I just spoke with a Vendor Manage Rep from one these Title Agencies / loan signing companies , i am a Veteran Loan Signing Agent , I have been doing this for over 10yrs , and now the reason I am not getting offers is because my fees are too high , the same fees , well my fees are cheaper than when I started , I went from
$150 to $125 to $95 for refi and now i am being told $75 is still too much for a refi
$125 to $100 to $75 for home equity / sellers pkg ,
they are offering $60 for home equity / sellers pkg & $70 for refi with scanback
the notary expense goes up, gas /car maintenance/ printing paper/ utilites / pens/ folders / but the fees drop , because of area saturated with NEW NOTARIES
i think there should be a union for things like this to protect your future as a notary otherwise the title company continue to keep profiting more on both sides
The ironic part is that notaries are not allowed to unionize, for some reason (public servants?). The fees we can charge do vary slightly from one company to another, but for the most part, they are essentially the same as they were in 2014, when I started in this business. Meanwhile, expenses have shot up and show no signs of stopping.
There was a refi that went out here (East Tennessee) a week or so ago for $45. One went out Friday for $70 and was gone in less than 2 minutes. Those fees are going to drive notaries, who derive the majority of their business from loan signings, out of business.
I completely empathize with the frustration surrounding the current signing fee rates and the escalating operational expenses we face. It’s disheartening to see our income potential diminished while our costs continue to rise. While the concept of unions and collective bargaining might seem appealing as a means of support, it’s important to consider that we are not considered “employees” and the structures and protections afforded to employees might not translate to our roles as independent contractors. Furthermore, the thought of mandatory union dues adds another layer of financial burden that many of us might not be able to bear. The fact that our state laws aren’t even uniform across the board makes the idea of a national or even regional union even more complicated and potentially ineffective. “Can Independent Contractors Form a Union?
I haven’t done one for less than $100. I just did a buyers today for $115 and one last Friday for $110. I haven’t done many refi’s lately because the fees are lower in some cases than a sellers signing. While there are refi’s out there in the $100- $120 range, there has been a decrease in the offered fees from offers coming from signingorder.com, snapdocs and cxchoice. I think region and notary saturation has a lot to do with it also.
I have noticed a significant drop in my signing opportunities as well, because of my fees. I typically charge $125 as the base fee for a Refi. $25 is added for scanbacks, and depending on the distance, I attach an additional $25 (30+ miles 1 way). I have long since accepted that I will not accept jobs below my overhead. Sometimes when I’m “tricked” into accepting a job for a simple Buyer signing ($100 offer) or HELOC ($50 offer), and it turns out to be 150 pages with scanbacks and/or 4 people at the table; I feel like I should be paying the SS for my foolish decision. I NEVER accept these ridiculous offers! I start at $125 for Purchases because full loan documents are attached to the sale, and $100 for HELOCs because they can be up to 125 pages. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that I stick to my well advertised prices and hours of operation.
Speaking quickly on the hours of operation; If I accept a job at 3pm and documents arrive after 6 pm, it will either be unassigned if the signing will begin after 7pm, or another $50 will be attached for late signings between 7-8pm. I could not be offered anything that will get me on the road more than 1 hour past my working hours (8am-7pm M-F, 9am-5pm Sa).
Go ahead and create your union. Let’s see how that works out. Real entrepreneurs turn lemons in the lemonade. I’ve been doing loan signings for over 24 years, I am not complaining.
Are you in a market where it’s not saturated with notaries, probably not,
Are you in a market where the Signing Companies are reducing your Signing Fee because the New Notaries are doing work for less ..
I own the concept of making lemonade out of lemons , but when you don’t have enough LEMON(S) , you can’t make lemonade all you can do is make flavored water We need something to protect the notaries who have been doing this business for a long time
Of course, signing services (and even title companies) will tell you your fee is too high. They’re running a business also – just like us. They shop around for low fees just like we do (I shop for lowest priced toner, paper, vehicle fuel, office supplies, etc). As long as someone is willing to take those low fees, those SSs make out good. They’re still getting $200 - $250 (or more) for each file. If the notary is willing to take the paltry $50 fee being offered through those blast offers, that SS is more than willing to make bank.
As an NSA, I’m running a business. I set my fees. When I get a blast offer, I’ll counter-offer if what they offer is not in my business plan. Many, many times I get the assignment and get paid the agreed-to fee.
Think about it. When you need a plumber, that service provider will tell you what s/he charges and we either agree to it or move on. Same when you take your car in for service; or when you go to the doctor; or when you get a haircut. Service providers are running a business and set their fees. You don’t go in there and tell them, “I’ll pay you $10 for that $180 oil and filters change.” All our service providers have overhead. So do we.
Don’t put yourself in the bargain basement. Be the professional you claim to be and set your own professional fees.
Above should be a banner you put on your visor OR engraved on a monument and dropped on the head of those who think they’re doing themselves any good by doing favors for lowballers.
Be professional by setting professional fees. Keep saying it until it sinks in.
Become a preferred Notary to a few of the platform agencies. Are you taking those last minute or late-night signings? Especially if another notary dropped due to whatever reasons? If they know you will help them out, they will shovel the signings and at a good fee. Or at least a competitive one.
When I see the low-ball offers I usually ignore them or counter with my offer. Countering works better if you see the same job offered twice, that means the newbie notaries are choking on the krill being shoveled onto their plates by cut-throat signing companies. Yay! Clear the way for the more fairly priced jobs.
I only accept a Heloc for $70 if they have the published page count and do not include a scan. Our region is staturated with many long-in-the-tooth notaries who are already in the sweetheart seat with local title companies. I have been in business since January 2017 and was the low-notary on the totel pole suffering through the slings and arrows of low-ballers and no-payers. I have always maintained my standards of quality printing, professional service and reliability. On time shipping with a receipt. Scans as soon a humanly possible and I believe this has given me my market niche.
Refis for less than $100 are a ripoff, many of them also require scans even though there is a three-day recission. Whenever I accept an offer, it behoves me to confirm ASAP and then to review the package. If I accepted an offer blindly, based on good faith and it turns out to be more complicated than anticipated, I will ask for an increase in fee. Jumbo package, more than two signers, distance, a scan added on last minute? Hold firm. We are doing no one a service by going out of business.
I am not anxious to fill my dance card but I do need to make a reasonable return on the investment of my time and money. The rates dipping has fueled the market but so does the end of the year. January will be a good time to tax-prep and clean out closets. This is the way of things.
It might be scary to risk an assignment but why go into business only to fail? We know that there are Golden Tuna out there, we just need to know what that looks like in our neck of the woods.
Additonally, thank you to whomever mentioned not going out after dark. We just passed the longest night of the year. A few months back I set myself a firm NO to going out after dark. The chances of having an accident are greatly increased and even a fender bender or flat tire can put a true dent in your day. My heart goes out to those notaries who feel they must accept every offer out there, no matter how low-paying, far, or unreasonable. Since most of them are still evolving as business owners, I only cheer them on and hope that wings and spines will develop given time and opportunity.
I am a veteran SA as well and have lost a ton of money on signings over the years. We don’t even get paid per notarization anymore when you look at the cost when taking these signings. The companies may pay you for example 60 bucks and you have 10 notarizations and for us in NC if you have 2 signers that is 20 notarizations which is $200 dollars! No it is not fair. I don’t know if any of you are on FB but there is a new Notary Collition starting. I suggest you check out Tye Brown…she is starting a movement…here is the information if you are interested. https://www.facebook.com/tye.brown.505
Both really in most cases, of course their are great ones. Most notaries don’t even think of it as a business, it was sold to them as a “side-hustle” “100k” blah blah by some guru. And most SSs are just that same person who was sold again… no real clue. They will hopefully quit, we’ve already seen a great many leave the industry but it seems like their is no shortage of new suckers for the gurus to trick.
@doveinnercitynotary – “… have lost a ton of money on signings over the years.” Why? Why do you accept those low-ball fees? You give the example of “60 bucks”. That’s terrible. Why are you not setting your own fees rather than just accepting whatever paltry fee is offered?
I’m in California. In CA we are allowed to charge up to $15 per notarized signature. That works well for GNW (general notary work) where generally we can ask how many signatures will be notarized. When it comes real estate packages, the scheduler may not even have docs yet so can’t answer that question or if it’s a title/escrow company, they don’t have the time to (nor the desire) to go counting every signature to be notarized. For these latter packages, we usually give a fee quote based on location, type of package, number of signers and special requests. Based on these criteria, if and when I accept an assignment, I never lose money on that signing.
Figure out what ALL your overhead consists of. What it costs you to run and manage a business – equipment, supplies, vehicle, wardrobe, insurance, taxes, etc. Add a small profit margin to that figure and you may have a workable fee.
