Posted by Marian_in_CA on 5/26/09 4:13pm
Msg #289926

Last minute signings...

I love how some SSs get all offended when you inform them that a rush job (to me any loan signing scheduled with less than 4 hours notice is a rush job) will incur a premium price. Especially when that rush job is 40 miles away.

As if they think we're sitting by our phones with bated breath for their offer of $85...

You know the response, "Well that's a lot of money... I'm going to have to get permission for that. I'll call you back."

Then you look at SC and realize they have 2 stars for a reason. Not only are you likely not getting a call back...but if for some reason they do call and agree to your price, you know you're not going to get paid for 50....60...90 days or more.

So yes, $190 is very reasonable considering the circumstances, thank you very much. LOL!!

BTW, yes... I really do consider loan signings with that amount of notice to be a rush. There's no reason to wait that long to schedule the notary for a loan package. None. well, unless it is an actual emergency of course (like the previous notary flaked). I've actually been considering raising it from 4 hours to 5 or 6, since I do have to work around other commitments.

General notary work, though... that kind of notice is normal and I only consider it last-minute if they want me to meet them within the hour or something. Even then...it's not as big of a deal.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 5/26/09 4:31pm
Msg #289933

2 hours' notice to me is last minute since most travel for

me is minimum 30 minutes...and you're commanding $190 for 4 hours' notice? No offense Marian but that sounds a bit steep to me...you go raising your time limit to 5 or 6 hours you're gonna work yourself right out of the loan signing business. MHO

Reply by Jacqueline Dyson on 5/26/09 4:46pm
Msg #289938

Re: 2 hours' notice to me is last minute since most travel for

$190.00 for a 4 hour notice? I could see a higher price at a 2 hour notice, but 4 hours is a long window to find someone else. You must not be busy. If I get a chance to pick up a signing with a 2 hour notice, it is usually the icing on the cake for me.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 5/26/09 7:13pm
Msg #289987

Well.....

Normally, I would never ask that much. And actually it was only 2 hours notice... I said that a "rush" job is anything less than 4 hours for me. In this case, it was less than 4 hours. Often enough... it's usually never an issue.

Plus it' was 40 miles away and a service that I knew did not have the greatest reputation. Even if I quoted $100 I doubt they would have wanted me to do it.

Not surprisingly... they didn't call me back. I'm okay with that, I don't want to chase their invoice.

Reply by goodgirl on 5/26/09 4:46pm
Msg #289937

I so sincerely agree with your post. I have taken another job and my time to do closings is limited - if any "reputable" companies call. "Sign on the X" called me twice in the last week. No further comment on that situation is needed.
Undoubtedly, you and I will both get slammed by other SAs who feel that this situation is great and wonderful and "gee, wow, I got all this great business, and business is picking up now, and I just love all the stress and hub bub of this last minute work! It's so invigorating!"
Someone who has no other means of support but their own work can't live on a couple of $85 signings a week, and then wait for 60 to 90 days to get paid - if they ever get paid at all.
I have also found that - at least here - there is usually some glitch in these last minute closings.
I've also found that far too many of the closings I'm called for end up being 3-4 hours AFTER the scheduled time. It's always the same excuse - "the underwriter hasn't sent the docs back yet, or the lender is running behind." My thoughts on that scenario are that the borrowers deserve some consideration. The borrowers are the ones spending their money. There just doesn't seem to be any decent customer service anymore. We already know these companies don't care about the notaries, but how about the borrowers.
So, I'll get off my soapbox now. Such is the nature of ALL business now - I see it everyday.

Reply by ChristineHI on 5/26/09 5:45pm
Msg #289971

Well, I hate rush signings and it is something that as a person who used to draw docs herself, it is just plain old bad processing and planning.
I don't charge extra for rushes myself personally. I guess if they wanted it in an hour I might, but it is rare that I charge extra for it.
I have sympathy for the signing companies that get these calls from the lenders. It is a lot of pressure for them to satisfy the lender.
It is becoming even worse with last minute requests and I don't see it changing any time soon. Unless they hire more processors and underwriters and doc drawers the volume will continue to be more than many can handle.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 5/26/09 7:58pm
Msg #289995

A "rush job" for me is anything 2 hours or under, and I don't charge a premium unless it's at some ridiculous time or an unreasonable distance. I live in a densely populated and heavy traffic area, and my defined "service area" is roughly a 20 mile radius - for me to travel 40 miles one-way is simply not reasonable without a mileage surcharge.

In a situation like you described - 40 miles away and less than 2 hours notice - the docs have to be to me within 30 minutes or it's no deal. I'm not going to stress over this stuff; as the saying goes, a lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine...

Reply by BrendaTx on 5/26/09 8:11pm
Msg #289999

*BTW, yes... I really do consider loan signings with that amount of notice to be a rush. There's no reason to wait that long to schedule the notary for a loan package.*

I think in some situations the title company sends it out to SS-A and when they don't get a call back in an hour confirming that SS-A has it under control, the tc sends it out to SS-B...same thing happens, maybe, then SS-C gets a shot at it and by that time it's four hours or less until showtime.

I get the same call for the same signing three times on month end. I'm not taking a $75 appointment. I'm just not. I don't care if they never signed up, or they can pay what I consider a reasonable fee.

Reply by Jacqueline Dyson on 5/26/09 10:26pm
Msg #290023

Brenda, I agree with you. I was called by 3 different signing services for the same 6pm signing the other day. I was already booked for the entire evening, so we never discussed price. Here lately most of my signings are last minute and directly thru TC's. Even as early as 11:00am. Here is something to consider, the TC's are slammed. The Escrow officers are putting in 12 hours or more in my area. Lot of money (profit) to be made out there for folks who understand the big picture. It is just unneccessary to communicate conditions or look for confirmation for your decision. Your price is your price.

Reply by sue_pa on 5/27/09 8:04am
Msg #290052

I had a title client call me the other week and needed me to be somewhere in 45 minutes. Physically impossible (especially since they didn't yet have docs !!) even if I was sitting at the computer twiddling my thumbs. I told her I had 2 other appts. and said that I could go afterwards and I gave her an estimated time. She said she needed to find someone who had no other appts., could sit and wait for docs and then go immediately. I said fine, but call me when you can't find anyone else and I'll do it at the time I said. I almost immediately got calls from 2 signing services I never heard of previously. I knew it was the same order because of the timing and the small town it was in - no way were 2 families refiing that same night over there. I told both services I had already turned the order down but had myself "on standby" to do it later. The one called me back later and said I could go at 8:00. I hung up on her, called the title company, and told her I'd take the order directly since she called me first. I asked why she fooled around for 3 hours as now it would be 9:00 since I had to backtrack. THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY OF US OUT HERE DOING THIS JOB !!!! If the title company (and this is a huge company with a huge data base) couldn't find anyone, who did she think the signing services were going to pull out of the air?

Some companies use signing services as their first call but if they use direct notaries and everyone is unavailable, a service sure can't pull someone out of thin air.

Same thing last night ... a resign from an order I did on Monday. She called at 5:30 for anytime last evening and I didn't have the time ... I was booked solid. She said she'd find someone else. I'm doing the order this evening.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 5/27/09 8:58am
Msg #290056

Not only Last minute signings...last minute cancellations

I haven't seen it like this since when? 2005?
Almost every order I've had this month has generally been last minute appointments with either late docs or a late cancellation.

Reply by Karen O on 5/28/09 12:58am
Msg #290145

I've asked on other forums...What happened to the paperwork being done early enough to overnight the package? Here we're discussing waiting by the computer to print docs arriving at some time after the scheduled the appointment with the borrower.

How was this handled in the "old days?" I can't fathom that if the process has to be redone so the dates are correct because it can't be completed before midnight on one day, that the whole thing can't be rescheduled to the second day anyway. Seems it would alleviate a lot of stress all the way around.