Posted by Firered6/OH on 5/28/08 10:13am
Msg #248988

Getting paid?

Has anyone noticed that it's taking longer and longer to get paid from these services? I have assignments from march and april that haven't been paid yet....Is it just me or is it slow for everyone?

Reply by Cynthia/CA on 5/28/08 12:56pm
Msg #249008

It's been happening to a lot of notaries for at least a year or more. I worked for several signing agencies that paid well and on time that became slow pays or went out of business.

In February, I had to call a few agencies that owed me from November and December of '07.

Reply by Derrick/MT on 5/28/08 3:26pm
Msg #249042

Please people do not wait longer than 30 days to contact a company and ask where your payment is. You are giving them free money to operate on for thirty days. I start calling companies on the 30th day to inquire where my payment is. We need to get these companies in the habit of paying in a timely manner.
By all means I am not telling you how to do your business but if there is a problem wouldn't you like to know earlier than later. In some cases they did not receive your invoice or they are waiting on a W-9 from you.
I know business is tight for everyone, lets take the proactive approach and stay on top of our receivables.

Reply by nolanotary on 5/28/08 1:13pm
Msg #249010

There are a few that I work for which have started to slip on timely payments. I review my receivables weekly and as soon as I see that they are close to the 30 day mark, I contact them and request a status of payment. I also keep a history of the average # of days it takes for each TC or SS to remit payment, and for the one's who take longer than 30 days to pay, I raise my fees if/when they contact me in the future. The longer it takes for them to pay, the more I charge...If they aren't willing to pay more they can call on another SA. The way I see it is that I should not have to wait 30 days or longer to receive payment, and if I do have to wait that long, then I believe I'm justified in charging a premium (banks do it so I should too).

Reply by Firered6/OH on 5/28/08 2:03pm
Msg #249027

i;m going to do that too

Reply by Linda Meyer on 5/28/08 4:19pm
Msg #249062

When I get a call for a closing I specify the same items for the company to reply in the confirmation email. It is always the same.

1:Give them my fee and what they will receive in service. I let them know up front that I do not close for companies that pay out after 21 days. NO EXCEPTIONS. If they want a fax-back after the close, I add $1.00 per page. Printing the closing package and a copy set for the client is $25.00 if it is 100 pages or less. Over 100 pages is a $35.00 fee. If they overnight the package and copy set, they only pay for the service and any faxed pages. Travel over 50 miles is an extra .50 cents per additional mile.

2:They MUST call with a confirmation of the set date and time, agree to the fees, and give the client's address and phone number. If I do not get a confirmation call, I take the next person who offers the next closing. I have learned NOT to wait to hear back from companies since they often are calling (in reality) to get quotes. I take the first CONFIRMED appointment.

3:The company MUST email a confirmation immediatly after the phone call and state in the email the fees and services that were agreed, the payment date, the name, address and phone number of the client, and the date and time of the closing.

I have been passed up by some companies, but I have always been paid for what I have done.