Teri, if you remember we kept you abreast of everything that occurred with First National Title, who's owner embezzeled 6 million dollars. Again, if you remember we gave you the number of the Washington D.C. offices of the FBI, so you could reconfirm what was told to us. As we informed ALL of the notary's that this affected, the FBI froze the assets of FNT, who had hired us to do the signings. The FBI was not allowing any money to leave accounts of FNT. It's not always as simple as people want to lead other's to believe.
I understand Teri's anger. As a company we lost $25,000 with this account. We, as a company, did the responsible thing and hired an attorney, filed the appropriate paper work in case they filed a BK, and kept our notary's apprised of the situation. We also explained, that we would not be the first in line to collect. FNT defrauded their borrower's. Borrower's were left with 2 mortgages to pay...and their banks (old mortgage and new mortgage) were going after the borrower's for payments. FNT went after low income and C and D paper borrower's. These borrower's were desperate for a loan. It was a horrible experience.
But the bottom line in this business, no matter what level you are, is there is an inherent risk. As we advised the notary's, the best thing to do was to claim the signings as a loss on their taxes. That is what we had to do as a company. We will not see the money. The FBI has recovered very little from the owner. They arrested him as he was leaving the country out of the Miami-Dade airport.
We are only a very small part of the casuality that this man left behind. Borrower's have lost their homes, employees, their jobs. Of couse we wish it differently. We fight everyday for payments, when you'd think it not neccessary. It's amazing how many escrow companies "forget" to pay an invoice. And as bad as it is to receive payment anywhere from 2 to 8 months in arrears, the bottom line is we will get it, unless it's a situation such as FNT. We are dedicated to tracking down money.
If there is one thing I'd like notary's to know it is that we've run our business the exact same for 11 years. Once payment is received, we immediately process and get commission statements and checks to the notarys. If we did not operate that way, we would find ourselves in a position like KMC.
I wish Terri luck. She's a very good notary and was always willing and able to do a signing. I wish the circumstances were different, but unfortunately, on both sides, there is a cost of doing business that does not always turn out favorably. |
