Hello all!
I’ve been a Notary Signing Agent for about a year now, however I’ve received the majority of my work through signing services. I am not sure if I’m fidelity approved as I’ve filled out the application but never received an official confirmation. Regardless of that my question is: When negotiating fees with signing services, what do you do when you notice the fee is higher for the notary on the settlement statement then what you are being paid? Do you attempt to negotiate or just accept the fee as is?
I’m a newbie and would love to hear what the mature notaries advise. So far, I accept the agreed upon fee and use the knowledge when negotiating my next assignment.
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First point: how did you get Fidelity approved - through an SS or through an escrow officer - if through an SS check with them to find out, and keep in mind you are only approved for signings through that SS only if you went that route. If an escrow officer sponsored you, and you were approved, you’re approved across the board for all companies, so check with that escrow officer.
Second part - as to fees - I never looked at what was on the closing statement; I had my set fees and as long as the company met my fee that I set based on the assignment described, then I had no need to dicker with anyone; my fee was established based on base worth then additional for things like larger packages and scanbacks (they were few back then) - also added some for extra distance. For example, I would not do a refi in my county for less than $125.00 (no scanbacks) and that’s a package of about 100-125 pages. Add another $25 to that for out of county; if I have to scan back? Well, that’s an extra trip to come back, scan and then another 30 mile round trip to drop the package - so another $35-$40 (most times they said just drop the package.)
Don’t get distracted by that number on the CD - many times it involves more than just your fee and the SS fee.
Hope this helps
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Omg thank you sooo much, this is extremely helpful and i learned a great deal from such a simple answer. It’s hard to navigate the fees when there so low for 50 - 60 miles. I’ve gotten better about negotiating but it still feels kind of insulting sometimes. lol
You need to work toward establishing an independent signing service until the agency pays enough (dream on). It’s their responsibility to serve the notary to get an adequate fee when they take 50% on average for their agency. They don’t want to hear from us and just want to shut us up to do all the work for them. The same $100 the industry pays after 10 years since 2011 is outrageous.
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Gas prices are rising, and parts to replace for your vehicle may be hard to find in the future. Consider getting a new career on-line and develop new skills if you can. Jobs are easier to find, many refuse to work so you can get another job nearby until your notary service is better established.
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That’s true, I guess, It’s a little frustrating. I may have to have additional work on my tool belt to think about.
