Posted by John/CT on 4/5/05 8:36pm
Msg #29845

Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!

Thoght I would pass on info on problem I have had with a Connecticut signing service.
On February 9,2005, I was contacted by a signing service that I had not heard of nor done business with, namely American Real Estate Services of Branford Connecticut. Jacquie Purcell, the person who contacted me seemed very nice, agreed to my fee, and assigned me two closings for Industry Partners Title, of Saratoga Springs New York. As always I inquired about thier payment terms and she assured me that American cut checks every Tuesday. That seemed great to me! I completed the signings without incident, submitted my invoice via fax, and awaited payment. After three weeks I inquired about payment and was told by Jacquie that the payment had been sent the previous Tuesday. Finnally one week later the check arrived,( dated for four days after she told me it had been sent) and I deposited it . Immediately after recieving payment Jacquie contacted me with two more assignments, which after she agreed to my fee, I accepted. These also signed without incident, were returned, and I awaited payment. After several weeks, and several voicemails left by me inquireing about payment I recieved a check for a reduced amount. I immediately called to investigate and was told by Jacquie that the docs had to be resigned because the wife had not signed. I told her that the wife had not been listed on the docs, there was not a RTC in her name and that in fact she had been the second witness that is required in CT. Jacquie told me I should have known, that she had tried to contact me to resign, and upon not contacting me had resigned them with another notary. Both my cell and office phone have missed call summaries, in fact she did not try to call! I discussed with Jacquie that if IPT had not listed the wife on the docs for whatever reason, it is not my job, responsibility, or legal ability to modify the docs. Jacquie suggested that I contact R. Schmidt at First Gaurantee, the lending arm of IPT. I did contact IPT and emailed John Rastkis. He was of little help, only forwarding my emails on to Jacquie. How many times have we all been drilled to only sign where names are printed and exactly as printed, and told that we are not attorneys. Jacquie then told me the usual lines we all get when trying to collect money,ie; we are paying you more than we get, the title company wont pay us so we cant pay you, etc...
I reminded Jacquie that I did not contract with the title company but with her and for an agreed upon fee. Jacquie would not agree and I felt that a lesson learned about American had been learned and that they would be on my NO-NO list from here on. I deposited the check only to have it bounce!!! It was submitted by my bank three times before being returned to me NSF. I tried many times to contact Jacquie concerning the check, both by email and by phone. She did not respond. I again emailed John Rastkis at IPT to ask for his help, he again forwarded it on to Jacquie and did not respond to me. Jackie finally did repond to me via email very irate and insultive toward me and through several continuing emails accused me of being a "wacko". Yes Jacquie also accused me of slander, and threatened me with a slander lawsuit for contacting the title company and asking for thier help. I only provided factual information (not slanderous). Finally last Thursday, 3-28-05, I made contact with Jacquie. ( I called from a different line so that my caller id would not show). She answered and acted like everything was rosy, assured me that she would overnight a replacement check including the fee that my bank charged me, and also to include an additional $25.00 to split the difference on the shortage. She seemed so sympathetic to the plight of notaries, assured me that she also was a notary that performed signings and did not feel it was our duty to modify docs or correct deficiencies on the docs. Well four days later and I still have not recieved my "overnight" check. In fact she sent an email saying that she would only replace the check, and not pay my fees incurred or the additional $25.00. I have had enough. I went to the police who informed me that I can file for a warrant for her arrest as well as the other partners. The police called her to give her one last chance to comply. Again she claims to have sent out the payment via ups and gave the police a tracking number. The tracking number comes up invalid at the ups web site. Go figure!!! At the suggestion of the police, I will wait to see if it arrives tomorrow. Jacquie all along kept telling me that she was just an office manager and that the "higher ups" were controlling the decisions. Well as it turns out Jacquie is a 25% owner! Also involved are Allison Purcell, David Polverari, and Peter Saunders, according to what Jacquie told the police. Jacquie also told the police that because American is an LLC company they are not accountable for the check. Can you imagine? What a way to do business!!!
I will keep you informed of any updates.
John

Reply by L.A./NSA on 4/5/05 9:39pm
Msg #29848

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-Sympathies

What a waste of your time. Sounds to me that they have been giving you the ole "run-around," taking advantage of your earnestness to do the right thing. I would take them to small claims. Intentionally writing bad checks is a felony. Lots of fradulent activity here. I believe you can file the suit with anyone in the company, as they are "agents" of the owner.

Reply by John/CT on 4/5/05 10:04pm
Msg #29854

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-Sympathies

The police told me that ALL partners are liable and I can file for a warrant against all of them. You would think that Jacquie Purcell being a member of the CT Bar Association, as she lists here on Notary Rotary, that she would want to keep her reputation a little cleaner. I will probably have to take them to small claims for any shortage, at least out of principal, even if it is not really worth the time for the return. When companies think that they can nickle and dime you out of small amounts, because you wont act on it, sometimes you need to take a stand. She will probably drag it out until the last minute to pay up.
John

Reply by Knight Notary Services on 4/5/05 9:57pm
Msg #29851

Wow . . . what a good heads up! I will definately keep a mental note of that company. Good thing you had your eyes dotted and t's crossed. Even as an LLC she still can be sued, the key will be how much. Not sure why people think that having an LLC means that you can do whatever you like. LLC literally means "Limited Liability Co." not "No Liability Co."

Michigan is a dower state, so I know automatically know the spouse needs to sign, however, when the docs don't specify it I always call and ask prior to closing how they want me to handle it. If they say don't let her sign, I document who told me this, please when they call me to go back, which they ALWAYS do, they will be paying me my full fee plus a resign fee. While we should not have to do this, and just having them sign it without permission/direction could constitute giving legal advice, companies don't always treat us like we are unbias witnesses.

A good example of this is paying less then the agreed fee for no signs or recinds. If we technically have no financial intresest in the transaction, then we should be paid the same fee no matter what. It almost puts pressure on you to get them to sign if you want to get paid your full fee. Something to think about . .

Anyhow sorry John for your experience, I sincerely hope notaries read your post and think twice about doing business with American Real Estate Services.

Reply by moose-fl on 4/5/05 11:26pm
Msg #29879

This seems to be a two part problem.

The SS sent you a bad check. Do your best to nail them to the wall.

However, you should know your states laws regarding the docs spouces have to sign. In Florida they have to sign the Mortgage (DOT) riders, RTC and TIL plus any other docs the lender prints their names on like the AKA affadavit, etc. When a spouse isn't on these doc's I know to immediately call the SS. In Florida 99.7% of the time the spouse must sign these docs. If the spouces name is not printed on the signature page of the mortgage check the first page of the mortgage to see if it states John Smith and Mary Smith a married couple....etc. No matter what, if both spouces aren't printed on the signature page of the mortgage call the SS, if for no other reason than to cover your butt!!

Be sure to document who you talked with, the time and date.

Reply by John/CT on 4/6/05 5:02am
Msg #29887

I do know my states laws and it does not require the spouse to sign. CT. is also not a "dower" state. What most title companies and most signing services dont know is that CT requires two witnesses on a mortgage deed. Im usually left to inform the borrower of this, that they must provide a second witness as I can act as the first, Doesnt make the borrower very happy. Im not in the business of doing title work, therefore I dont spend a lot of time second guessing title companies, especially when hired through a signing service. If I was to error check all the docs that I recieve, it would double my time. Do you know of any signing service or title company that would pay me double to check thier docs?. Also these were e-docs. Guess when they arrived. Do you think they arrived the day before? They arrived about an hour prior to the scheduled signing and I had a thirty minute ride to the location. You know the drill.
John

Reply by Bobbi in CT on 4/6/05 7:53am
Msg #29892

John has a good point ...

In CT, the only way to verify title is to physically go to one of the One Hundred Sixty Nine (169) town recording offices during business hours. Also, an ATTORNEY is the responsible party for review of any title abstract work. So it is out of the NSAs realm of responsibility here. Granted, if BEFORE leaving for the signing the husband states, "Hey. The lenders been scr--ing up my loan documents. Did they remember to include my wife on the mortage deed?" I would consider it our responsibility. Spouse who in not a co-borrower and does not hold title to real property does not need to sign the mortgage deed.

N.B. Anyone in the "legal field" can be a member of the VOLUNTARY Connecticut Bar Association. In the current directory she is not listed as an attorney, noted as a non-attorney member. NOT a slam against her. Just a note that the organization is voluntary, rather than states that require mandatory membership and continuing legal education for attorneys, and it does allow for non-attorney members.

Reply by Melody on 4/6/05 9:00am
Msg #29895

You may be able to get big $ due to bad check

I encourage you to take them to small claims court.

Check your local laws. You may be able to get a significant amount of money just because of the bad check part. Where I used the live, the amount was $600.

Good luck!

Reply by LawrenceOK on 4/6/05 9:38am
Msg #29899

Re: You may be able to get big $ due to bad check

A similar situation happend to me concerning bad checks. An out of state SS (nameless) paid me for 3 signings after six months of threats. The check was written on a closed acount. I took it stright to the DA's office. Because it was an out of state check, written on a closed account and written payable to my company name, it was considered defrauding a public offical. The DA sent the check to the SS's state AG and I collected twice the amount of the check. The SS also had to pay DA's office a hefty fine, and the last I heard the owners of the SS had an appointment with the judge. I love it when an SS tries to s***w me out of my pay.

Reply by L.A./NSA on 4/6/05 1:14pm
Msg #29946

Way to Go, LawrenceOK! Best Yet! n/m

Reply by Ty_MN on 4/6/05 9:01am
Msg #29896

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-BUT....

I think the there are a couple issues.

American Real Estate Services is the company you are telling notaries to "BEWARE" of. Their business practices from what you say are not the way ANY notary would like to get involved in.

Then you say that you emailed John Rakstis at IPT and all he did was forward your emails to Jacquie. Well, I think that I would do the same thing to find out WHAT the issue was and then it would be Jacquie's responsibility to correct it. And who's to say John didn't "do" something? I have done extensive work with John at IPT and have not had an issue EVER, but then again I work directly with them and have a contract for all their MN work. But IPT is not the bad guy here.
And in regard to what Moose in FL said, you have to know your laws, and if that means making a call when I see something that isn't right, I do, weather or not its the day before or an hour before. Maybe that's me, but I don't want to waste my time driving somewhere knowing something isn't right and having someone deduct money because something wasn't right (and who's to say the SS won't say they told me prior??? they could say my word against theirs and what do you do?) Anyways, my point is I look at the docs even if they come late and make sure they are what's expected. I agree it's not necessarily my job description, but I maybe it's way companies like doing business with me. ALSO...I have also been "appreciated" for catching things, by companies adding money even when the deal has to be redrawn and done at a later date.

I just think that you could've made an effort to question something you knew was wrong and Jaquie SHOULD remedy the situation... or your right, file a claim. I would.

JMHO

Reply by Brenda-OK on 4/6/05 12:48pm
Msg #29940

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-BUT....

Ok, you must get paid for your signing, if the title co. messes up, they always blame someone else, John @ IPT should have excepted your calls, and tried to fix the pay problem, Ty from MN must be talking about a different John, because I also have had issues with John, He's very unproffessional, and I will never do anything for them again. Good luck!!!!
AND YOU GO AND STICK IT TO THEM ANY WAY YOU CAN, THEY DESERVE IT !!! Anyone who writes a bad check to pay a person working for them deserves to get in big trouble!!!

Reply by Ty_MN on 4/6/05 1:40pm
Msg #29952

Brenda....

I don't think your talking about the same John Rakstis...there is an Industry Partners Title out of FL that is NOT the same company. So please make sure you are responding to the RIGHT person/company. This IPT is from NY and they don't do loans in OK.

Reply by John/CT on 4/6/05 4:12pm
Msg #29992

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-BUT....

Just to clarify, I did not contract with IPT and therefore my beef is not with them. They did provide the docs and if they were incorrect that would be thier responsibility. Also the bounced check came from American Real Estate Services, NOT IPT.
John

Reply by John/CT on 4/6/05 4:09pm
Msg #29991

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!!-BUT....

In Connecticut property can be owned individually. Many times I have closed docs where either the husband or wife are the only owners or obligators. Being that this is not unusual, it doesnt stand out as an error. There have been times where a spouses name is on the deed and not on the RTC. or vice wersa. If anything like this appears I always call to confirm.
No IPT is not the bad guy. I want to clarify if there is any misunderstanding.
John

Reply by HL in PA on 4/6/05 9:26am
Msg #29898

John, another thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the bounce checks aren't reflected on your credit report. Sometimes people forget that things like this can leave a negative rating on your credit and cause possible problems later on. Good luck!

Reply by ssnotary on 4/6/05 10:29am
Msg #29910

Thank you John for the details, I'm sorry this is so very sad. Not only is this stressful for you, but maddening as well.

Reply by JudithK05 on 4/6/05 1:53pm
Msg #29954

I hope you've posted them on all of the Notary Beware web sites! They sound like the plague and should be avoided at all costs!

Hope you sue them and call the DA's office.

Reply by AMR Bounced my check too on 5/11/05 6:59am
Msg #37076

Sounds familiar, I did a signing for them, their check bounced, says she was on her honeymoon and would take care of it. As of yet she has not. Also, the IPT used to use a company in Florida who screwed me out of many closings....they must all be doing this together. Odd that a Title company would use two different companies that would both not pay. After they told me they would send me a new check they had the nerve to call and ask if I could do another closing.....I said I don't work for companies who bounce checks to me! This check bounced for the second time on April 18, and I have not yet recieved payment. It says American Real Estate Service DBA Complete Closings. I am also going to contact the police. If I don't get the money at least I will get the satisfaction of having them being harassed.

Reply by Purcell - Jacqueline on 10/11/05 12:59am
Msg #69825

to the person who posted: amr bounced my check too on 5/11

Whats the matter? You cant say who you are? Or is this another ploy by John Wagner to ruin my company. Again, bringing up IPT using a company, mortgagenotary.com in Florida who yes didnt pay many of us in CT (I got stiffed $2300 from Jamie Jessup) ...What does that have ANYTHING to do with IPT? I can assure you that IPT is a great company and pays once a month on time every month. They are respectful and a delight to deal with. I will not say that I have NEVER bounced a check to anyone in my life because I am sure that there is NO ONE out there who can say that. We have all made mistakes and we have all had bank errors or bad book keepers at one time or another in our lives. I can say that if for some reason a check was ever bounced in error to ANYONE that it would have been taken care of immediatley by my office staff. However, I am sure... John Wagner...again this is not the case or you would have at least said you you were writing this. What ever happened to - if you have a problem with someone you go directly to them to get it taken care of? I guess with John Wagner the best way to take care of things is to bad mouth, slander, and harrass a company that does not deserve it. Im tired of this. No more responces from me..... I have too much to do and Im way too busy building my business and being proactive in this industry instead of being like John Wagner and being reactive. John... I will tell you this... my attorney will be in touch.

Reply by Anonymous on 10/5/05 8:38pm
Msg #69093

Re: Connecticut notaries BEWARE!!! - SHAME ON YOU JOHN

I have been working with this company for 3 years. I also know of 7 other notaries that have been working for this company for several months and a year. NO ONE has ever not gotten paid and I know that Jacquie Purcell pays on time and weekly. her company keeps me busy and profitable. Obviously John you are NOT telling all the story or the truth because I questioned this and the class that Jacquie has is the same as her answer, "I dont respond to accusations that are ridiculous...it says more about him than me if he has the time to write a letter that long on a notary board." I just saw this the other day and I think you are full of it. Not only does this site specifically say not to bash people but truth is what you should be telling. I think you are disgusting for waisting your time with this.

Reply by Heather Bernardi on 10/7/05 7:00am
Msg #69274

I have to say this is one of the most unprofessional post I have ever read. Have you read the “rules” of posting? First let me say slander, providing personal information on a specific person and or company can be grounds for a lawsuit. Do you not claim to be a professional ? Well from what I have read you are the furthest from that . Between the outrageous story you have concocted , the slander and downgrading of a company, posting personal information about a company, contacting a title company in which you had no right too and not knowing enough to look at the front page of a Mortgage Deed to find out who is actually on title I personally believe you should have your Notary license revoked. If you don’t know your job you shouldn’t hold it.

As a professional I have held my own Signing company for almost 2 years, and have worked closely with the company you are referring to for well over a year with numerous closings weekly. I have never ever had one payment issue with this company. It is probably one of the only companies who do pay weekly. So your one closing that you did not properly execute can not compare to the over Five Hundred that I have executed for this company.

You should think before you speak,. As far as how do I know you did not execute the closing properly? I had to go back to those borrowers to correct your mistakes.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/7/05 9:10am
Msg #69283

>>> I have to say this is one of the most unprofessional post I have ever read. Have you read the “rules” of posting? First let me say slander, providing personal information on a specific person and or company can be grounds for a lawsuit. <<<

First, I did not find John's initial post to be unprofessional. He simply posted his experience. You may want to review msg #63992 before responding about perceived professionalism. Second, what "personal information" about a company or person did he provide? If a company is an LLC, then the officers of that company are listed as public record. Even sole proprietors who do business leave themselves open to public scrutiny, just like you (Heather's Mobile Notary Service).

I won't comment on the situation as I don't know anything about it. But, it was presented by someone that has earned my respect and therefore I don't doubt that it happened.

Reply by Anonymous on 10/11/05 12:03am
Msg #69822

I would like to know PAW how someone has earned your respect from Florida? Or should the question be.. how can you respect someone who obviously lies and just wants to bad mouth a company that I personally have done business with also and has always paid me on time and has always been good to me. I looked into these "accusations" that this guy John made and I can tell you from PERSONAL experience that his story is just that a story to bad mouth someone who didnt pay him for a job that was not completed to satisfaction. But you respect him? thats right.. I forgot... from FL

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/11/05 8:03am
Msg #69840

Well, anonymous, I will say that there is no way I can disprove what John has said. Further, your empty accusations to the contrary carry no weight as it is attached to an empty and meaningless moniker. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt when respect is in question. Everyone has my respect until it is shown to me that the respect is not deserved. I have seen nothing that says his story isn't true other than your statement. You say form "PERSONAL" experience. Please tell me what your experience is that is in contrast to the statements made. Be specific so the information can be verifiable. Don't be a coward and "bad mouth" someone from a distance. Stand up and be seen.

Reply by Purcell - Jacqueline on 10/11/05 12:47am
Msg #69824

FINALLY..... MY RESPONCE TO JOHN WAGNER'S GARBAGE

I am Jacqueline Purcell. I own American Real Estate Services, LLC 100%. I wasnt going to lower myself to this garbage from John Wagner. I feel sorry for him. But seeing he is STILL trying to destroy a business that I worked sweat and tears for 5 years to build I have decided to set the record straight. I NEVER bounced a check to John Wagner. What I did was put a stop payment on a check because he screwed up a closing and I had to pay a compitent notary who knows their documents to go back out and resign the deal. Oh and By the Way....Also what John Wagner didnt tell any of you is that I ended up paying him just to "shut him up" because of his bad mouthing of my company. I have recently contacted my attorney and I too have rights because YES knowingly bouncing a check in the state of ct is against the law, however stopping payment on services not rendered is NOT. BUT deframation of character and slander and harrassment is against the law in CT and whoever wants to believe a man who has the time to waist on this notary board then so be it. I am better than that, and I have kept my mouth shut for a long time about this until just recently it came up where I hired a notary in CT - Ana Camara to do a last minute closing. I had NO CLUE who she was, she NEVER worked for me before and she does not know me at all, I got her off of another site and she accepted the closing last minute for a nice fee and she told me to send docs to staples in Vernon. I did so, but the staples could not print a simple PDF file. I went out of my way to call a staples closer to the closing and have them stay open until after hours so Ana can pick up her documents there. After she got there and mind you worked her butt off to get there the borrower told her to forget coming it was too late and he was going to bed. I promised Ana I would compensate her for her time anyway and she was going to try to do the closing the following day after 3:00. the borrower claimed I said she would be there at 2:00 which is NOT what was said, however Ana Camara proceeded to tell the borrower that my company had a very bad name in Connecticut and that I do not pay and that people regard me as being unprofessional. Of course the borrower told the loan officer and the loan officer told the title company and it got back to me and I almost lost that account which makes up about 50% of my income. All because of Ana Camara read that ridiculous story that John Wagner wrote about my company. Not only was she incredibly unprofessional, I could have lost a business that I have worked hard to build because of her slander and because of John's slander. I pay all my signing agents once a week and you can all email me and I will give you a list of every signing agent in ct that has worked for me for a year or more or some that have even just started working with me and they will all say the same. I have trained over 20 signing agents and have given many of them full-time jobs. By the way.... Thank you Heather.... I appreciate the responce and the backing. The notaries who would like to John's unprofessional banter, ESPECIALLY the notaries out of state have no idea who I am or the reputation of my company. You are solely basing your nasty responces on a story that John Wagner wrote - that he wouldnt even put his full name to. Did any of you EVER think that maybe he is just mad because I wont use him anymore? Did any of you EVER think that if he did his job correctly NONE of that situation would have happened. I do ALL of IPT's closings in Ct and they are a phenominal company that pays on time every month. For John Wagner to even mention the title company in his slanderous letter just says more about him and his unprofessionalism. I am fortunate to do IPT's work and I work hard at keeping their account and keeping them happy. I work 14 hour days and I also have 3 young children, a husband and a house to maintain as well. On top of all of that I have a very prosperous title search company as well. I coach little league softball for my daughters and am involved in many charitable events and sit on many committees in this industry. So for all of you who do not know me and have no clue who I am and want to pass judgement.... just think of the source. 1 letter out of all the notaries that do work with me in CT...hmmm, common sense will say something there. Im tired of this crap on this site and more tired of all of you who buy into the crap that people write just because they are mad or weren't treated the best. It is now 1:33AM and this is the ONLY time I would ever have to even waist time to respond to this and that will tell you how my business is going. Obviously if John Wagner has time to waist at 8:30PM to slander me, he isnt doing closings? did any of you think of that. Did any of you think of the impact his lies would have on a small company? Did any of you think that how he can hurt my small company? No you all want to pass judgement and say you go John. Shame on all of you. And most of all Shame on Notary Rotary for allowing this kind of GARBAGE on their site. What happened to if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all? I guess that went out the window with the rest of John Wagner's ethics and morals. Good Luck to you John, I wish you only the best of luck.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/11/05 8:12am
Msg #69842

Re: FINALLY..... MY RESPONCE TO JOHN WAGNER'S GARBAGE

Thank you Jacqueline for posting your side of the story. It is so hard for us to determine what's what when only one side is presented. Since there were no contradictions, until now, to John's story, we had to take it at face value. Now we have the counter and can judge for ourselves. This information certainly has shed a different light on things. (I hope Mr./Ms. Anonymous understands now why I responded to his/her post the way I did.)

Reply by youssef/CT on 1/5/11 9:46am
Msg #367077

Never use them again. I received a call from Jacqueline Purcell, She offered to pay me the fee that We Agreed on. After 7 months of no payment she sent me a check that was short $100.00. with memo on the check short of being late. I called her next day she was very short with me and threatened me that she will file a claim against me with NNA. She said that she owns the the association. ....