New Fidelity Industry Standard for PSA Fee Collection from the Signers for All Transactions

Notary Experiences
1

I received the following email from Fidelity National Title:

"As we continue to partner with you on our transactions, due to an internal change we will require your invoice to be provided to the escrow officer as soon as your services are excepted. Your notary fee will now be collected from the buyer/seller and this charge will need to be reflected on the settlement statement. One of the benefits to you is your invoice will be paid at the time of closing.

Thanks Karla
Karla Parker
Settlement Support
kparker@fnf.com

This policy should be the standard for all Title Companies and most especially all Signing Services.

This policy will push the unscrupulous Signing Services out of the industry.

Respectfully, Guy

6 Likes
2

I do have one concern with this. Tho’ it doesn’t happen often; it’s still not a rare occurence that upon receipt of doc pkg, you only then find out it’s huge or has 6 signers or, or, or 
 the variables that make what seemed like a reasonable fee suddenly become non-profitable. BUT, your fee is already plugged into those docs and so can’t be changed.

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4

I beg to differ and agree with Arichter. At times there extenuating circumstances and additional fees allowed. For example: signing agreed to at a certain location and then location changed at the last moment and 10 miles away. Extra travel fee allowed. Title changes couple of pages at last moment and have to return to location to get signed. and etc.

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5

I like train of thought to get unscrupulous Signing Services out of the industry the slime dogs that they are :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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6

Hi Architer,

I enjoy your wisdom and insight on our industry.

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7

Hi Architer,

Thanks for your response.

I think differently regarding your concern about extenuating circumstances.

When an assignment has extenuating circumstances that were not disclosed to the notary, a fee increase is warranted.

If the lender did not explain the issue to title, then the lender owns the issue and cost.

If title did not explain it to the SS or notary, then title owns the issue and the cost.

If SS did not explain it to the notary, then SS owns the issue and the cost.

When something unusual was not disclose it is common for the notary to be told that their fee can’t be changed because it was disclosed to the signer(s). BALONEY!!!

The signers can be given an explanation and a new disclosure; yes, I know that can change the closing date and no one wants to do that.

So alternatively, the lender, title or SS can pay the notary’s fee increase from their own sources with out impacting the disclosure to the signer(s).

They can charge it off, in their books, to Professional Fees, Office Meals for the staff, Miscellaneous, or what ever they think is best.

The owner of the undisclosed issue just needs to belly up and take the hit.

Notaries are responsible for eating the costs of his/her mistake(s) but, notaries are not responsible for eating the costs of some one else’s mistakes or oversights.

Alternatively, notaries need to ask questions when accepting an assignment. How many pages, how many signers, what is the actual address, etc.

Sadly, platforms that send out mass requests to 100,000 notaries do not allow us to get the details.

So you asked ‘how many pages’ and SS or title says ‘I don’t know’. Then the notary needs to start driving the situation; my fee is $175 for up to 135 pages, 2 signers and 40 miles round trip. Oh yes, scanbacks are an additional fee and most of us are not charging enough to cover the extra work and drive time.

Respectfully,
Guy

5 Likes
8

Which office is this from? I haven’t received direct closings from them in about a year. They go through a couple of closing agencies down here
or they were. I’ve noticed that different offices use different closing techniques, different SSA’s and different forms.

9

Karla Parker
Settlement Support

kparker@fnf.com
Fidelity National Title
4643 S. Ulster Street, Suite 1150
Denver CO 80237
720-240-0646 Direct

1 Like
10

Hi ~ what state are you located?

11

Sorry, I am in Florida

12

Thank you. Nice to know what state people are in because situations and laws do very state to state. I sometimes forget to put WA State when I post. Happy Holidays !!

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13

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

14

I would question the validity of the email due to the use of the word “excepted” where the word ‘accepted’ would have made more sense. This may sound petty, but typos and grammatical errors are often red flags.

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15

Finally ! We have been dealing with this for Years. Hiding the actual notary fee in with other fees, in our opinion, has been against RESPA rules. As clients are able to SHOP for better prices on several charges that show on their CD;s. Mixing Notary fees in with other fees has NOT allowed the client to do this.
Yes, the notary should be paid at closing just as everyone else is.

16

When I became a notary, I was dismayed to learn that payment for the services I rendered could take as long as 45 days. Notaries should be paid within 5 days of service rendering, even if the deal doesn’t close. Failure to close is not our problem, frankly. We did our part and put our skills on the line for strangers on behalf of at least four entities - title, escrow, lender and signing service. They all get paid at closing, why not the notary?

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17

:+1:Until notaries stand up for what we deserve this won’t change.

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18

That is such an accurate statement about the professional services we extend credit to
 all of them have more money than us!!! We shouldn’t have to eat last! We make it happen!!:expressionless:

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19

IF you are experienced notary, GO AHEAD and Charge $250 per closing. Any late hour / urgent must have $50 to $100 over the above, and hence must be $300 to $350.

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20

Notaries Must be PAID immediately upon completion of their services. So unless that attitude changes and demands being made, Notary working on Credit will be a norm.

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21

I was taken by surprise, waiting for payment too, 20,30,45, 90 days!! My first signing I got paid $150.00 for a refinance, and my check was the last page in the docs!!! I thought it was the normal way of doing it!!