Can we unite? After being a member for a few months. I see the same problems being stated over and over so I’m asking Arichter, LindaH, David, Lisa and any other seasoned notaries to chime in.
The originator … The Bank… Sends their paperwork to the
The Order taker .The Title Co…Adds their paperwork to the Banks and hires
The Signing Service …the order is assigned to a processor who in turn puts out a call for an NSA
signing.
Only the Bank and Title Co. add paperwork and compile the order.
THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM ARRISES … ONLY THE SIGNING SERVICES KNOW …THE PAGE COUNT, THE NUMBER OF NOTARIALS NEEDED, THE NUMBER OF SIGNERS, SCANBACKS AND ANY OTHER INSTRUCTIONS NEEDED FOR THE …NSA.
I added Lisa to my headline, because she is the owner of an C2C…
Why can’t the employee INCLUDE the above information when they place the notice for NSA’s to accept or deny???
THIS WOULD BE A PROBLEM SOLVER ! IT WOULD SAVE TIME AND BE MUCH MORE EFFICIENT FOR EVERYONE CONCERNED !
I KNOW OF NO OTHER BUSINESS WHERE JOBS ARE ACCEPTED WITHOUT FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORDER.
REALLY… ONLY THE SIGNING SERVICES CAN MAKE THE CORRECTIONS NEEDED !
THE SIGNING COMPANIES PUT OUT THEIR LIST OF WHAT THEY NEED AND PENALTIES PAID IF THE NSA’s DONT MEET EVERY DEMAND.
WE ARE NOT IN THEIR POSITION WHERE WE CAN DEMAND, BUT AT LEAST WE CAN ADVISE?
Yes! I totally agree with you! To add to that, the Signing Service admonishes you for asking for more after you’ve accepted the job! From my 6 measly months in this industry, I’ve concluded that they (Signing Services) DO NOT respect or see us as Businesses! How did Appraisers and Home Inspectors gain their respect and fully acknowledged industry standards for pay? We do just the same amount of work and get treated like rats. I’d love to get $450 for a job with standard expectations.
I disagree here - title is well aware what is involved - page count, notarizations, witness requirements, who signs and who doesn’t, etc etc; and many times the SS finds the notary then puts them in touch with title and is out of the equation completely (which leads to my next bone of contention being SS get paid to make some phone calls…but I digress).
The SS “employee” (or platform “employee”) won’t include the number because it’s a fluid situation - count may go up or down.
In all honesty it’s up to the NSA to keep track of where the packages come from (both title and lender - trust me you’ll see the pattern) and what the packages are like. Then you know next time the call comes in exactly what you may be facing. Like: When I did closings in CT and we had a Provident Funding loan - I KNEW it was a small package, printed all on letter size and printed front and back. When I did Quicken loans here I KNEW they were small packages, 3 notarizations, always mailed directly to borrower; reverse mortgages, no matter the lender OR title, were always 15-20% bigger than normal. My biggest surprise came with a FHA purchase loan - 238 pages (to be printed twice!) and 28 notarizations! The saving grace was the borrowers took one look at that package and, I kid you not, said to me “Let’s get going, just keep flipping pages”. LOL
Not quite sure what you mean by this.
I will say this - though many may agree with you, you’re not going to change the industry that’s been operating for nigh on a decade. There really is nothing to unite about here - except to get every NSA to remember to ask the right questions before accepting an assignment, and make sure each one prices themselves accordingly.
Hi Patricia
Comparing NSA’s to appraisers and home inspectors is not an apple to apple comparison. A home inspector is usually on-site 2-4 hours depending on the property, climbing into attics, crawl spaces etc. Their licensing requirements are much stricter. An appraiser may only be on-site for a short period of time, but the real work is finding the comps. If they have an easy property, quick easy money, but some properties require hours of research.
Signing services hire people to make phone calls until someone says yes to the time and the price. These are people who , in most cases have never done a closing and has no idea how much is involved. They do fill a niche in the market, they are more willing to give newbies a chance. a place to get experience. The amount they are willing to pay reflects that.
Most title co require at least 1 years experience before they will even talk to you. When you are new, you will have to pay your dues and accept some lower paying jobs.
Before you can earn the respect of companies you have to respect yourself and charge appropriately for the job. That means being able to honestly say “I’ve been doing this a long time. When I do a job, it is done right and you don’t have to worry about errors.” Every area of the country is different but over time you will learn what the various title co and lender packages are like. If you find a company that you feel does not respect you. don’t accept assignments from them.
Also want to add on to chrispatey here - if you go to Source of Title website - appraisers and title searchers are complaining about the same things we are - non-pay or low pay; some appraisers get paid at the door by the homeowner or the buyer, but many do not. And title searchers may or may not get paid til closing - you’d have to go there and read some of the postings - you’ll find they complain about the same companies that notaries complain about.
And yes, the comparison is not an apple-to-apple comparison - but I have always felt that we should be paid at the table by the borrowers - and the fee listed on the CD as a POC by borrower.
This biz has been around closer to 3 decades and I’ve watched many changes take place. None have been good news for the notary. Everything stated in this thread has been stated (at least annually) before. It’s like that movie ‘Groundhog Day’. Except it’s not possible to ‘get it right for all notaries’ as there are already way too many–with newbs coming in daily. Every one of whom has their own set of variables (and too many who don’t even understand their own set). As to all the ‘they shoulds’, why would they bother when they can always find someone who’ll say ‘yes’? Sure, I wish it were otherwise, but it just isn’t.
I’m not certain what the Unite! is that’s called for in this thread. But, if the suggestion is that we should unite against the signing services, I believe it’s a fools errand. They will always be around and they will always take a (lions) share of the proceeds for finding signing agents. I agree that SS’s play a vital role in giving newbies a chance to cut their teeth in the industry. I took many $60-$80 jobs when I first started and only knew how to do rudimentary notary. But, within 6-8 months I was proficient with forms and terminology and had begun to demand/earn $100+ for signings. If you are good at what you do, title companies will take note and you will begin to receive contractor packets in your inbox, which cuts out the middle man (SSs) where you can negotiate the rate you charge for signings. Once they know you, when they call or text you all of the information you require will already be in the information they provide before they ask “are you available”. On occasion I will still take an $80 or $100 job with one of those who brought me to the dance when they call and tell me they are in a pinch (and it’s not a distance to travel). We are independent, small business people and you need to see and market yourself as such. It greatly reduces the headaches and stresses of the business.
LindaH Thanks so much for responding. I was dealing with the signings that were only between the Notary and the SS. Do the majority of these signings include the Title? Don’t know as we only deal with Title companies. They tell us right away …Page count, Notary stamps needed, no scans or faxes, no copies as we pick up and return the doc’s to them.
Which leads me to the obvious question …Why can’t Title include this information with their order to the SS? Is that too much to ask?? If they don’t, let the SS do the count! It’s NOT that hard.
I know that some of the old timers think that ,Just because things have always been this way,they aren’t going to change, But, if anything THIS YEAR teaches us different.
I used Unite, because if enough NSA’s ask the order giver ( title or SS ) these questions. Maybe just Maybe we could effectuate this change to make things BETTER. No more …calling back to raise the fee…No more…calling back to cancel…No more waisted time for both the agent & SS.
Yes. I believe I ordered the full package (background check, insurance and bond) through the NNA. And, yes each title company I work with directly require that they stay updated or you will not receive orders until they are brought current.
I think the key here is to ask the right questions before accepting the assignments. How big is the packet? Any scan backs? And any other nuances that may determine if you want to accept or adjust your fee. I typical get assignments from the same handful of companies and as someone else stated you start to see a pattern. Nonetheless, I still ask the pertinent questions. For the most part I know what I’m saying yes to before I accept the assignment.
Depending on the State you’re in. Texas bond is part of the commission application, expires at the end of the commission and renews with the commission. Not sure how other States do their bond and commission requirements, but I believe all States require bonds and list specific amounts.
Very seldom does the Notary Service have the package when they call you to make the appointment, so saying that you always know what you are agreeing to is totalling wrong. Those notaries, who deal directly with the title companies, should stay out of this conversation, because it does not address their problem; the rest of us DO have this problem where we don’t know what we are committing to UNTIL we get the docs.
But typically same companies you work for is about the same amount of documents, as others have stated already… is a pattern. I already know what to expect from Amrock, Signature Closers, XOME, among others.
Most of them from an Assignment service, like snapdocs, are sort of first come, first served. No way to really find out page count (I had 185 x2 for a reverse mtg and 245 x2 for an fha), or negotiate a fee. You take what is offered. There is always a cheaper one out there and no chance to ask, do you want cheap, or do you want good? I said for the fha, I needed a wheeled briefcase!
, we have to have more info about the signing before we commit to it.