Posted by Jenny_CA on 10/19/05 12:53am
Msg #71135

Back to fees...

Do any of you adjust your fees if the borrowers have the documents? I didn't think about it since I was having problems with my DSL and I went ahead and accepted a job that paid less than what I've accepted before but afterwards I thought that it didn't make a difference since it would be similiar to overnight docs except that the borrowers will probably have the docs all out of order.

I also received another offer for edocs and the borrowers would come to meet me, again due to DSL problems I let her (SS) know I couldn't do it . Do you adjust fees when the borrower meets you at your home, office, ect.?

BTW I'm signing up for cable internet next week.

Reply by Nd_WA on 10/19/05 2:14am
Msg #71137

1. Doc sent to the borrower is still considered overnight by me.
2. I would never have borrowers sign at my home. This is bad business when it comes to negotiation fee with SS.

Reply by LawrenceOK on 10/19/05 8:57am
Msg #71158

Re: Not bad business...

But bad for business. If the borrowers come to you, then you can only charge what your state allows per signature on the documents that need notarized.

Reply by Anonymous on 10/19/05 8:55am
Msg #71156

Yes. Do it for less.

You need not worry about docs coming late from the title company. No printing costs. No computer glitches on your end. Take the assignment confirm with the borrowers. If it is much of a drive, reconfirm with the borrowers before you go and confirm that they have the documents. Often there is a return shipping envelop so have try to determine where to drop the docs, Fedex UPS. Close it. Ship it.

If you work for local title companies, decline these assignments at peak times at the end of the month. Or see if you can get them pushed to earlier in the day. The are often lower pay, but incremental cashflow(if profit able) is still incremental cash flow.

Reply by patricia on 10/19/05 9:14am
Msg #71163

Re: Yes. Do it for less.

sometime the borrowers ask to come to me and it is fine with me, I would never charge less
as I am still doing the loan signing and usually printing the docs. All the responsibilities are the same and there is no reason to adjust the fee down, same goes if the borrower has the paperwork.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/19/05 12:54pm
Msg #71202

Re: Yes. Do it for less.

>>> sometime the borrowers ask to come to me and it is fine with me, I would never charge less <<<

How can you charge a travel fee if you are not doing any traveling?

So, you would charge the ABC company $XX to do a signing no matter how far away the signing is. You are only charging for the 'presentation' service and your notarizations, and possibly printing costs. Interesting.

I agree that there would be no fee change if the docs were sent to the borrower.

Reply by patricia on 10/19/05 1:11pm
Msg #71204

Re: Yes. Do it for less.

no, not at all, I work a very small area, no more than 15 miles away, if I am out at one appointment I would have to drive home to meet with borrower and then leave again,
I have never offered a discount if the borrower comes to me and dont break my fees down
by travel. Once in awhile I will go a little out of my area and then add an extra charge.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/19/05 6:14pm
Msg #71269

Re: Yes. Do it for less.

"How can you charge a travel fee if you are not doing any traveling?"

Who says that the fees we charge above the notarization fees allowable by our state are specifically travel fees? While obviously that is the primary factor we all use to determine our fees, we all know that there's more involved in a signing than simply driving and notarizing.

While I wouldn't have somebody come to my house to do a signing, I don't see anything wrong with charging your full base fee if somebody does. My fees encompass everything that's involved with a signing; they're not broken down into subcategories and I wouldn't reduce them just because I didn't have to travel. I still have to go through the entire loan package, explain some things to the borrowers, drop off the overnight package, etc..

Sometimes we luck out and get a signing that's easier than normal. That little bit of gravy helps make up for the signings that end up being more difficult than normal.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/19/05 10:01pm
Msg #71303

Re: Yes. Do it for less.

I didn't say that there are other fees. The point was that when a fee for a signing is discussed, unless explicitly stated, a travel to the signer's home or other location is expected. If you don't travel, then the negotiated fee, imo, should be reduced by what would have been the travel expense.

If I charged $150 for an edoc signing in Anytown, and the borrowers and I agreed to do it here, in my office, then I can justify the same fee. I would have to reduce it by the travel fee that I add on to the base fee. I still charge my base plus edocs, but that's it.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 10/19/05 10:11pm
Msg #71311

Correction ...

If I charged $150 for an edoc signing in Anytown, and the borrowers and I agreed to do it here, in my office, then I ***can't*** justify the same fee. I would have to reduce it by the travel fee that I add on to the base fee.

Reply by Charm_AL on 10/19/05 9:41am
Msg #71179

You have a base fee and an additional e-doc fee if that's the case. In this case it's a base fee, no e-docs. Why would you adjust anything?

Reply by Jenny_CA on 10/19/05 10:41am
Msg #71190

Okay I am kicking myself you know where......It's nice to have feed back from others, thank you all . :-)

Reply by Roger_OH on 10/19/05 12:30pm
Msg #71201

Jenny, I would not have turned down business because we could not meet at their house; companies such as 123Loan and some IREPs do require you to meet elsewhere. I would have suggested a local McDonalds, Applebys. etc