Posted by Albert E Thomka on 6/19/06 3:45pm
Msg #126845
Articulate Notary Service
I recently did a closing for this company and the contact was Bradley Clifford. This company requires phone calls for confirmation of appointment to them, then a phone call upon completion of the assignment, then an email upon completion of the assignment with the tracking number, then an invoice faxed to them also with the tracking number on the invoice and last of all you are required to fax some of the documents from the closing documents. . After all this if you fail any part of their requirements you will have a deduction from your agreed upon fee. I WILL NO LONGERR ACCEPT ANY ASSIGNMENT FROM THIS COMPANY IN THE FUTURE AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY THAT THEIR NAME APPEARS AS ONE OF THE LISTED COMPANIES THAT I CAN RATE AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT MY RATING WILL CONSIST OF SIGNER BEWARE.
| Reply by TitleGalCA on 6/19/06 6:08pm
Msg #126868
Yes, but are they articulate?
If not, get 'em for false advertising. (just kidding, couldn't help myself)
| Reply by Anonymous on 6/19/06 8:13pm
Msg #126894
As I signing company based in Beverly Hills, Ca I find it necessary to respond to this comment about Articulate Notary Service, Inc. I know first hand that Articulate fully discloses the company policy in the email confirmation order that Articulate sends the notary upon accepting the assignment. Upon receiving the order confirmation with the guidelines, the notary can review the policy and agree by taking the assignment. If the notary does not agree, they can decline the signing appointment. As most notaries are aware, many notary companies have the same requirements and deductions. The reality is we are faced with many notaries that do not stand behind their work as a public notary or simply are not qualified. When mistakes happen it affects not only the notary but also the signing company. I wish there was a way to post on this site the mistakes of the notary so signing companies can prove thier case and not be slammed for expecting high expectations. There are a lot of people who cannot meet those requirements I am beginning to see this as a signing company myself. Our desire (or goal) is to maitain a high level of excellence as a Signing company such as mine or Articulate Notary Service. We will not lower our expectations or requirements.
Anonymous
-a Signing Company in Los Angeles, CA
I prefer not to be slammed myself for posting this response. But I defend Articulate Notary Service, Inc. I have worked closely with them and I never had an issue in the year that I have done business with them.
PS. Be aware that if your ever contacted by Articulate Notary Service you understand and read the email order confirmation. That is if you know how to follow directions. Geez !
| Reply by TitleGalCA on 6/19/06 8:37pm
Msg #126899
That's a nice response anon
but it would be far more powerful if you had put your name to it. I can go anon at any time and say I'm a lender...if anyone looked at my IP address they would find it came from a large corporate network; and might actually convince someone I was a lender. As a "lender"...wow, what I could get away with here....
So....as a result, I don't believe you. Not slamming, just pointing something out.
Second, you said:
***As most notaries are aware, many notary companies have the same requirements and deductions.***
I don't agree with that. But, someone that had some vicarious interest in this board might pick up on that just by reading.
You also said ***The reality is we are faced with many notaries that do nt stand behind their work as a public notary......***
You lost me there. Completely. No signing service would say "public notary". The lingo just killed your entire post. Either you were typing fast and furious and got lost in your thoughts.....nah. I don't buy it.
| Reply by Bradley Clifford on 6/19/06 11:06pm
Msg #126912
Thank you. Now Signing services just need to have their own site for postings on notaries so we can find the truly qualified.
Bradley Clifford
Articulate Notary Service, Inc.
| Reply by Marlene/USNA on 6/20/06 10:10am
Msg #126983
Go for it. . .
It would be helpful and useful to all of us.
| Reply by Jenene Steele on 6/25/06 6:29pm
Msg #128267
Hey Brad, don't take it personal, there are alot of ruthless notaries out there. Sure some companies require more than others do, but when CA got inendated with notaries, many of them were not thorough in their work, causing more work on the ones who are thorough. It is definately extra work to fax all the notarized docs and it seems that working for signing companies has become harder for the notary, especially when edocs are involved, however, if I were to own a signing company, I would have the same requirements at least for a certain time period until the notary proved their work. Come on notaries.....have you really never made a mistake? I know I have and I'm pretty thorough and reliable.
| Reply by Francis Ancero on 6/19/06 11:30pm
Msg #126913
As the Branch Operations Manager for Countrywide Home Loans, I personal have used Articulate Notary Service for all my loan signings for over 8 months now. On average Articulate completes 130 signings for me a month. They are very knownledgeable and stand behind their services.
| Reply by CaliNotary on 6/19/06 11:45pm
Msg #126914
I did one signing for Articulate, had absolutely no problems with the company. When I received the confirmation and saw all of the extra work that was required after the signing, I simply called and adjusted my fee and he agreed to it.
I haven't done any signings since because I was told that his normal max is $110 for an edoc loan. For a countrywide with faxbacks and a split package and making copies of certian documents, that is simply not enough. Especially when I know that he's getting $250 a pop from Countrywide. No signing service needs to keep $140 per loan to run a profitable business. That's just pure greed IMO. With all that goes into these countrywide loans, it really left a bad taste in my mouth that he felt he should get a bigger cut of the fee than the notary who does all the legwork.
| Reply by HisHughness on 6/20/06 12:14am
Msg #126921
It is interesting that Countrywide has weighed in on this issue.
Of the lenders I have serviced, I rank Countrywide packets as second worst of all those I have encountered in the four years I have been doing signings. I encounter up to four examples of the same form, just in a different format; affidavits that are structured so that they cannot logically be completed; and forms that are totally useless in the Texas legal environment. The last Countrywide loan I handled had 151 pages of documents; even my reverse mortgages, which are paper-intensive in Texas, are way off that mark. If I handled my signings as CW does the preparation of its loans, I would deserve substantial fee reductions. It gives me zero confidence in a signing service that Countrywide speaks highly of it.
It is Countrywide loans that have motivated me, on each signing, to ask who the lender is. If it is Countrywide, I then add a substantial increment to my fee.
Having said that, I hold no brief with a signing agent who, after receiving a confirmation with onerous requirements, accepts the assignment without protest but then complains that too much was expected of him. The time to have made that complaint, and to have insisted on adjustments to the fee, was when he was first apprised of the requirements, not after the completion of the signing.
Today I received a confirmation of a signing; the confirmation indicated that if copies for the borrower were not included in the packet, I would be expected to make them. I immediately notified the SS that service was not included in the fee, and the SS had no problem with increasing the fee if copies needed to be made.
| Reply by HisHughness on 6/20/06 12:20am
Msg #126922
One other thing on this issue of lender/TC/SS requirements. I sometimes get a confirmation that requires extensive faxbacks. When that happens, I call the title company or SS, and tell them I fax back, as part of my fee, the signature page of the HUD and the signature page of the DOT. Other than that, I charge $3 a page for faxbacks. The response uniformly has been, "Well, this loan doesn't require all those faxbacks, so forget about it." And those same TCs or SSs continue to send me business.
| Reply by Jenene Steele on 6/25/06 6:36pm
Msg #128271
I like your $3 charge per page. I have a decent fax, but it's not one of the fastest in the bunch, so when I have to fax all of the notarized docs back, it is inconvenient. In saying that, however, I have done a few signings for Articulate Notary and like you, have been a notary for 5 years. Brad is great to work with and they have always paid me in less than 3 weeks, which is more than I can say for most of the signing companies out there.
I also agree, it's sad that a notary would take a job, read the requirements, then complain about the company afterward.
| Reply by Bradley Clifford on 7/25/06 2:03pm
Msg #135194
I paid Albert even though we are not happy with his attitude and lack of professinalism. And we paid the FULL fee.
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