Posted by ME/NJ on 1/4/08 6:45pm
Msg #228996

I'm starting to see a bad trend

More and more post about company phone's being disconnected and people waiting 45 plus days before finding out.

I had posted about a company wondering about my payment, with help from folks on the board I resolved the issue. Seems we can no longer wait 45days or longer to be paid and should follow up quicker on past due invoices. With times being tough I could not extend credit past 30 days and stay afloat. In the past I would have a couple of 45 day payment turn around and the rare 50 day. Not anymore

I am very lucky that almost all my clients pay within 21-30 days and if any of them go under its time to worry.

I thank everyone for the updates and keep them coming so we can make a wise choice who we work for.

Reply by GA/Atty on 1/4/08 8:12pm
Msg #229005

I don't care if folks pay 3 months late - so long as they pay eventually without me having to do anything to force it.

If I had 10 title companies and they all paid 90 days late, I might have a rough first 90 days but after that who cares? Now I have a regular income stream (albeit from work I have done 3 months ago) and will continue to collect even if I stop working for a month or 2 or 3. I understand the principle of the thing (why should they get to hold my money and deprive me of the $ 0.09 of interest that I could have earned over those 3 months), but beyond that it doesn't bother me at all.

Reply by Philip Johnson on 1/4/08 8:14pm
Msg #229006

Ask all those people who extended credit to EFS

what their new policies are. By the way do you have a spare $1000.00? I promise to pay you right at the 90 day mark. Cross my heart.

Reply by GA/Atty on 1/5/08 10:17pm
Msg #229090

Re: Ask all those people who extended credit to EFS

I am not in the business of lending money, so I must deny you the $1,000.00.

However, if you need a lawyer in Georgia, I will gladly close a loan for you if I am reasonably sure you will pay me in 90 days.

Reply by ME/NJ on 1/4/08 9:32pm
Msg #229011

****I don't care if folks pay 3 months late - so long as they pay eventually without me having to do anything to force it.****

Sure wish I could wait 3 months to pay my bills and hope no one cares, wait its a real world my credit rating would be crap, lose my home and so on. Sure would love to live in the 90 day fantasy world.

Reply by CJ on 1/4/08 10:37pm
Msg #229015

Waiting 3 months.

I work consistantly, so every day, some kind of money shows up in my mailbox. If everybody paid three months late, but they all paid, I would still have money rolling in all the time. I don't understand how you NEED the check the day you earn it.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/4/08 11:55pm
Msg #229017

Re: Waiting 3 months.

We don't expect a check the day we earn it. But we do expect to be paid in a reasonable amount of time, and the general consensus on this board is that a reasonable amount of time is within 30 days.

And I don't see how you have checks coming in every day. Even when I was doing $6,000 a month in business I didn't have checks showing up in the mailbox every day.

Reply by sue_pa on 1/5/08 8:48am
Msg #229039

Re: Waiting 3 months.

...And I don't see how you have checks coming in every day. Even when I was doing $6,000 a month in business I didn't have checks showing up in the mailbox every day....

I get checks almost every day. I am actually mad at the mailman when I don't get any. I always tell him I've got a little voodoo doll that looks like him. He tells me to get to work, quit stalking him, and maybe more checks will come in. I actually think it's the clients you work for. Most of mine pay on funding and a few pay twice a month. If yuo work for those who pay monthly, a big check is also nice rather than lots of small ones coming in sporatically - all the same in the end of depends on my mood which I prefer.

Reply by MaineNotary on 1/6/08 12:28pm
Msg #229126

Re: Waiting 3 months.

Uh, how about living in an economically depressed state where signings are infrequent. Could that be WHY I don't want anyone riding on my back for a few months?

Sweetie, we have 1.3 million people in Maine of which a small percentage refinances, etc. There are 30M plus in CA. And no, things are not always relative. You can likely do a good business within 15 miles of your home. My average signing is a min of 15 miles o/w. Many go beyond that and at this point, when I'm asked to travel 30 miles o/w for a $75 refi, nope. That costs me $ and then I have to wait 90 days? I don't think so.

My creditors do not extend me 45/60/90 days credit and in fact, as someone pointed out, my credit would turn to crap and my house foreclosed if I thumbed my nose at them and said you'll get it when I get it.

Glad to know that some of you are making a good business and can afford to carry open A/R like that. Many of us can't.

Reply by GA/Atty on 1/5/08 10:23pm
Msg #229092

My point is simply that, if you have a successful business model, late (but consistent) payments should not be a problem.

If you really do rely on 30 day payors to allow you to keep your house, then I think you need to revisit your business model and probably your entire budget and financial situation.

The 90 day fantasy world is a much more responsible place to live if you have a family to take care of, I think. It is encouraging that you aspire to join us here.

Good luck!

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/6/08 4:29pm
Msg #229149

"My point is simply that, if you have a successful business model, late (but consistent) payments should not be a problem."

Bank of America has a successful business model, but I don't see them offering a late (but consistent) 90 day payment option on their loans.

Coca Cola has a successful business model, but I'll betcha $100 that they don't offer late (but consistent) 90 day payment options to their retailers.

Just because lawyers are used to dealing with unusual payment terms that make it more common to have to wait months and months for payment, doesn't mean most other businesses operate under that model. Of course most other businesses don't get to take a third of the entire income as their fee like lawyers get to when they are forced to wait.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/4/08 10:18pm
Msg #229013

"I am very lucky that almost all my clients pay within 21-30 days and if any of them go under its time to worry. "

I'm at that point right now. My best client is someone I've worked for for over 4 years. Through most of that time they paid like clockwork on the 15th of each month, but over the past few months payment has been sent out a little bit later and a little bit later, sometimes up to 2 weeks later. Which is a big deal when it's an entire month's worth of payments.

I've just been having to fight with them for 3 weeks to try to get a check sent out for work I did at an auction the last weekend of Oct and the first weekend of Nov. Supposedly was sent out as a separate check on the same day my monthly check was sent out (which was the 19th, due to me calling on the 14th to start the nudging process, even though I was told it was sent on the 15th). Got the "must have gotten lost in the mail" spiel, but I know 2 other people who worked the auction and guess what? They haven't been paid either. A week ago was told she would send a "new" check, was never sent. On Wed I was told she'd overnight me the check and email me proof of the stop payment, neither happened. Finally today I think I really did get them to send out the check, gave me a Fed Ex tracking number which is showing up in the system as picked up, so unless they're overnighting me an empty envelope I should have it tomorrow.

But I just can't believe I've had to go over 60 days and fight for 3 weeks to get a check sent to my from this company. And I truly don't think they're doing it just to screw me over, I think she's just in really bad financial shape and trying to keep her business afloat by using the money she should be sending out and hoping she can just keep the juggling act going until things pick up again. Which obviously isn't happening, so I think things are going to get worse. She's definitely circling the drain and I think it's inevitable that things are going to collapse on her sooner than later.

The good news is that I probably only have to worry about one more check getting sent out because after the past 3 weeks I'm guessing I'm no longer her favorite LA notary, lol. Which is fine, because I sure as heck no longer feel comfortable giving her credit for an entire month's worth of signings at a time.

Needless to say, I'm really stepping up the job search now. I had a good run, but it's way overdue that I get the heck out of the loan signing biz.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/4/08 10:20pm
Msg #229014

Forgot to name the company

It's TL Signing. I've sang their praises in the past when people asked about them, but now I'd say proceed with caution.

Reply by CJ on 1/4/08 10:43pm
Msg #229016

On the other hand . . .

When business was good, all the checks did show up eventually. But now, it is upsetting that at the end of the month when I see who has paid and who has not, phones are disconnected.

I used to get jobs from some people 2 or 3 jobs a day. Now they are out of business. I call the clients to see who they are with, hoping that my experience with their specific docs will get me an "in", and their clients are out of business too.

I hope TL is okay. I trust them too. But sometimes, the problem is out of the hands of the SS, which is sad. I know that I am a good notary, but if my business "fails", it is not becuase I will have dropped the ball.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/4/08 11:58pm
Msg #229019

Re: On the other hand . . .

"I hope TL is okay. I trust them too"

It's definitely a tough call. If you're getting a lot of business from a company you want it to continue, especially these days. But if the signs indicate that things aren't going too good on their end, you sure don't want to be stuck with a whole month's worth of signings going down the drain with them. It's one thing to be out payment for one or two signings, it's an entirely different thing to be out payment for 20 signings.

Reply by CJ on 1/5/08 10:34am
Msg #229048

Re: On the other hand . . .

That's true about a good company dissappering. I remember I worked for Quick Docs all the time. They gave me lots of work, and paid promptly, so I was happy to take all their jobs. By the time I noticeed their checks were not showing up (I do my invoicing once a month), their phone was disconnected. It really upset me, becuase that meant that the last month's worth of jobs they KNEW they were going to stiff me. I remember there was a job in that month that was particulary yukky, becuase I went back three times, and the borrwers were trouble every time. They also had an autistic son that was as indulged as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. (I used to drive a school bus for special ed kids, so I am not ignorant). He was running around and grabbing the papers, and they were rewarding him to "calm him down". Of course, that made him to it more. Sometimes I cut a little slack for the SS to be helpful, but I vowed I was going to get every penny for this headache. That was one of the jobs I got stiffed on.