Posted by jj_mi on 5/31/05 10:04am
Msg #41275

1/2 pay

Should we accept 1/2 pay for a loan that does not fund? I was told by a signing service that this is common practice. I have never recieved half for my services. This loan didn't fund for good reason and the borrowers were smart enough to understand that. I did my job and believe I deserve the full amoount.

Reply by Premier Mortgage, LLC on 5/31/05 10:12am
Msg #41278

In my opinion, if you completed the signing and everything was done correctly on your part, you should receive full pay. The only time a fess is ever reduced is if there is a Notary Error, or the borrower "No-Shows" or refuses to sign. Otherwise, you did the job you were hired to do and deserve full payment for your sevices. this is how we operate and this is how we bill our clients as well.

Reply by TN Notary on 5/31/05 10:13am
Msg #41279

If the borrower signs at the table you should get paid your fee. Unless it is the notary's fault for the loan not closing.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/31/05 11:11am
Msg #41291

No, you shouldn't accept half fee! Sure it is "common practice" with a few signing services, and I wouldn't work with them.

If I send a signing agent out to do a signing, if they go to the signing and spend time with the borrowers, then I pay full fee. If the borrower refuses to sign, it is not the notary's fault - and many a time you can be at a signing longer if the borrower refuses to sign - because the borrower gets on the phone to the loan officer, and the loan officer spends time trying to convince the borrower it is a good deal and to sign, this takes time!

So, as long as the signing agent goes to the signing and meets with the borrower they should get full fee.

Reply by Ernest_CT on 5/31/05 11:27am
Msg #41292

No; whether the loan funds or not has nothing to do with us UNLESS there is something that we did incorrectly. Always demand your full fee for a completed signing. When the borrower does not show up or the borrower does not sign, then expect to be paid a trip fee instead of the whole fee.

Reply by SarahBeth_CA on 5/31/05 11:48am
Msg #41294

I think that if the borrower refuses to sign you should get full fee. The fees that we are getting from ss are already hugely discounted. We should at least get paid full fee for our time. We are not salaried employees. 1/2 fee from many ss will just compensate for mileage, printing supplies and time, and vehicle wear and tear. Meaning profit of just a couple of bucks.

What I would like to know is on average how often do each of you experience a no sign?

Also I think that having the 1/2 for no sign clause can serve to put pressure on the notary (especially us new notaries, although I wouldn't fall for it) to urge (or to make feel pressured) the borrower to sign which is a big no-no.

Reply by stamper_WI on 5/31/05 1:26pm
Msg #41314

I have had one no show and that was the ss fault..they sent me out a week early...72 miles round trip. The contact at the ss told me he would pay me half the fee out of his own pocket..which he did.

I have also had some where the borrower is crying all the way through. One was so bad the Loan officer asked for me on the phone and said " can you make her stop crying so she listens to me?"

Reply by BrendaTX on 5/31/05 6:58pm
Msg #41353

1%-2% don't sign/don't fund n/m

Reply by SarahBeth_CA on 5/31/05 7:20pm
Msg #41356

thanks brenda! nm

Reply by Ernest_CT on 6/1/05 5:10am
Msg #41396

Good luck getting paid your full fee. (No, I'm not being a smart-aleck.)

Reminding the borrowers that they have three days to read / ask questions / change their minds is as far as I'm willing to go. Never pressure a borrower to sign! That is unethical as well as illegal. (I'm not suggesting that you or anyone else here has done / would do it!)

I think Brenda's 1% to 2% is a little low, but not by much. There are some borrowers who have taken one look at the interest rate and said "That's not what we agreed to!". Then there's the signing services and lenders that set the appointment without the borrowers knowing that the loan was ready to be signed....

Reply by BrendaTX on 6/1/05 6:35am
Msg #41397

Less than 1% based on >>my<< experience...

I have never had a no-fund after the signing that affected me so that I knew about it.

I have had exactly "two" not sign during the signing. One was ridiculous. The URLA was wrong and the LO on duty said not to sign the docs. I think she must have been very new. It was a $165 fee/got paid twice. One was a no sign because a $325 check was due at closing and the bwr had said they were not going to pay that fee. Got paid the entire $100 fee.

Now, I have had several ServiceLinks cancel before I ever got the docs so I quit taking those because they really messed around with my schedule.

I think it's because I don't have "iffy" clients. It's really simple. If the ss will not pay for the signing either way, I don't sign up to work for them.

Reply by SamIam_CA on 6/1/05 10:33am
Msg #41444

what does **the URLA was wrong** mean? n/m

Reply by BrendaTX on 6/1/05 10:38am
Msg #41446

Re: what does **the URLA was wrong** mean? n/m

Loan Application had a mistake on the age of the house, and what was owed, amount of payments, if I remember correctly.

Reply by SamIam_CA on 6/1/05 10:58am
Msg #41454

thanx Brenda n/m

Reply by Debbie_NJ on 6/2/05 6:40am
Msg #41733

In my opinion, whether the loan funds or not (not due to Notary error), whether the borrower shows up at the appointed time, or whether the borrower doesn't sign -- none of these are the Notary's fault. The Notary should get paid full fee for all of the above. They did their job (went to where the signing was to take place, notarized properly, etc.) I have always been paid full fee for the above instances. Maybe I've been lucky that the companies that I work for pay me full fee for loans that don't fund, borrowers that don't show up and/or borrower refuses to sign. If so, I'm glad I've been lucky.