Posted by Nancy Korb on 12/1/06 2:46pm
Msg #163289

Settlement Agencies

I'm fairly new to Witness Loan Signings so I guess I'm not really up on how to deal with the signing agencies. I had one try and cut my fee in half because he said that I had sent the invoice to the wrong place. I said I would sue him, his Title company and invite the clients to court with me to testify to the fact that I had done the job. I also told him that if he wasn't going to pay me, then he had to repay the clients what he charged for my services.

When you make an agreement on the telephone with a settlement agency, that is the contract...correct? I didn't even get a chance to look at any other things they wanted until AFTER the signing. When I was looking at the directions about where to send everything after the signing. I sent everything to the fax number that they had in their numbered directions. Way down at the bottom of the second page, in little tiny writing, was the fax number they ACTUALLY wanted me to send it to. It wasn't even in the numbered directions.

I didn't know that his settlement agency was working for another agency and that the clients were only on the third rung. When he needed me at 5:30 for a 7:00 signing, he offered me $150. I did everything correctly, except for sending the invoice and paperwork to that fax number. I'm sorry, I see that their directions were intentionally not clear. When he was instructing me the next day, while he was trying to take half my money, he told me that many others have made the same errors and that he never pays an agent who sends things to the wrong fax number. I told him that his directions were intentionally vague, and that I our agreement said nothing about fax numbers. He used my ink, my equipment, my car, my gasoline and my time and expertise and that I was sure a judge would see it the same way.

He paid. Then would you believe it, he called me three days later and wanted to give me a list of signings that he wanted to place in my area for me to do. Is this the way they all act?

Reply by SueW/Tn on 12/1/06 2:56pm
Msg #163294

Hi Nancy!

Welcome aboard! First of all you did terrific if he paid you full fee! Congrats! Yes you're right, sometimes the "actual instructions" are buried but it's most important to you that you read through your list slowly and for me, when they're buried like that, I highlight them so that once I've completed the assignment I remember those little hidden mysteries. Always get hard copy confirmation of the assignment, verbal doesn't cut it in this industry unless you're dealing with someone you have a solid backgroud with, even then it's not good business practice. Again, welcome aboard and I look forward to your posts! One suggestion if I may, it would be in your best interest to develop a profile on this site. It's one of the most important marketing tools you have. Look at some of the others on this site and go from there.

Reply by Nancy Korb on 12/1/06 3:02pm
Msg #163295

Re: Hi Nancy!

Hi Sue. Thanks alot for your response. I thought I already had a profile, but I'll go and look.

I'm not overly impressed with the NNA either. I had taken a class with another agency and they sent me to the NNA to take the certification class. THAT was when I found out about the new rules...which for me really were new. I belong to the American Society of Notaries and Don did some investigating and said that the law they were siting went into effect some 10 years ago. He felt that they were running a scam.

However, I'm new to the business so I didn't want to be shut out even before I got started. I have gotten several calls for signings from their website, so for me it has paid off a little. I guess you have to balance what you're going to gain by what they're trying to perpetrate. I think they've found a way to become number one and to put several other organizations out of business.