Posted by 3 Notaries on 7/15/05 10:45am
Msg #52450

WARNING! NO Assured Settlement Group, L.L.C.

We have just been told by Assured Settlement Group, LLC, that they have no intentions of ever paying any of the $150. this company owes us!
We did a closing in March of this year and this is July. No payment. (Even after 2 reminder calls where we were told that they would be sending a check!)
The closing docs were 4 hours late and not complete. Some were faxed to us.
We told the company at that time, BEFORE the closing, that the paperwork was NOT complete. They told us that it was fine ... (no HUD).
Now we are being TOLD that they had to send a different closer, (from THEIR office ...of course!!), the next day to, "fix it".
Assured Settlement Group, LLC said that the borrowers were very upset with the closer from our company. Not True.I was there! They were very upset at the time of closing with Assured Settlement Group, LLC, for sending unreadable faxed DOCS and for the eDOCs being 4 hours late!
The Assured Settlement Group, LLC blamed our company in order to get around paying for the closing. (blaming us for everything under the sun, and making it up as they went!) BEWARE!!! They even said, Go ahead and turn it in for collection, we have NO intentions of EVER paying you! DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY!

Reply by droman/IL on 7/15/05 4:21pm
Msg #52527

See Msg #51327 to report them to the various agencies.

Reply by 3 Notaries on 7/15/05 10:06pm
Msg #52598

Thank you so very much! I will do that.
Venting here and helping others to know about these companies is most helpful ...but it cost me $150 just to do it!!! :0)
Thanks again!

Reply by Glena/NV on 7/16/05 3:01am
Msg #52651

Have you ever tried...

Calling the borrowers to see if they really sent another notary to do it? HUD is not a notarized document and more often than not, they would just mail the documents to the borrower. I would also ask if they were happy with your service at the time of the signing and would they consider signing a statement to that effect. You see, those borrowers already paid for the services that you have conducted and if you have not been paid and are being blamed for the mistakes that you did not make, the borrowers will probably want to know. If it was my case, I would work with the borrowers to get the money that they paid supposedly for the services that I did. I don't care if I get paid or not as long as they don't get to keep the money. If they are not paying you, the borrowers should be refunded the amount. Another thing is that, with a demand letter from the borrower urging them to pay or refund them the fee, they will be forced to take action...at least in my opinion.

Reply by 3 Notaries on 7/16/05 5:10am
Msg #52653

Harrassment

When I happened to mention it to the company that I should call the borrowers to ask them about the closing, the company told me tat they would suggest that I wouldn't do that because the company would have to charge me with harrassing the borrowers, "and as a matter of fact we could consider your call today as harassment, So do what you have to do, turn it in for collection or whatever you feel that you have to do. We will just dispute it when we get it."
Nice company huh?! :0)

Reply by 3 Notaries on 7/16/05 5:21am
Msg #52654

Also about the Docs

We had to play around with trying to get the DOCs in the first place! We were to be at the closing at 1:00 and I had to call and call to even get the DOCs. Their excuse was that the lender was having trouble with the DOCs. I kept in contact with the borrowers every time I called the company. (Long Distance with both the Company and the borrowers. More expense on my part.) A VERY flustrating experience with the DOCS and when they finally came through we couldn't even down load them!!! ...(Yes we have both a PC type laser printer and a regular HP laser and neither would work with their DOCs.) Four hours late,
they finally emailed part and when I asked if that was all of them, they sent more Faxed. Then the closing was about an hour's drive ..one way... (More expense on my part ...not to mention the two sets of DOCS). A total waste of an entire day ... with No pay!

Reply by CaliNotary on 7/16/05 12:07pm
Msg #52668

Terrible Idea

"I don't care if I get paid or not as long as they don't get to keep the money. If they are not paying you, the borrowers should be refunded the amount."

What a ridiculous and self serving statement. This is business, you damn well SHOULD care if you get paid or not if you did the work. If you're just doing this for charitable purposes, there are a heck of a lot more worthy issues you could devote your time to than real estate loans.

You should never involve the borrowers in your attempts to collect your fees after the signing. They didn't hire you, the money they paid goes to the company that did hire you. That company is the only one you should be dealing with. It's fine to report signing services to title companies if they don't pay you, but to involve the borrowers is really the height of unprofessionalism.

Reply by 3 Notaries on 7/16/05 6:37pm
Msg #52708

Borrowers

I considered calling the title company, "Option One Mortgage Corporation" , out of Columbus , Ohio, but I didn't think it would do any good as the company who called me will lie right to your face and accuses me of all of the wrong doings....., plus ..
I didn't have a phone number!! :0)
I also considered filing in small claims court. ($150), I suppose that the borrowers would have to be called in to see who was telling the truth in this instance!! :0) IT"S ME!!!! :0)
MAYBE if the company got a letter sent to them by the Distr. Magist. they might pay up!!! :0)