Did an assignment on September 29th and have yet to get paid. The Voicemail full over a week and could not leave a message. I found his personal number and email and tried to call. He sent a message immediately saying “sorry, I’m in A closing.” I waited for the next day to call him back and left a message about how he should understand about how notaries need to get paid, since he does closings, and depend on compensation to continue to run a business. No call back, no text, no payment. I sent a message to Stewart Title from a lead I got here on this site. Cindy sent an email to him and CC’ d me, requesting that he remit payment immediately and to send proof of payment. That was nearly 10 days ago. I still haven’t heard a peep from him. This was a 4-hour round trip from me for the signing. HArd Lesson learned!!! After that, I got another offer from another company, which I turned down after researching and found the same problems of non payment.
Shame on Stewart Title and the escrow agent that assigned the job to AOE without vetting them.
The industry is slow enoug now that there is little excuse for escrow officers not looking for a notary to do a direct assignment.
With escrow agents using dead beat signing services, the Notaries Public need to insist on being listed on the settlement statement and paid by title during disbursement of funds. Title can pay SS their portion seperate from paying the notary.
Respectfully, Guy
I also did a signing for AOE Signing LLC back on July 20, 2022 and have not been paid. The signing went great and the clients were awesome. But, I have now turned my invoice over to my attorney to file a claim on their surety bond for non payment.
Notary, I reached out to Stewart Title in hopes of recovering my compensation for a job I did about 60 days ago on a net 45 from AOE. Hard lesson learned. This was Cindy’s kind response:
Hi Darla
Unfortunately Dylan Torres has completely stopped responding to any of our requests. You will need to contact AZ BBB and AZ Secretary of State and NNA and report his commission number and take legal action against him and AOE. Im so very sorry. When we found out about his unethical work practices we immediately cut ties and stopped using his company.
Cindy Canales
Sr. Escrow Officer
Stewart Title Guaranty Company-Centralized Title Services
Hello Kuttingedge01,
Did you ever receive payment for the work you did?
Darla
I say again, the only reason Signing Services like this one exist are because of inept, uncaring, unethical escrow agents and title companies that do not vet the companies they use to find Noteries Public.
Escrow Agents and Title Companies are so concerned about Notaries screwing up a closing and souring a deal. Yet, they aren’t concerned enough to protect Notaries from the unscrupulous Signing Services they choose to find the notaries.
Notaries need to be named on Settlement Statements ant their fees paid directly by Title/Escrow on the day of funding. Everyone else gets paid on funding day. What makes Notaries less worthy of immediate payment; please tell me!!!
No I have not been paid and the signing was on July 20, 2022 fee is $85
Notaries need to be named on Settlement Statements ant their fees paid directly by Title/Escrow on the day of funding. Everyone else gets paid on funding day. What makes Notaries less worthy of immediate payment.
Ab-so-lute-ly!
I’m very sorry to hear that, you are not alone.
I received the following email from Fidelity National Title. It is a
move in the right direction:
‘As we continue to partner with you on our transactions, due to an internal change we will require your invoice to be provided to the escrow officer as soon as your services are excepted. Your notary fee will now be collected from the buyer/seller and this charge will need to be reflected on the settlement statement. One of the benefits to you is your invoice will be paid at the time of closing.’
This policy should be the standard for all Title Companies and most especially all Signing Services.
This policy will push the unscrupulous Signing Services out of the industry.
Respectfully, Guy
That is great news… maybe they will be the first to set the stage of changes for the way SS and the notary gets paid. Full transparency should be the standard. I am pround of them for taking this stand.
OMG! That is incredible! Amazing!
Finally, some integrity, transparency, and decency. I’ve been saying this for months. It doesn’t make any SENSE that NSAs should have to wait for payment, let alone 30, 60, and 90 days. What??? Boom! Right there on the settlement statement for all to see. No more wondering who is getting what and for what.
This should be the standard.
Just what is needed! Awesome!
This is fantastic news!!! Thank you.
She sent me the same exact email. AOE owes me $300.
I have been waiting 114 days for 2 signings in August. $170.00 total. If you search under “AOE SIgnings” there is another thread of people that have not been paid. At one point almost a month ago, he finally emailed myself and another notary with an attachments that said “payment”. It was a virus!!!
I emailed Cindy.Canales@stewart.com on December 5th, but shew was on vacation. I will follow up Monday as I’m sure she is back. I have found several other notaries that were never paid as well. He should be in jail for fraud!!!
I completed a signing in September. No payment yet. Their phone is disconnected. How do I proceed to obtain payment? I’m new to this and now I’m very discouraged 
Cindy told me that they cut ties and to report him, but the SOS wasn’t concerned because he didn’t due a “bad” notarization and BBB total waste of time. I will be acquiring an attorney come first of the year.
It’s a shame that you did not get paid or find satisfaction in your pursuit of your earned compensation. I think you’d only find more frustration engaging an attorney. They don’t take tiny cases because they can’t make any money and they typically get at least 40% of anything they recover for you if they do decide to take your case. See my recent post on recovering unpaid fees here:
[Signing companies shutting down. Going out of business - #4 by Bobby-CA]
Darla…getting an attorney is only going to cost you more money…this is a matter where they will require an hourly fee…not worth it. If you want to go the legal route, check into your small claims court procedures.