Neither situation would surprise me. However, as Pamela says, the difference may be refunded in the end. It's more common than not (especially here in SO Cal for some reason) for ALTA settlement statements provided at the signing to be "Estimated". Maybe it's because we don't do table funding. But as it's been explained to me, they often pull final payoff demands and do all the final verifications (property taxes paid, etc.) on the actual closing date - which is rarely the same day as the doc signing. And if docs are received in the morning, funding and disbursement can happen on the same day. (I know at least OC has electronic recording, and that's probably true also for LA, San Diego and other large counties nearby. There may be some counties, esp in northern most pat of the state, where that's no the case.) So it's entirely possible that it gets adjusted.
Having said that, I know of at least one NSA in my area who, as of when we met @ FedEx a few years ago, was doing $75 signings all day... And I'm pretty sure she's not the only one! And it wouldn't surprise me if some signing services were keeping half the fee - including when the scheduler and/or escrow are in-house.
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