đź‘Ž WARNING: Prestige Notaries-45-60 day delayed payments/Non-Payments - Jennifer Garland 850-266-1501 jennifer@prestige.com

Is anyone having problems getting their payments from Prestige Notaries?

I have four payments dated from December and January I have not been paid for…

When speaking to Jennifer the owner she said Title companies are not paying her and her bank accounts are frozen due to Echecks being cashed multiple times (fraud) by several notaries.

My thoughts are…why would you open a signing service without a “nest egg” to pay us hard working notaries while figuring out your personal issues???

I guess beware and be alert in accecpting orders. Im looking at almost four months past due with this company.

Yes, I have made several calls, and finally today I am getting the same story from Jennifer. Account frozen, she says there are notaries depositing the same eChecks numerous times and her bank didn’t record the eCheck numbers so it wasn’t caught. However, in the several calls I made to her, she never stated to me the title companies weren’t paying her … I will not accept anymore signings with Prestige until I am paid what I am owed.

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It just now occurs to me, whoever issues the eChecks certainly wouldn’t have paid any of them more than once … so why would her account get dinged? eCheck company would keep records of whether or not echecks were cashed or deposited … I am skeptical of this “excuse”?? Not sure if she used Deluxe eChecks; Deluxe has been around for a long time and would not allow this to happen. Wouldn’t it be the notary person making the double deposit that would get the check returned as unpaid, not Prestige Notaries. ??

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I have also been having trouble collecting payments for December signings from MortgageDocs; The Notary Pool; and National Preferred Notary. I have made 3-4 calls to each of them in the past 2-3 weeks. I will not accept any more signings with any of them until the payment issues are resolved.

I was paid for my 5 past due (all past 90 days) on Friday 3/31/17.
Thank goodness.

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It is my understanding that many of these agencies are declaring bankruptcy or are actually have financial issues. I did work for a company sometime last year, and had made several attempts to contact everyone I could think of. Finally, I reached back out using the method I’d initial began using when I was thanked for completing the assignment. I was very apologetic and explained how I had been through all of my records and just did not remember being paid for the particular assignment and had mentioned all payments were through e-check and I that had left messages with the account and manager and no one was calling me back, so if I had made a mistake somewhere and a check had been cut, I did not receive it and please send another.

The shocking responses:
I finally received several responses from two different people. I was sent a check and email at 4am the next day with a message telling me that I needed to cash the check it it this was not possible, then to deposit it because if I did not, the funds might not be available the following day or any time after. (I did not even get to read my emails that day for whatever reason until 6pm). I replied with the words “Thank you” and snap deposited the check.

The next morning I had two more emails telling me that I did not cash the get and that my time was running out.

What I failed to mention above is that in the letter with the deposit directions, it also mentioned how the company was experiencing financial issues. None of this explains why a company continues to employ notaries all the while knowing there’s no money to pay them. Nevertheless, If there’s a problem with a payment one time. I think there should be some type of agency to report it to.

There might be one.

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Its a little weird, If a notary deposit the same check over and over the bank will only recognize 1 paycheck number

Elizabeth, I’d like to make one correction. There was only one title company that went bankrupt and did not pay Prestige, but it was a large amount. Instead of not paying over $40,000 in notary invoices (which would have been in line with the terms of service due to non payment by the title company), Prestige paid out all of those notaries. That is why Prestige went late on other payments because Prestige wanted to honor all payments. Paying all of the notaries regardless of title’s payments is a business decision Prestige was passionate about. During this time it was found that Wells Fargo was cashing the same checks multiple times. If a notary prints a check more than once then it can be cashed each time and the bank will honor it due to the federal regulations. Deluxe has no way of stopping payment on checks, they are just the “paper” and don’t regulate the check cashing at all. Prestige made good on all payments and has since been paying monthly to all notaries, regardless of title’s slow payments. I’m glad we were able to restore your faith in our company and have since continued working with another.

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Michele, Deluxe does not regulate the checks being cashed, they are only the paper. If a notary prints a check multiple times then it can definitely be cashed multiple times. We run our business transparently and never offer excuses, only facts.

I wouldn’t risk working for them, there are just too many other companies out there to risk not getting paid. The e mails were all very different in their explanation. No Thank you.

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Thanks for your input. I just got offered a job at Prestige and turned it down and I told them why. I hope they realize that notaries have power when they get screwed by companies. We work very hard and diligent and these companies have some nerve not paying us on time!!! Karen

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Notary Pool are known criminals. You will not get paid by them. :frowning:

I am running into a very slow paying process. I just received payment for one in Oct.

I did an out of state purchase closing in December, 2018 through Prestige and was paid about 3 months later. I liked working through them and I wish I could get more since the types of signings I’ve seen them offer are very clean and quick.

I just emailed Jennifer, CEO, asking what is going on with Prestige because they used to pay within 30 days. I have also forwarded my invoice to Escrow and Lender. Next step for collections will be filing a prelien notice with all entities involved in signing process and then a lien. WA State has a lien process with documents setup for small contractors on their L&I website. For smaller amounts of liens, this works ok. Prestige has been the only slow pay client I have had. Fortunate that all my other peoples pay good. Prestige should know that if they continue to be slow pay, Notaries will just not work for them. Like this forum to share our experiences.

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I’m curious, Alice - what do you lien? You can’t lien the borrowers’ property as they’ve already paid the fee…so what do you lien?

Lien can be placed for services rendered. Others such as Cleaning Maintenance, Port-a-potty companies, etc. also prelien and lien for payment as necessary (especially in CA). Their fees are similar to Notary fees. Completing forms and sending via certified receipt USPS mail can be hassle but if you have multiple signings this can add up. Currently, Title and Lender Closing is reviewing my invoice and deciding next step. I suggested if they continue to work with Prestige, to obtain Lien Waiver prior to payment. This process can be used for any service rendered to any entity. Important ~ when invoicing include all entities involved so lien process will follow form.

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Just received email from Jennifer, CEO Prestige, stating my invoice was processed last Friday 10/9/20 and they pay within 30 days of invoice. Date of Service 8/20/20 same day as invoice. Proof is in the pudding. Awaiting payment and clearance by bank.

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I am currently having an issue with them. I did a signing for them back on July the 30th. Then again on the 31st because title forgot a document on the original package. I have been calling, texting, documenting the portal, emailing accounting. I finally received payment for the 30th Signing. However, I have not received for the 31st. I received a message that said they paid it on the 12th Of October gave me a check number that belong to another signing I did. I have done 3 signings for presitage notary 3rd signing looks like it’s going in the same direction as the other 2. And what’s so crazy is that I do signings for Notary Dash and I get paid on time. And its own by the same person🤷. What did you do to get paid? It’s not about the money it’s the principle. It’s true what they say you live and you learn.

After much researching finally was able to resolve my non-payment issue by contacting CEO for Prestige jennifer@prestige.com. Information found on Prestige website. I asked her what happened to Prestige - used to be good to work for and paid in a timely manner. She told me they pay within 30 days which you and I both is not true. Be specific when contacting her such as date of service, dates contacting accounting, and specifically no response. I explained to Jennifer when reaching dead wall with no response for weeks, for me next step is collections. Received echeck on 10/16/20. Jennifer is pretty ticked off at me but she needs to stand in her own truth and know what is happening. There is a disconnect between her and accounting.

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