title company will then pay direct to the Notary and the difference being shown on the HUD statement to the signing service. This will happen if we start to complain directly to the Title Company for non-payment by the signing service. It is my understanding that Non-payment to the Notary could create a lien against the property they are insuring. This is something the Title Company does not want.

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30

wow now that’s an idea

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Which company is that?

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32

Back in my day doing real estate in CT (and it may still be the same to this day), my attorney boss was also a title agent - we wrote the title insurance policies and he received a percentage of the title fee for writing the policy - it was a 60/40 split; that “split” was shown on the HUD as $xxx to and $xxx to - total title fee was in borrower’s column - called “full disclosure”

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33

The good companies won’t give you that BS. If your payment is late they’ll tell you the “real” reason. If it’s their fault they’ll fix it immediately and send payment. If it’s something on your end they will have told you long before it came to thinking that they just weren’t paying you because they didn’t want to.

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34

Look at the CD on your assignment. Make a note on whether the signing agent or the signing company appear as a line item on the CD. If so, those people get paid out of escrow. If they don’t appear they are being paid as a business expense of the title company and they will be treated as any account payable of the title company. Normally, they send a check for payment to the signing service according to terms of payment. If there are no terms of payment, they send the check out at their own discretion. So, unless you are on the CD, you have to rely on the trustworthiness of those above you on the chain of payment.

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35

True, all funds are normally dispersed at close of escrow. But the notary fee won’t go directly to the notary if they were hired via a signing service; it will go to the signing service that contracted with the escrow co./title co. and hired the notary. The notary fee WILL go directly to the notary if they were hired directly by the escrow/title co., of course.

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36

Question: does this title company list the actual notary fee on the HUD? or do they include other items where the clients don’t know what the notary is being paid.

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I’m curious. What if the CD doesn’t have notary as a line item? How are we to know what is actual being paid to the notary?

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When the notary fee is not specifically indicated, it’s usually buried in the title/escrow fee or sometimes the signing service fee (which is what I typically see).

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39

Hi there!

Sometimes the title company or mortgage company pay the signing service or notary out of their fees (origination fee or closing fee). In that case the CD doesn’t show a notary fee and you should be paid the fee agreed to by you and who’s hired you.

Also, if you are hired by a signing service the amount being paid to the signing service might appear on the CD. Then they are paid that amount and they in turn pay you the fee you agreed to.

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40

You said it better than I did! :joy:

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