Ok…you made me look up a word! 
I saw the same thing on an offer from Nations Direct – turned it down.
What many Title Companies may not be aware of is that a notary is an officer of the state/commonwealth where the notary is commissioned. As such, if the TC reneges on the fee after the documents have been signed and notarized, the notary can report them the division in their state that handles oversight of the TCs. If they don’t pay the notary, the state will remove their ability to operate in the state. I do, however agree those who recommend finding out how the TC handles these situations up front when you first start taking on closings for them. You can always refuse to handle signings from that company if you don’t like their policy.
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I would have been calling/emailing Title immediately and indicating that the modifies intructions do not fit by business model and I am returning it unless they could strike that clause and more specifically provide in-writing a nominal guarantee trip and/or print fee should I print and its cancelled or its a no sign after I leave the office…and an additional print/trip fee if I have to go back, for a second trip, no fault of my own…
Have I done this? Yes!, more than once…did I get a modification or written reassurance for equity? Yes, not every time but most times….and when I didn’t, I politely excused myself if even last minute if the documents or/and or the disclaimer was sent following original acceptance due to changed/undisclosed signing “payment terms”
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This might work differently in different venues, but when I worked for a title company in New York, a cancellation fee was billed to the purchaser/mortgagor if the transaction did not close. Since a title search and title report were issued, there was no disputing the work was done. I now live in a different state with different practices, but have never been denied payment as a loan signing agent based on the transaction not closing. There was one instance where the title company tried to guilt trip me into foregoing the fee, but as I successully argued, I did 100% of the same job whether it closed or not, and my fee was not negotiated on a contingency basis.
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I think it’s a regional ‘customary practice’ thing…that usually can be repealed with just plain logic…as you did.
It may also depend on how disposable they think you are, a reflection of how many notaries are willing to take low paying or break-even jobs that guarantee a willingness to be taken advantage of.
Oh, definitely that, too. Seems to be a lot of ‘em out there thinking all they gotta do is ‘prove themselves’ and then the big bucks will be offered. Guess they won’t believe PT Barnum.
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