Posted by ME/NJ on 6/24/09 3:25pm
Msg #293420

Guess I charge to much for people

wanting the BOA loans notarized. Got 3 calls today looking for a notary to do BOA loans gave them my price and that is all folks. CLICK. I wonder what BOA suggest to people the price should be.

My fee is the same if a SS sent overnight docs to the borrower.

Side note- last 2 days not one signing went well.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 6/24/09 3:37pm
Msg #293421

"I wonder what BOA suggest to people the price should be. "

BOA is telling them to find a notary to have the necessary documents notarized - not to conduct a loan signing.

You can give them the option: travel fee of $XX + whatever NJ allows per signature and then they're on their own for the rest of it, or your regular fee of $XXX for the the full deal. Most will probably opt for the cheaper way, which is fine, because you're in and out in a hurry and it can still be profitable.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/24/09 4:21pm
Msg #293436

Agree with Mike and Ilene...the fee structure

for notarizing loan docs in a package sent to borrowers is different than conducting an entire signing...I *MIGHT* (stress "might" give a discount for multiple notarizations (depends on my mood for the day)....

MHO

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 6/24/09 3:37pm
Msg #293422

Don't think you can charge as if overnight docs. If the bank sends the package to bo I would tell them to sign all docs that don't require a notary and let me know how many acknowledgements are required. My fee would be based on the acknowledgements.
Your not closing a loan, just notarizing a few docs.

Reply by JanetLA on 6/24/09 3:43pm
Msg #293426

Stick to your guns. Your business should be run as you see

fit. Don't let those companies tell you how much to charge. I have people tell me that my fees are too high at times but it all works out. I will not go anywhere for less than $50 and that is for ONE document, at one closeby location. Just my schedule of fees but I don't negotiate them.

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 6/24/09 4:08pm
Msg #293434

To each his own, but I believe that many NSAs have.

been shooting themselves in the foot while sticking
to their guns.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/25/09 4:02am
Msg #293491

Re: To each his own, but I believe that many NSAs have.

Perhaps, but I think someone else here posed this question recently: Do you know of ANY other business where someone will come to your home to provide a service for even $50? Not in my neck of the woods! Even a handyman will charge a 1 hr minimum fee of much more than that. Another worthwhile comparison could be to check what a courier service would charge to just drop something off. That gives an idea of what other businesses believe reasonable fees should be.

I think many are giving away their time too cheap -- or not completely valuing what real travel costs are, including maintenance and replacement costs, etc.

Reply by Teddog/CO on 6/25/09 5:58am
Msg #293493

Re: To each his own, but I believe that many NSAs have.

Agree with you 100% Janet. We are like any other businesses offering a personal service by going to someones home to preform a service. Any personal service is expensive. The cheapest handyman I ever found was a minimum base charge of $75/hr.

Personal services are just not cheap. Great suggestion about pricing around several diffrent businesses like courier services. As you said we have so many variables regarding our cost of doing business it is really up to the individual to do a analysis of their cost of doing business. You do have to make a profit

Happy 4th of July to all.

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/25/09 9:23am
Msg #293520

Soooo, Bob, how do you not shoot yourself in the foot

in this scenario??? Chicago traffic, IL's $1 a pop fee... how's that work for you?

Reply by Cari on 6/25/09 6:45am
Msg #293499

happens to me all the time....BO freak out and click...

its the lenders fault really.

Also, if these lenders are telling their clients just to go out and seek ANY notary and not a qualified & insured NSA, aren't they in some way violating GLBA?

Reply by Cari on 6/25/09 6:49am
Msg #293500

to be clear. Its the lender's fault if they don't advise

their BO's of the various fees in their area....which they should so as to where off the sticker shock when they call...

Reply by sue_pa on 6/25/09 7:17am
Msg #293506

Re: happens to me all the time....BO freak out and click...

... Also, if these lenders are telling their clients just to go out and seek ANY notary and not a qualified & insured NSA, aren't they in some way violating GLBA?...

I cannot understand why "signing agents" don't understand this concept. You are being hired as a NOTARY. These borrowers have a folder from their lender. In it is VERY clearly marked a section of docs to be notarized. They hand you those docs, you id your borrower, you notarize and hand the docs back ... PERIOD. NOTHING else in that folder is any of your concern. PERHAPS there are a few individuals who would want "signing agent" services but the majority are looking for a notary ... PERIOD.

By the way, how is a borrower violating their own privacy if they hire you to "touch" their own paperwork? In my unknowing eyes, it's actually more secure than a lender sending docs to a title company, who filters them to a signing service who sends them to an untested "signing agent" in the field. This way, the borrower is in control of their own "privacy" and "security".

Reply by Cari on 6/25/09 7:37am
Msg #293507

not the BO, but is the lender in violation in some way...

of GLBA by giving the BO instructions to find just any 'ole notary? perhaps more of a legal question for the attorneys....

It's not about understanding the simple concept of just signing and notarizing...I have yet to have one of those cut and dry situations as you have described above....in that all of my loan signings, whether through a SS or TC or the BO directly, have all been the same...the BO still asks the same questions regarding the forms they are signing...I wish I had one where the BO was silent and just let me sign and notarize!

Reply by sue_pa on 6/25/09 8:09am
Msg #293508

Re: not the BO, but is the lender in violation in some way...

.......in that all of my loan signings, whether through a SS or TC or the BO directly...

My response was about borrowers directly hiring a "notary" ... nothing at all to do with a signing service or a title company.

Why do you care what their questions are? If they are signing a Peace Treaty for the MidEast and ask questions you surely don't answer those. In a "notary only" situation, you notarize ... again I have a complete failure to understand why so many feel they must "touch" the other docs. My answer would be ... I've got no idea what you're doing ... where are the docs to be notarized. I surely don't sit there while they look at and paw through the docs that don't get notarized. My only time with questions was a guy who asked about other docs with "SEAL" on the signature line. I told him that they weren't in the notarization portion so they didn't get notarized.

I've also never been to a home where the docs haven't CLEARLY been marked and portioned off into 2 sided or 3 sided folders.

I also don't fill out the page from whoever sends the docs asking for my info. I've got NO deal with them at all ... if the borrower needs to find me later about a flawed notarization (which isn't going to happen with me - smiley face here) they can but I am not being paid to be in contact with their lender so they don't need to have my phone number and address.

Reply by sue_pa on 6/25/09 8:10am
Msg #293509

forgot

I charge $50 for these .. no matter how many notarizations.

Reply by jba/fl on 6/25/09 9:12am
Msg #293515

Re: forgot - I thought you were going to say

something about your BKG check - LOL. I am assuming that that is not an issue in this scenerio.

BO's really are not stupid folks. I'm one, getting a BOA refi so I guess I'll be looking for someone to pay, or comp me, whatever. It will be better for me not to have $2-350 built in on the HUD for the notary payment, if not staring up from the paper.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/25/09 9:30am
Msg #293524

sue_pa, I could not agree more.

It is ridiculous that this concept is not understood.

The signer signs.

The notary notarizes.

Plain and simple. It is happening all over America even as we read.

It's an event that has taken place for centuries between a signer and a notary.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 6/25/09 9:59am
Msg #293528

Signing Agent vs. Notary Public

It all comes down to what the "client" is wanting.
Title companies look for signing agents, who should be their representative at the closing table.
The general public is looking for a notary public, who will notarize their signtures on specific docs in a lender's package.
It's not the same "job", although we know that a signing agent also must be a notary.
Like Sue, when a call comes from the general public, for loan doc notarizstions, I also charge a $50 flat fee, regardless of the amount of notarizations. These are COD, and generally with those "find a notary" loan packages have less notarizations than the ones I receive from title companies.
In any case, I am usually finished within 15 minutes from arrival time.

Reply by sue_pa on 6/25/09 8:12am
Msg #293510

oops

...of GLBA by giving the BO instructions to find just any 'ole notary? perhaps more of a legal question for the attorneys....

I have no idea why you would even think this. Notaries notarize important/confidential/ classified "stuff" every day.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/26/09 3:09am
Msg #293661

Re: not the BO, but is the lender in violation in some way...

Out of curiosity, what is it in the GLBA that you think is being violated?

I think the key here is to not think of those situation as a loan signing. They really aren't. They're just a situation where someone wants a notary to notarize their signature on a few documents. Period. The fact that they are loan documents is really immaterial in those cases.