Posted by SL/CA on 9/7/04 10:12am
Msg #7495

Return trip fee/not my fault

a mortgage company has asked me to return and get an additional paper signed because of incorrect information(not my fault).the first time the drive was an hour (LA traffic) they paid mortgage company fees which was good.i'm not sure what to charge this time.any suggestions?
thanks

Reply by Paul_IL on 9/7/04 12:21pm
Msg #7497

SL,
Since this was their fault and not yours I would charge my normal fee for a signing of that distance. If they are a good proven repeat customer you might consider offering a slight discount. Remember that your time is valuable and you will not be able to accept any additional work during that time so it does not matter if it is one document or 30 you need to be fairly compensated for your time.

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/7/04 12:37pm
Msg #7498

I wouldn't charge for a full signing for something like this. While a big portion of our fees is for travel, you can't discount the fact that you'll be in and out of this appointment in less than 5 minutes.

As a mobile notary you should already have rates in place for non-loan signing notarizations - $10 per notarization plus travel. If it was an hour in LA traffic I'm guessing it was a bout 25-30 miles. I'd definitely make the appointment at a time where traffic should be light (although in LA you never know) and would charge about $50.

Reply by Paul_IL on 9/7/04 2:38pm
Msg #7507

You miss a simple point here. This is a loan signing notarization and it was a mistake made by the lender. If it had been your mistake they would expect you to take care of it for free. So take that into consideration when you quote a fee for something like this.

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/7/04 2:45pm
Msg #7508

Yeah, it was the lender's fault, but it's still ultimately a completely separate transaction from the first signing. I don't think the lender should have to pay any more than any other trip the notary would make to notarize a single document, nor should they pay less. I would treat it the same as if Joe Blow needed me to come and notarize a permission slip for his kid to take a field trip out of the country or something.

Reply by CarolynCO on 9/8/04 7:37am
Msg #7543

CaliNotary says: "I wouldn't charge for a full signing for something like this. While a big portion of our fees is for travel, you can't discount the fact that you'll be in and out of this appointment in less than 5 minutes. "

The 5 minutes in and out time, to me, doesn't make any difference, nor does the the fact that it is 2-3 pages or 100. This was not the fault of the SA. A one way, 30 minute drive, still equates to an hour of the SA's time.

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/8/04 4:32pm
Msg #7560

You're absolutely right. Somebody else said they would charge as a full signing, my point was that it would take much less time than a full signing and should be charged accordingly - based on the amount of time it would take the notary, not based on the fact that the title company made a mistake. I think this should be treated as a completely separate deal, not an extension of the previous signing. To think that the notary should be able to charge more just because the title company screwed up just strikes me as wrong and explotative.

If I charge $80 for a signing that's 30 miles away, I'm charging that because I'm assuming it's going to take about 2 hours of my time. If I were travelling 30 miles to get one document signed, I'm going to assume it's going to take about an hour of my time, so I wouldn't charge $80 for that, I would charge less - I'd charge $40 to $50 depending on the company.

Reply by SL/CA on 9/7/04 12:40pm
Msg #7499

is $75 being greedy?

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/7/04 1:23pm
Msg #7503

There's no greed involved, it's just business. You quote them a fee, they can either accept it or not. Or you can ask them what they're willing to pay for this trip and take it if you think it's fair for the time involved. Don't undercut yourself, but don't try to milk the situation either. How long would the trip take you if you scheduled it at a time where you didn't have to worry about traffic?

I would suggest that you remember the goodwill factor - sometimes it's well worth it to lose 20 or 30 bucks on an appointment if it's going to make you shine in their eyes and lead to a lot more work.

Reply by Paul_IL on 9/7/04 4:02pm
Msg #7522

Greed has nothing to do with it. Think about it this way. If you say you will do it at x time and an hour later another company wanted you to do a signing also at x time you would be unable to do so and would lose on that signing fee so that loan correction better be worth it if you have to pass on another paying job. Simple economics.

Reply by SL/CA on 9/7/04 4:38pm
Msg #7523

Thank-you!!!