US Certified signers

[signwithkat]

Received a signing from them yesterday. Has anyone worked with this company?

[akoster]

I worked for them last December. Payment was slow almost 2 months.

[signwithkat]

Thanks for feedback. I will keep tabs on my payment.

[garyw148]

I have performed 6 for them this year and so far so good. Many SS companies are slow payers but normally nothing over 2 months which works for me.

[crumbster]

I would take every thing they have to offer, Great folks, no problems ever!!!

[kdelano]

Awesome company - worked with them for many years!

[lillyaclark.19]

I realize this post is over 2 years old, but i want to chime in about a new experience with US Certified signers instead of creating a new post. I was not very happy about my offer today with US certified signers. They were offering me an assignment at last minute and only 5 miles from me for $125. I thought it was not too bad for an offer, their email does disclose if for any reason the fee is too low and notary may require an increase of fee please let them know right of away. After I received the package through signingorder.com to review it these 2 factors play a big role in any assignments before printing I never print unless I’m good with the fee and have confirmed appointment with signer. I called US certified signers immediately as the number of pages to print was 212 and with a copy for borrower it was 424 pages and there was 3 signers as well. Though the scheduler did call me to let me know he had no idea about the amount of pages. I informed him I would need an increase of about $75 dollars and an email with new fee amount before I can print and compete this assignment. He tried to tell me that title only gives them the amount they are offering to the notary and that he would have to call title to get an increase. as we all know by now the CD has the amounts disclosed on what the notary fee is which the customer is charged for and the customer is also being charged for document prep by the title companies. I told him I would need an increase or he needs to find another notary to accept this ridiculous low offer. I did the whole cost analysis and I would have been deficit -$1.30. Which is why all notaries should be doing an analysis of their costs to work for yourself so your making a profit. I don’t know about you, but I like make a profit. You may be accepting 3-8 notarizations daily and you may possibly be coming out even or deficit in your books. Good luck to everyone and stay safe out there!

[m_somintac]

Hi, I’m new. Could you provide a breakdown of your cost analysis. Obviously theres price per page and vehicle mileage cost. But what else?

[gatorgreg81]

Do they oly pay $25 per signing on signing fee I just reviewed their agreement and its states the pay a $25 siginng fee. Is there an additional travel fee they will allow as well?

[cNsa5]

It would be in your best interest to jot down all of the expenses associated with performing the services you provide within your service region to determine a baseline operating cost. Then, at that point, you can calculate the fees that will generate a net profit to determine if you’ll have a Profit or sustain a Loss at that rate.

There are many items to consider within your Overhead calculations. Here are a few to get you started:
• telephone expenses including cell phone equipment and monthly service fees
• office equipment and furniture; i.e., work chair, work desk, reliable dual-tray printer, trustworthy scanner, etc.
• Notarial stamps for Jurats, Acknowledgements, Notarial Name, Commission Expiration, etc.
• rent and utilities
• paper
• toner
• binder clips
• pens (inexpensive for one-time use)
• stationery and supplies including stamps & envelopes
• travel costs to & from signer locations (i.e., create a generic by county list)
• travel costs to & from FedEx/UPS/USPS, etc. (i.e., choose your favorite location OR the closest that will provide you with a receipt)
• business insurance
• business-related meals and entertainment
• professional association memberships
• annual background checks
• annual certification expenses
• legal and accounting fees
• tax preparation fees
• advertising and marketing costs; i.e., Google ads, yellow pages ad, website, business cards, or brochure
• Protection equipment; i.e., COVID-19 masks, hand sanitizer, wipes, etc.

AND many more!

Your individual overhead would also include the cost of fringe benefits; i.e., medical insurance, disability insurance, retirement benefits. Also, remember to include quarterly income tax payment to federal & state (as appropriate) and self-employment taxes.

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If calculating all this accurately seems to be a bit overwhelming, reach out to your tax advisor and ask for guidance in this regard.

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Also, there is an excellent specific cost breakdown by one business owner for services within her [ @anon78047977 ] region & for her overhead:

"Ok for a seasoned already in business Signing Agent (meaning no start up costs to factor in, just on going costs)

Average Refinance

• 150 pages (300 when having to print 2 copies)
• 35 miles average miles to signing/from signing/to FedEx drop
• Print cost average .15 per page (Laser printer, standard paper. Note this is also the cost at Staples, FedEx Office in the area BUT I have actually calculated my real costs by dividing the number of pages I get from a toner kit, my drum kit, cost of paper etc. but I use this average of .15 because there are Notaries around who actually use outside printing)
• IRS mileage .56 per mile (you can use actual costs of gas, insurance, plus maintenance costs. I will use the IRS rate because it’s a good average and I also have Tolls I have to pay which I will not add in this example. Also later I kind of use this amount as a “catch all” for other expenses. Again, I have determined my “actual” costs and the averages I use are pretty spot on.)
• 2.25 hours an average total time spent which includes, confirming appt & reviewing instructions, printing/prepping docs, travel time to/from/to FedEx, signing/notarizing docs, scan back
• Costs that people usually do not take into consideration because it’s part of their household BUT they are costs of running a business (home office expenses - internet, electric, computer, phone, supplies, etc.) Remember every business has similar expenses

So here we go…let’s look at average total for this signing:
$45 print costs
$19.60 mileage rate (So this number is based on IRS mileage rate. I use this number as a catch all to give me an estimate of my actual costs (gas, toll, %of annual maintenance, %of insurance and a % of home office costs, %of supplies, etc. Since I know my % for every business expenses, I already know this number is pretty close to my actual costs. For example my actual costs for this signing would be around $21)

It will cost me $64.60 for a 150 page refinance order. With no issues, no traffic, no reprints, no problems

If I took a $75 signing fee I would net $10.40
I would net roughly $4.62 per hour for a signing that took up 2.25 hours of my time.

$95 I would net $30.40 or $13.51 per hour
$125 I would net $60.40 or $26.84 per hour
$150 I would net $85.40 or $37.96 per hour

So when I advocate for SAs and fees I am not just coming up with number off the top of my head. I have done the math for myself personally."

SOURCE: Signing Agent Fee is Just Not a Notary Fee - #38 by notarybe

[Ntrylsa84]

I do not suggest any notaries to work for this company. Unless they get in there and audit some of their employees.

Today I had an order come through last minute for $85. I counter offered for $125 because I will not do any purchase or sellers documents for anything less than 125.
Come to find out when they sent me the files of the closing documents over, there’s documents for a purchase transaction and a sellers. So it looks like I’m completing two different transactions a sellers and a buyers.
They were very misleading with the original notification of the order or orders I should say. I called them back. They did agreed to an adjustment on the fee for two separate transactions.
That’s not the end. I received this order last minute from them. I received it around 2:50 PM Did not receive documents until around 3:30 at the same time I received the client contact information. The client lives about an hour from me. I called the client and confirmed appointment time for 6 PM because it was gonna take me at least 30 to 40 minutes at the most to print out Documents for each transaction and copies for each signer. I got a call from US certified signers a few minutes later attempting to micromanage me and question me in a snarky manner regarding the 6 PM appointment confirmation. They were upset and they were complaining to me that TITLE was upset because I confirmed the appointment for 6 PM. I literally can’t make this stuff up. They sent me a last-minute appointment which is an hour away from me on two separate transactions and they expected me to be there before six. Let me remind you when the order came through. It was a , TBD. I advise them that I would not be completing the order after all and they could take it back.

[RiverpointeTax]

It’s interesting seeing comments from years ago to today, how far these SSs have devolved.