Posted by KKinNoCal on 2/15/08 11:34am
Msg #235446

What would you do?

Here is what I did. Went to a signing-the borrowers were unhappy with the loan amount but they did sign. They evertually rescinded. This was a Countrywide edoc with 30 pages of fax back, copies and splitting the package. Signing service says sorry no money for you-loan canceled. No offer of a discounted fee-just tough luck notary. So I sent a registered letter to this company with my intention to file in small claims court if payment is not recieved in 15 days? Usually this works-but I will go to court if necessary. I think this is a huge problem. We are not commissioned sales people-we are hired to do a job (and it better be completed perfectly) and we do the job and they want to stiff us because a loan officer lies to the borrowers. This happens to often and it really pisses me off!!

Reply by GA/Atty on 2/15/08 11:48am
Msg #235447

I would refer to the agreement I made with the company when I took the assignment and determine whether my payment was contingent on funding.

Reply by KKinNoCal on 2/15/08 12:03pm
Msg #235451

my confirmation had no mention of cancelled

loans or no signs.... Only a confirmation with $XXX fee.

Reply by GA/Atty on 2/15/08 12:11pm
Msg #235453

Re: my confirmation had no mention of cancelled

Then, I would write them a thank you note for the valuable business lesson (which is probably worth much more than the fee) and adjust my procedures in accepting assignments in the future to address for these types of situations.

I am not necessarily saying they are right not to pay you, but I am saying it is a good idea to have a more specific agreement with the title company or signing service for these types of situations.

Reply by kathy/ca on 2/15/08 7:11pm
Msg #235536

No way, we arent in business to learn valuable lessons that

are costly to us. You did the job and you should be paid full fee no matter what transpired following the signing.

Reply by GA/Atty on 2/15/08 10:07pm
Msg #235555

Re: No way, we arent in business to learn valuable lessons that

Why not make that clear up front, though? Wouldn't that be the best practice?

Reply by Korey Humphreys on 2/15/08 12:16pm
Msg #235456

"I would refer to the agreement I made with the company when I took the assignment and determine whether my payment was contingent on funding."

I would never take an assignment from a company that tells me I won't get paid if the loan doesn't fund. It's not my job, or concern, if the loan funds or not! My job is to travel to the client/customer and notarize their signatures on the documents. If I do that, and there is no error on my end, then I should be paid.

Whenever a company tries to pull this, my attorney attempts to renegotiate the terms of the contract. Obviously if the company disagrees, they can find someone else.

It's complete B.S. in my opinion! Good luck in court [even though you don't need any luck because if they didn't have a stipulation in their contract, and if you performed the services asked of you, then what judge would say you don't deserve payment? ]

Reply by KKinNoCal on 2/15/08 12:26pm
Msg #235459

I agree with you Korey

Amen! I think these loan officers try to pull fast ones and throw it in our laps. I think it is BS. It happens to often! We are there to witness signatures, we are not suppose to have a financial interest in the outcome of the transaction. I will post who this SS is when this is resolved.

Reply by TRG_wy on 2/15/08 1:12pm
Msg #235464

Re: I agree with you Korey - Me2

I do not stand for this treatment, ever. If i perform contracted service for an agreed upon fee I expect payment full for those services. I am a disinterested party to the transaction and my services are independent of that transaction.

My auto-resonder email lays out all of my terms and if they utilize my services they agree to those terms. I have the last word. If it leads to small claims court so be it. They did not fulfill the terms of our agreement. Theft of services is unlawful here, and especially theft of services performed by a sworn public officer. Since i spell out in my auto-responder my final terms I no longer have this issue arrise. These tactics only work by the SS/TC if we allow it - my business no longer allows it. Period.

Reply by Bill Salisbury on 2/15/08 4:17pm
Msg #235515

Re: I agree with you Korey - Me2

Your system sounds great. I'd love to see the verbiage.

Reply by GA/Atty on 2/15/08 2:59pm
Msg #235495

I might take such an assignment. For example, let's say you knew (from experience) that 99 out of 100 would fund and they were giving you 15 signings per week. Would you really say "No thanks" to collecting on 99% of their signings while being stiffed for the other 1%? I think most folks would jump on that deal in a heartbeat.

But in general i agree with you. If you ask up front and they say no fund, no pay, at least you can turn it down. Not asking is a mistake, though.

Reply by docs1954CA on 2/15/08 3:24pm
Msg #235499

I have to disagree GA/Atty

I believe they need to disclose what their no sign/no fund policy is.The logic behind the old "We didn't get paid, so won't" policy is dead wrong. The Notary was contracted to perform the service, this was done, pay up.If you know upfront that that's their policy, fine, an informed decision can be made.

I had a Title company try this on me, the first time they had called me. I did the job, loan didn't fund.30+ days later I'm calling for my check and I get that excuse.We ended up in small claims court.The smirk on the Judges' face when they offered that excuse was priceless. Needless to say, I recovered my fee and all of the court costs.It ended up costing them three times as much when you consider the time and expense to offer up such a lame defense.

Reply by GA/Atty on 2/15/08 3:45pm
Msg #235507

Re: I have to disagree GA/Atty

Sounds to me like you agree with all of us.