I have been a Notary for several decades but only became a Certified Loan Signing Agent about three months ago. I enjoy what I am doing but, unfortunately, have not been paid for any of my jobs. Several of the jobs have been with Notary Dash and then a few with Title Companies. I have not been paid on any of these jobs. Would like to know what companies everyone else has used and if they are good about paying. I don’t mind waiting 30 to 60 days for a payment but it is really frustrating to do a good, timely job for these companies but then not have them pay. I keep getting so many signing offers but am hesitant to accept any until I know the company has a reputation for payment. Thanks for any help to this newbie.
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Notary Dash is a platform owned by Jennifer Garland. Jennifer owns Prestige Notaries and a few other companies. Ms. Garland has a reputation for low/slow/no pay. Unfortunately, signing companies are not regulated.
Generally speaking, it is safe to work with title/escrow companies as they are regulated and licensed by (usually) the insurance commission in any given state. If you’ve worked with a title/escrow company and have not been paid, reach out to that company to find out why. If there is no viable reason for non-payment, contact the insurance commissioner’s office and file a complaint.
Always, always vet each and every company you intend working with. Remember, you’re extending credit to them. Do your due diligence PRIOR to performing the work.
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You are a business owner–which means you do it all. Time to put on your ‘collection dept’ hat and go get 'em… Be polite, businesslike…and annoying enough that they’ll pay you just to stop the annoyance. Then…never work for them again and tell everyone how terrible they are.
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@lynne1 Excellent question! 
Please ALWAYS vet your clients by Searching the immediately available information found within the Notary Cafe database on each business entity PRIOR to providing your Professional Services.
This information is a GOLDMINE!
Most members express that they find it difficult/NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to locate the Search Function in order to access the wealth of information available within the database.
To be helpful, I’ve inserted an image for you & others [see below] to help members locate it to unlock the wisdom & knowledge of other members on the forums.
Also, here is a direct Notary Cafe url link that will provide you with an EXPERT Step-By-Step Guide to COLLECTIONS for receiving the remuneration you’ve earned for the Professional Services you’ve successfully provided:
Accessing the database to locate information about potential clients has saved many of us an inordinate amount of time ‘chasing’ payments for Services professionally provided to potential non-payers . . . 
Thank you so much for this advice. I have sent several e-mails but have not had a response. I am going to send a certified letter and if I still do not get a response, I will file a complaint with the Missouri Insurance Commission. I didn’t realize I could do this.
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Also, I will add a PAST DUE Notice in my letter.
As one of you pointed me to Search the name of the company asking me to do the work, I completely missed the Search Button. I am so glad you pointed it out. Thanks, everyone. I feel so lucky to have so many of you giving me advice. I have a renewed energy and will research each company and then start accepting jobs again.
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@lynne1 You may also find this thread quite helpful, too!
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I live in Missouri what company in Missouri isn’t paying you?
I live in Missouri. Within my first month of doing this work, I did several jobs for Notary Dash before I realized they did not pay. Then I did a job for Merritt Services where
a Title Company needed closing documents signed by a couple in Missoiuri but the land being sold was in Arkansas. All my contact throughout the process was with a Title Company in Arkansas. After 45 days without pay, I contacted the Title Company in Arkansas but they told me I was supposed to be paid through Merritt Services. I have not been able to get anyone from Merritt to discuss the situation with me. I have sent them a letter recently so I will see what happens with that. I am no longer accepting jobs without discussing the payment situation as in who is paying me, when can I expect payment and how will I be paid. When you accept a job and the company tells you how much they will pay, they should honor that commitment but I am finding this is rarely the case.
Notary Dash is not a signing service, it is a platform like snapdocs, signing order the platforms don’t pay you the companies that are on the platforms pay you. Merritt Services should pay you. I am going to check them out.
I have found some information. Call me its faster then typing 573-238-8813
I will read their payment terms and then will call a week after I am supposed to be paid. I will email them if nothing by 45 days late. Then if nothing I will tell them I will call the Better Business Bureau and their Secretary of State and file a complaint. I am a signing agent 11 years and had to do this 3x -I got paid within the next week on 2 companies and crossed
Them off my company list and 1 company replied they were in litigation and could not pay me.
This unfortunately has become the nature of the industry. For those who can afford to do so, you’re better off establishing a minimum price of say $200 and requiring that it be paid by paypal, venmo, zelle, or some other cash up front service. Otherwise, you’ll be taking a loss on your job just trying to collect. A “bird in the hand…”
Not sure where to find the payment terms but I will start to look for that. I usually get a text asking me if I am available. The text requires me to answer Yes, I am available or No, I am not. I have started searching the companies on this site to see what other people are saying about the company. I do like your idea of filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Secretary of State. Thanks so much for the advice.
I am so sadden to hear you say this is just the nature of the industry but my experience so far is that you are correct. I will certainly be much more selective with the jobs I agree to do. Thanks.
I feel I have gone beyond the job for some of these companies and yet they just don’t pay. Frustrating.
…and it saddens me when hard-working and honest people like yourself, get stiffed from outfits that regard such services with so little regard. Since the amounts notaries charge are mostly de minimus, it’s not unreasonable to request up front payments if the request is serious enough and the intent to pay is honorable. I realize that requesting upfront payments is turning our business model upside down, but not getting paid after the fact or spending countless hours trying to get paid, is a “fool’s errand.”
Great Question! For example I searched the dial up internet decades ago to find out why a signing service had sent me dozens of loans to sign and disappeared without paying me. I was relatively new and at that time had no idea there were other notaries all over the nation that were being scammed by that bad actor. I found the needed support on a website similar to Notary Cafe and was able to take them to small claims court and recover my losses. Welcome to the wild west of wise guys who insert themselves in the middle of loan closings and it’s TOTALLY unregulated. Due your due diligence, this site has the tools. And Good Luck!
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I think Notary Dash is despicable. You’ll have to keep after her to pay; then put her on your garbage list.
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I have been a notary for many decades as well and a LSA for at least a decade as a Certified LSA and many years before it became a thing to be “certified”. I think it is a good thing that additional education be required becasue Loan documents are very detailed and opens Notaries up for legal issues if they are not familiar with the forms/documents. I have made a decission to NOT use notary services any longer with the exection of maybe one or 2. I am very particular about what jobs I take and this is the very reason why. They don’t offer but a fraction of what they are being paid by the “client”, which is typically a title/Escrow company or in some states, an attorney. We, as notaries, have a tremendous amount of Libality, time prepping documents, paper and toner, time for the actual assignment, gas to get to and from the assignment, time for scanning back documents and then time and gas to drop off the documents after you wait for the “ok” from the agencies to actually take them for drop off! It’s a lot for anything under $150 and that’s a lowball number as far as I’m concerned. If you actually crunch the numbers, a notary loses money quite often.
If you are a new notary or LSA, then it could be some good practice with the process, but the more we “undercut” the value a Notary Public brings to any assignment, we undercut the industry at large. Here is an example: on July 2nd, I took an assigment to notarize some Trust documents. It paid $150.00 to which I marked myself available. At the same time, a ping came across for a paid witness for the same job, paying only $50.00. I get an “accpted” notice but for the witness, not the notary. Now, I have a lot of experience with these documents and had never gotten a notice to be a witness before. Out of courisoty , I accepted the assignment. BIG mistake!!! The notary was 1/2 hr late and the other witness and I were left waiting. There were three seperate trust, not 1 which was never disclosed. Two hours later, the job was complete and after many phone calls and emails, I have yet to be paid for that time. This company is BestNotary.com!
I have had my fill of signing services taking advantage of Notaries out in the field taking care of their client’s customer and not getting paid for my time, expertise, and value!
Good luck out there!
Jan Adams, California Notary
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You need to open your mouth and say something.