Has anybody else noticed that some of the text blast are listing “Loan Signing” as the type now rather than listing what tpye of loan is being signed? I have started seeing this a lot recently. Why do you think some signing services are doing that now/?
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I haven’t noticed that. HELOC takes half the time as refi though - maybe that has something to do with it, I don’t know.
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@takenotenotaryservices Hmmm . . . 
I’ve noticed that of late as well. 
There could be a few ‘innocent’ rationales (with efficiency at the source of it)
OR
There could possibly be more nefarious reasons that some business entities might be engaging in (for obvious reasons; financial, etc.) . . .
NOTE: This serves as simply an ADDITIONAL “heads-up” that we (as business owners) need to be cognizant of as we are Reviewing potential Signing Order(s) [SOs] that are proffered within this business sector in the current business environment.
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I tend to lean toward nefarious reasons, but that is just me. It may be an attempt to disquise the loan type in order to get the notary to commit to a fee for the signing that they wouldn’t have other wise. Once you have committed, that increases the chance that you won’t back out after being assigned to the order. Some of these have been from services that are notorious low pay services, so it certainly makes me wonder about the motive behind it. Who knows, but it is a bad trend in my opinion. I am not committing to a signing unless I know what I am committing to do.
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Yes I have also noticed an increase using that description. I wouldn’t have an issue still accepting and checking into the details, but there are instances where the notary is penalized in their rating with the lender/title/signing service if they then decide to decline the order. I wish we were able to see more details in advance (ex. full location address) rather than blindly accepting an offer. I understand the concern for privacy, but we also want to be conscientious and only accept assignments we can keep without our ratings being penalized.
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Agreed. Details like how many pages are in the package. You want me to accept an order that has a generic description and an unknown page count for an already low fee. I know the signing service probably doesn’t have the docs when they send out the order, but they have probably worked with the lender or title company enough to know what their packages are typically like.
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Consider this. I charge what I charge. Today I did a sellers package of 18 pages.
I didn’t offer a discount because it was so small.
On any loan signing I charge based on 150 pages. If it goes over that I ask for a bump and usually get it. If it’s less than that I don’t offer a discount on the fee. Hybrids have been about 105 pages.
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Understood!
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I’ve notice them saying” Signings” then see the platform for details.
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I agree…yet another way of baiting the little fishies. Haven’t seen it yet, tho’.
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I don’t look at it that way. The drive time is the same no matter what the signing type is. I spend more time driving to and from the signing than I actually spend at the signing table. I may do a Heloc for a little less than a refi but not the way that they “try” to price them.
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I only respond to orders where the proposed fee is at a certain level or higher. Below that, I won’t even bother, because I know they won’t accept a counteroffer that would make it worth my while.
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I’m with you. I also will not accept below a certain fee. But if, for example, the assignment is described as ‘initial application’, that doesn’t tell me it’s an application for a reverse mortgage. They are a lot more paperwork and time but we won’t know that until we accept the assignment and see the details. I think it would benefit all parties, including the signing service, if they provided more details up front, before we accept the assignment.
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I think they purposely keep it vague to throw us off and accept offers that are lower than they should be. I don’t respond to “applications” because the fee is always too low for me to bother with, and what you will actually be doing isn’t entirely clear.
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90% my orders are a result of a counter offer. There are two title companies who will offer from my fees page. Otherwise I counter everything. I did 38 this month. So not worth the time to counter offer isn’t realistic for me.
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Concur!
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I disagree. HELC loans nowadays are as big as a typical refi. They used to be about 35-45 pages. Now they are over 130
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It probably depends on the lender. I do HELOC that are anywhere from 60-110 pages. Today I did one that was about 70 pages. Haven’t done one with that many pages before.
The only thing that doesn’t change is that everything changes.
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Yes! a few days ago I marked myself available for a “loan signing”, they then called an hour later to see if I was still available for the “Loan Signing” I asked what kind of loan and she replied “a Loan” I then asked to be more specific, as in is it a Refi, purchase, Hybird, Heloc? she said it was a Refi I told her my fee for a refi and she started lecturing me on “if I mark myself as available it is for the fee stated and that is what I’m agreeing to” I apologized and told her my fees depend on type and location and sorry but that’s my fee for a refi for that location..” She gave it to me with attitude and told me not to mark myself available if I wasn’t going to accept the fee stated"… I asked her next time to maybe specify the type of loan on the requests. I don’t think I was being unreasonable, but I do think they are tying to trick Notaries to low ball offers
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I have noticed that. I don’t hesitate to call or text “what KIND of loan signing is this? They usually answer back more details. That’s when I either accept or counter the fee.
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