Posted by Chica - CA on 10/15/04 10:41pm
Msg #9917

English & Spanish Mobile Notary Services

Hello everyone,

The E&S serviced called me today for a signing tomorrow. They called me when I was on the road with my kids in the backsit, I agreed to the signing for $60.00 - Before I knew who they really were. They claim the Docs would be delivered to the borrowers verse sending it to me (weird). Anyway, as I kept trying to call the borrower's to confirm the appointment (no answer or answering machine, I still have not yet spoken to the borrowers yet). I notice in small print the name of the signing company.

I have a copy of HisHugeness bad debt list and others - and of course the name was familiar from this forumn. Me, being a soccer team mom to two of my girls teams, has a game to attend to (which I would had miss for the signing). My daughter is 6 and my husband works on Saturday, he can not attend. I have no family near by). I was thinking of paying my 13 year old neighbor to watch my daughter during the signing.

Now, that I know I probably will not get paid - Should I just call the contact: Regina and cancel?

Thanks,

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/16/04 2:10am
Msg #9922

Yes, I would cancel and be sure to tell them the exact reason why. It took me 3 months and about 10 phone calls to get paid $75 from them. They're very nice when you talk to them on the phone, but nice just isn't enough to work for free.

Reply by Julie-MI on 10/16/04 9:30pm
Msg #9949

Docs to borrower really is a good thing; this way if the original notary backs out, the signing service can dispatch another, without having to pick up docs from original notary.

I would call the title company and tell them the non-payment history of E & S, and see if they will pay you directly. If not, I wouldn't go. But since it is Sat. at 10:30 pm, this response really doesn't matter!

As a mom myself, why would you do a signing for $60 with a reputable company on a Sat. when you know your girls have a game and you would have to pay a sitter, which would reduce your $60 to a lot less depending on your babysitter's fees?

Reply by Glena on 10/16/04 11:38pm
Msg #9951

I got my payment today...

I did a signing for a Countrywide signing in July today. I called last week and was told that the reason why they are late in paying is because Ameriquest has not paid them on several of their signings and they are running behind on their schedule. I told him that my signing was not for Ameriquest and he promised to send me the check immediately...he fulifilled his promise. If your signing is with Amereriquest, that is what's going on. He called me for a asigning last Monday and I refused to accept it because of the payment issue. I don't think that I will ever accept any assignment from them again. Good luck to you!

Reply by Ninna Mantooth-Lopez on 10/17/04 12:58pm
Msg #9957

It's my opinion that if you agree to accept a signing, you should attend. Next time, keep your list of companies you are not willing to work for in your car... in your calendar... by your phone, etc., so that you can quickly glance at it when you get a call. Make sure you understand the name of the company requesting the signing before you accept.... and match it to your list. Canceling a signing the day before the signing because after you accepted it, you realized you didn't want to work for the company because of non-payment issues is not the borrower's fault... and they will be the ones who will suffer should another notary not be found in time.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/17/04 4:25pm
Msg #9958

I disagree. I don't think we should be obligated to go to a signing if we know that there's a very good chance that we're not going to be paid for it, or that it's going to require a ton of effort to collect that payment. I'm running a business, not a charity organization, and I'm not going to go work for free just because the borrower might have to "suffer". I'm more concerned about my own financial "suffering".

If the original poster called English/Spanish Mobile Notary first thing in the morning, they would have the entire day to come up with a new signing agent. I get plenty of same day calls so I know this isn't very unusual for the industry. It may be a huge inconvenience for everybody involved, but ultimately it is definitely not impossible to find another notary to head out to the signing. So personally, I wouldn't feel like the borrower would suffer at all because the signing still could be done.

I think it's a case of "you reap what you sow". If you're a signing service who is in the habit of stiffing your notaries, you should expect last minute cancellations if some of the notaries discover how you run your business. I would also say it's reasonable to call the title company to apologize to them, but explain exactly why I wasn't going to do the signing. These types of signing services deserve to lose all the business that they can.

I also think that too many people in here use the "poor borrower" card way too often. I don't think it's unethical to run my business as a business and I'm not going to eat costs and work for free for something that is beyond my control. If I screw something up, of course I'll do whatever it takes to fix it, but the fact that English/Spanish Mobile Notary is taking forever to get paid by Ameriquest (which was the same excuse I was given several weeks ago) has nothing to do with me so why should I have to be the one to suck it up?

Reply by Ninna Mantooth-Lopez on 10/17/04 7:02pm
Msg #9965

My comment to the original poster was next time to make sure who the caller is before accepting the signing. She accepted the signing without hearing or understanding the name of the company. That is no one's fault but her own. If she didn't understand or couldn't hear the name of the company... she should have asked again so that she could clearly hear what company it was.... then match it to whatever list she has.

Reply by Oldbie_CA on 10/17/04 7:36pm
Msg #9966

Isn't it funny when signing services call you and mumble the name of their company. It's like they are trying to hide who they are especially if they have a bad reputation.

Just an observation.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/17/04 9:26pm
Msg #9970

I understand that, but I don't think it makes any difference. Whether she has her own list of companies to avoid, or whether she had just happened to stumble across the information about the signing service in here, it's all the same to me. It's not her fault for not happening to know this companies reputation, it's their fault for having that reputation to begin with. It's a company that is crappy about paying their notaries and we don't owe them squat in consideration.

If she were considering cancelling the signing at 7 pm on the day of the signing I would feel different. But in her case she was giving the signing service plenty of time to find a replacement notary (yes, it was a weekend, but this company has cell numbers on their confirmation sheet).

Reply by Barbara / CA on 10/19/04 2:24pm
Msg #10056

I had a very negative experience with English & Spanish Notary Services. They are very disorganized. It took me two months to get paid, then they under paid me and I had to wait more time for them to send me the rest of the money.

Plus they are having difficulty collecting from their lender, so they don't pay their notaries until they have collected from the lender ... which causes long delays for you to get paid.

Not a good business to do business with.