Posted by Anonymous on 3/18/06 2:26pm
Msg #106606
It has to stop somewhere.
I received a call last night to do a loan signing this coming Monday. It was from one of our NATIONS' signing companies (initials are ND). They are notorious for offering a fee of $40, no matter how far you have to drive, how much work is involved, or how much expense you incur to do the job.
The borrower lives in a town that is 30 miles away. There would be no printing involved since the documents would be sent to him. I asked the caller how much was he going to pay me. He said, $40. I politely told him, "I can't do it for $40." He said, "How about $55?" Realizing that this was already close to the maximum they would pay for no e-docs, I told him, okay. Even without having to print any documents, that is still too low. But I'm still relatively new, and I want to get experience. Each loan signing brings me closer to my ultimate goal. I look at this first year as serving an apprenticeship, and "paying my dues" as a signing agent. And I'm fortunate to be doing something that I enjoy -- meeting new people, traveling to different locations, and being in business for myself.
I have not yet received a confirmation from them. My guess is that they will try to find someone who will do it for $40. And they probably will.
Unless you are a signing agent who is truly desperate to do a loan signing, and $40 is the difference between you eating and not eating, I am asking you to not accept this fee.
This company does not look upon signing agents as professionals. And they don't really seem to care about the costs to you -- both time and expenses. If you add up the amount of work that is required to do the job - from start to finish, figure in the cost of gas (which is steadily rising), the amount of notarizations that are usually required, which alone are worth more than $40 in fees, the time spent with the borrower, and the skills you use to do your job effectively ... if you take all of this into consideration, the fee should be much much higher than $40. And they know this.
I'm not asking signing agents to boycott this company. They provide a good service. And we, in turn, can provide a good service to them. I'm simply asking you to demand more. If no one accepts $40, they will be forced to negotiate and meet a higher price. Or they'll have to find some other way to get the documents signed.
As I mentioned, I haven't gotten a confirmation yet. And I really don't expect them to send me one, considering it would force them to pay more than what they are willing to pay. I may be the only one who feels this way about their offer of $40. And I probably stand alone. All I know is that, it has to stop somewhere.
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P.S. I just received a call from them as I was writing this. The caller asked me if I could go lower than $55. I said, "No, I was actually going to ask you for a higher fee." He said they can't go higher. I told him, "Sorry." He said he'll give me a call back. I know what that means. It looks like I won't be doing a closing on Monday, because I'm not going to go lower. Now I know why I didn't get a confirmation last night.
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Reply by Danny_FL on 3/18/06 5:32pm
Msg #106651
Good write up and looks like you have done abit of your homework. Just remember to stick to your guns with them. If anything, ask them how many docs get notarixed in the package. I do this sometimes when I know who the lender is becase some lenders load the package with 10-12 docs require'n the 'Stamp'. In FL, that is $10 per and I let the SS or TC know it, and that is only when they offer less than $75.
Danny
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Reply by CaliNotary on 3/18/06 7:38pm
Msg #106661
How dare you complain about this.
It's people like you who are the reason that these companies pay such ridiculously low fees to begin with. People who justify the low fees because they're too new, or because business is slow, or whatever reason. When your "apprenticeship" is over do you really think that they're going to start paying you more? They're just going to find the next 100 notaries who are doing their "apprenticship" and you'll be back at square one because the companies you SHOULD have been trying to build a reputation with won't even know you're alive.
You're asking us to demand more, yet YOU accepted $55 for a signing 30 miles away? You really think that's somehow better than somebody accepting $40 for one that is 5 miles away? Here's a newsflash, it's not, it's actually worse. You're driving 50 extra miles for a measly 15 bucks.
You obviously don't know jack shit about what fees are acceptable and what aren't, so please spare us all your lectures on what fees we should be accepting. You're now sitting at home wondering whether or not you have a signing on Monday because you were too foolish to tell ND what to do with their $55 offer. And you had TWO opportunitites to do it.
The professional among us already know when we're being ripped off, and you're certainly not doing the newbies any favors by saying that $55 is acceptable for a signing 30 miles away.
But congratulations for refusing to go lower than $55. If that makes you think that you somehow didn't willingly bend over and ask them to give it to you hard, I guess that's a good thing.
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Reply by BrendaTx on 3/18/06 8:33pm
Msg #106671
Re: It has to stop somewhere. Check your email ...
Okay - in response to CaliNotary's reply that you need to raise your fees, he is correct. However, I applaud your efforts not to take the first fee handed to you.
You should actually have charged around $115 - $140 for this job depending on edocs / o/n, but I can tell you are wrestling with the newbie syndrome of scared you won't get hired.
I now charge $1 - $1.25 for a one way mile over 15. That's only 50 cents per mile and a bit low, but that is what my market will bear.
My fee would have been like:
$85 base + $20 mileage + $25 = $130
For a new person -
$65 + $15 + $25 = $115
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