Posted by F2F/FL on 8/18/12 7:41am
Msg #430911

Question and advice please

If you have done a signing for a borrower and you were sent there through a ss, the borrower is a building contractor, and is very happy to find out that (I) am living and working very close to him, and he mentions that he may need my service's in his line of work, can I then solicit him for future BNW? Or am I limited in how much contact I can have with the borrower because of my relationship with him through the ss. Would there be a conflict of interest in my solicitation?

The reason I ask is because of some of the reactions I have received when going into other's home's and they say boy I wish I had known about you a few weeks ago or something to that effect. I am sure a lot of you have had this happen to you, but if they have a business of their own do you have to wait for them to call you, or can you solicit your service's to them down the road?

Any advise will do as I am going to start looking for more GNW. When the snowbirds return I am sure signings should pick up in my area.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/18/12 7:55am
Msg #430913

I see no problem with this

IF an SS contracts with you, it's on behalf of their client, who is the title company. The borrowers are not their clients. I always leave my business cards with the borrower - it's stapled to the file folder containing their documents and I point it out to them should they ever need a notary -

That reminds me - I need more business cards..

Good luck!!

Reply by Linda Juenger on 8/18/12 10:59am
Msg #430932

Re: I see no problem with this

I did a refi on a couple's home and a few weeks later he called me wondering if I would help him. He wanted to add a 2 story garage onto his home and some neighbors objected saying it was too big. He got a petition from the city and I walked door to door with him notarizing signatures who signed that petition. There is nothing wrong with this as I was hired by an individual that I happened to meet earlier. He could have found me if he googled me. Go for it.

Reply by jba/fl on 8/18/12 8:12am
Msg #430914

Me either.

Where are you located F2F?

Reply by MW/VA on 8/18/12 9:17am
Msg #430916

No problems at all. You're not competing, meaning

stealing biz from the ss by working directly for the tc.
I'm glad the contact will lead to some future biz for you. :-)

Reply by Clem/CA on 8/18/12 9:42am
Msg #430921

I'm going to a clients house today that I gave my card to during a SS signing. Soliciting is as easy as just leaving a card, or a pen with your info on it. Solicit away!

Reply by F2F/FL on 8/18/12 10:12am
Msg #430929

Thank you all for your encouraging responses.
First answer is that I am in the Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area of SW FL.

I do indeed hand out my business cards at every signing and I let them know I am just a phone call away. I was just thinking that when I hand out my cards and the person that I am Face 2 Face with I will be getting their business cards as well, for follow up. I have always been under the assumption that we should not try and (sell) our business to others at the table, but I will if they are happy to know that I am available to them.

Thankx again for your time and always positive responses.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 8/18/12 2:03pm
Msg #430949

Hey, F2F/FL

Please contact me via PM or email....
I am in Englewood, and often get requests for mobile services (GNW) in PC/PG, however, folks don't want to pay me that mobile fee for 20+ mile one way.
I'd be glad to refer future GNW in PC/PG business to you.

Reply by Pro Mobile Notary on 8/18/12 3:51pm
Msg #430970

I will answer this rhetorical question from the perspective of a ss.

There is nothing wrong with a signing agent leaving their business card with the people doing the signing. It is not okay to send your cards back to the escrow officer/settlement agent/title company as that could be considered a direct solicitation of business from the client of the ss.

We get periodic requests for the signing agent that did their prior refinance signing and often the only way the borrower knows or remembers who did the signing for them was because of the card that was left with the borrower. I love it when we get requests for the services of a specific signing agent in our network. We have one NSA that has now signed the same couple up on five different transactions. It makes out lives easier when we already know who to assign to the appointment.

Reply by LKT/CA on 8/18/12 9:22pm
Msg #430991

<<<It is not okay to send your cards back to the escrow officer/settlement agent/title company as that could be considered a direct solicitation of business from the client of the ss.>>>

I include my business card with the signed docs is so the TC will call the SS and request me for the next signing......NOT for the purpose of directly marketing to the TC.

Reply by jba/fl on 8/18/12 11:37pm
Msg #430995

I include my business card with the signed docs is so the TC will call me direct if there is a question about what happened, where is, etc. Saves everyone some time. If they have to call SS, then SS call me, then call TC back.....might as well play "telephone game".

Reply by sueharke on 8/19/12 2:52pm
Msg #431044

If sending a business card to the title company is not considered ethical, then maybe the following printed card might be. "If there are any questions or issues regarding this signing, please feel free to contact me directly at (xxx-xxx-xxxx)." This might give the TC or other authorized person an opportunity to resolve issues faster and not appear as advertising for future jobs from the respective company.

Reply by jba/fl on 8/19/12 5:00pm
Msg #431054

"If sending a business card to the title company is not considered ethical"

I don't feel this is unethical. That would be your baggage. I'm with the same reasoning as Hugh - custom, customary and usual, always done for past 47 years in business.

If someone is that scared of me, little old lady from Orlando with a sometimes sharp tongue, then they should consider another line of work. Quite frankly, I should be listed as an "affiliated business arrangement" also, along with anyone else who works on the file. Don't really want to be though, but I am not someone's peon either. The title company should want me again for the Orlando area, and this will help them to let ABC SS know that they like my work and need me again. I am realist enough to know that I cannot reach each and every TC and be on their list and that SS's have a certain advantage to me as well.

Reply by HisHughness on 8/19/12 3:50pm
Msg #431049

I am a business man.

To a large extent, I am going to follow standard business practices. Business cards have been in use for more than 400 years. If I have a business contact, more than likely they are going to go away with my business card. That is true whether the contact is a signing service that hired me, or a lender or title company; all of them are going to get my card. In the case of the title company or lender, if the documents go back to them, they may well also get a promotional pen.

If a signing company is so insecure in its relationship with a title company or lender that it feels it must place restrictions on the information I convey to those parties, that is the signing service's problem. I will not make it my problem.

In reality, the inclusion of a business card and promotional item with returned documents almost certainly works to the benefit of the signing service. First, if time is of the essence, the lender/TC know how to get in touch with me directly. Secondly, and more important, those items immediately let the TC/lender know what caliber signing agent the signing service assigned to their loan.

I find it remarkably petty that any signing service would attempt to restrict a signing agent in this fashion. And, on those rare occasions when I have encountered agencies that sought to do so, I have emphatically told them what they could do with their requirement.

The equation is quite simple, and it applies throughout the business world, including our business: If you provide a service to someone that is worth what they are paying, they will continue to use your service. That is true of signing agents in their relations which signing companies, and it is true of signing companies in their relations with lenders and title companies. Whether somebody gets a business card out of me doesn't affect that equation.