Recently I had two assignments where one was a partial signing (sale) and the other was a refusal to sign. In both cases the service (1 was a signing service, 1 was a national escrow/title company) reduced the fee without any prior disclosure to the notary. No disclosure in their service agreement (SnapDocs) or in the notary assignment.
In both assignments I spent the same amount of time with Signer as if it was a regular completed signing. I stayed with Signer while they made phone calls and had discussion. In one case the escrow company prepared the selling package incorrectly and signer signed only documents that were prepared correctly.
The fee on both signings were reduced to 1/3 of the original amount. Barely enough to cover travel time and printing cost. I’m frustrated that services reduce your fee without disclosure/agreement and (in my opinion) an arbitrary number as there is no prior agreement on a reduced fee. Both of these assignments were companies who use SnapDocs.
Hiring services have no problem being nice to you, to ask if they need you to do more work for them (not disclosed in an assignment prior to acceptance) for no additional fee, like scanning or additional travel. Services harp on you to “communicate, communicate, communicate” but on their end they keep taking, demanding (in some cases), or just out right reduce your fee without first disclosing it or talking to you about it first. It feels so one-sided. This shouldn’t be a surprise, right?
In most cases, there are companies out there that value your time, and will pay you in full if you’ve made the trip to the signing and spent time with the Signers and they still end up refusing to sign OR the company clearly discloses to you what happens in the event of a cancellation or a refusal to sign.
I’m wondering how other notaries in the world feel about this practice.
Pretty sure everyone dislikes it. However, it is an industry wide standard to only pay the Notary a print/trip fee if the signing does not complete.
Not fair, particularly when the non-completion is the fault of the title company or lender. We have just wasted hours of uncompensated time.
Check the assignment parameters on your order forms. You will likely find a statement in small print somewhere that, in the instance of an incomplete signing, your fee will be reduced by so-and-so percent.
Thanks for the advice @judikidd ! I’ve read the assignment parameters over and over as well as the service agreement in SnapDocs for each service and there is nothing mentioned about reduction of fees. I tried reaching out to each of the companies and neither has replied. Thank you for responding to my post! It is nice being able to share experiences with other notaries who understand the challenges and struggles.
When the terms are hidden/missing/obscure, I ‘discuss politely’ and usually wind up getting full fee. When the terms suddenly appear on the Order, but were not disclosed at time of acceptance, I give it back unless they agree, in writing (e-mail) to my terms of ‘full fee due regardless of outcome’…and usually get it or, at least, enough to cover expenses & my time.
I just had to stop a signing as directed since address was wrong on note, deed and most of the other documents. They say I will get a new set of docs. That’s printing twice. What should I ask for as pay? They still intend to use me with new docs. Nothing about that in the agreement.
This is a second signing. You should expect to be paid full fee for both of them. If they object, then ask them to reassign and emphasize that you will be expecting full fee for the original signing. Don’t forget to ask for a new order that has the new signing date, even though it may have the same signing order number. You will need both for your records. This is not the time to negotiate down (e.g. they will reassign to you at a reduced rate since it’s the same order). It was their error, and sometimes they just have to eat the bad ones!
Paying me a total of $205 for this signing, $65 print fee and $140 for second appointment. Choice notary services. Fortunately we signed in my garage at home so no travel last time. I’m ok with this.
I keep seeing where SS can mark you down and give you negative feedback. Where is this found? I just returned from a sick leave of three years (stroke) and did a terrible job on my fist loan backend would like to see if they reviewed me poorly. I deserved it, but hate the idea it might be out there.
