Hi all- I’m wondering if there are any LAA on here from Long Island and what the average fee they receive for a loan signing. My sister’s a mortgage lender for CitiBank. I asked her a while ago what LSA fees were normally and she said $300! I don’t see anywhere where LSAs get that much. I see $75-$200. Do they just pay more on Ling Island?
Sorry that should’ve said LSA
If your sister’s company is paying that much I’d jump through hoops to get their direct work. That’s a nice fee and yes, for my area much higher than what any company is willing to pay
Good luck with this possible nice catch!!
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Thank you Linda! For both responses!! Just one more question 
Do I get to set the fee for the beneficiary docs or is it one of those that the state limit fees? It’s $5 per doc in Colorado.
$5 per document or $5 per notarial act? Or $5 per signature. Need to have that clear in your head when figuring fees. Plus time and travel … Time is money and traveling to them is a convenient service that is compensible.
You have to ask questions. Where are you? How many notarizations? From there you get a base fee to charrge
Hope this helps
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Very much so. Thanks again Linda!!
Have a nice weekend!
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Hello! I’m in Long Island, NY. From what I’m seeing platform company offers go anywhere from $80-$120. They always offer low, but if you negotiate sometimes they’ll go higher. Direct work title, maybe you can get them up to $175-$200 a signing. I’d jump through hoops for $300 a signing lol.
TG there’s nothing stopping you from accepting the assignment and hiring another notary to to notarize the documents. Pay that notary $40 for an hours work and submit your invoice to the title company for $300. You might require the notary to scan the complete loan package back to you to review for mistakes before its shipped back to escrow. There’s a huge cottage industry built around this business model with no shortage of willing LSA to choose from.
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(CA) So, what you’re sayin’ is that TG should hire another notary to notarize documents that were assigned to his [that is, TG’s original] care, custody and execution ??? You must be joking.
The signing service or whoever handled the original assignment then has no knowledge of or control over the “hired hand” that actually performed the notarization. Any subsequent claims for erroneous work, mishaps of any kind, insurance claims, dissatisfaction and all the rest, accrues to whom, then? The original notary, the hired hand, who? Does the original notary have the time to verify with absolute certainty that the hired notary is bonded, insured, certified, properly trained, equipped, knowledgeable, etc.??? Who keeps the records of the transaction as notary of record? What if documents are misplaced or lost or damaged? Who is responsible?
I’m sorry ewing_joe, but I think your advice may be well meant, but not thought through very well. It’s not like a simple referral if the notary of record hires another notary and such is not disclosed to all parties. If I’m off-base, please do tell me how.
Incidentally, I have not appointed myself “Notary Cop” for those out there who tire of my well-intentioned input. However, my experience and background compels me to opine when I see posts that might get notaries, especially newbies, in trouble. Of course, I’m always ready to stand corrected and will offer apologies accordingly when shown to be in error or over-zealous.
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Yeah…@ewing_joe and to any newbies out there - this is a really really bad idea…for all the reasons outlined by @Bobby-CA and then some.
You surprise me Joe.
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Thank you everyone. Being someone new, who hasn’t even done a single signing yet, hiring another notary sounds way to complicated and risky. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for anybody else’s errors then have to do a back and forth with time constraints. It doesn’t sound like anything I’d be willing to consider. I only want to be responsible for my own work. I appreciate your trying to be helpful though.
Right now I’m really bummed out because I’m moving from CO to NY and just learned the difference between an escrow state and an attorney state which is what NY is. It seems unlikely, with no to little experience, I’d be able to wiggle into a situation with a bank, attorney’s office or wherever you get loan signing work back there, especially with the market slowing down. I was hoping to just pull in a couple grand a month with a flexible schedule so I could live at my parents and be there as much as possible to help take care of my ailing dad and help pay some of the bills. I don’t wanna just get a regular full time job. That would defeat the purpose of my moving there. I’m at a bit of a loss and deflated. Sorry to get into my life story. It’s just where I’m at. 
(CA) I feel sad for your predicament. With all the different state-mandated notarial arrangements (attorney vs escrow, etc.) it would sure be helpful if there was a central source to help us all when these kinds of issues arise. There is none. I’m afraid that for the foreseeable future, notary work will be a part-time gig with fairly low pay incentives.
Hi Bobby, there was a time when each title company had an employee that called notaries directly from nationwide lists. I have been on one of those lists for more than two decades. Once a month for as long as I can remember, I get a call from a notary trying to hire me to handle their loan and offering to pay me directly, usually about half of the fee listed on the settlement statement. I’ve personally done the same thing; however, I always considered it a referral and never sought compensation. I’ve even had real opportunities to start a signing service but declined. Yes, I was joking about a non-notary starting a signing service, but your well-thought-out but breathless diatribe is why I never pursued it. Many years ago (1999), I was “stiffed” by a signing service for over twenty-five signings and dialed their name on my dial-up internet only to find out I was just one of many victims. The strongest voice seemed it come from Signing Agent. com. The fellow notaries I met there helped me recoup my loss. Sadly, In the early 2000s, that website and its fifteen thousand followers were sold, and most of us migrated to other sites. But how far we’ve come. Back in the not-so-distant past, the title companies overnighted the loan documents to the signers and relied on them to find a notary… any notary. To be a signing agent, according to you, makes me glad I have a million-dollar E&O.
I’d keep that E&O insurance policy in force if I was you.
Breathless diatribe (a forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something), indeed. Pour yourself a nice whiskey and take the afternoon off, Joe.
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