Posted by JulieD/KS on 4/26/10 10:59am
Msg #333534

Nations Direct et al

I think that there must be fewer signing agents in my area now (after they'd been flourishing for quite some time) or else they just aren't accepting jobs. I know that I accept very few of the calls that come my way.
I've gotten calls from companies that haven't me in a long time (years) to see if I could 'help them with a signing'.
Nations Direct just called me. I wouldn't have even answered except caller ID said Unknown.
I told her I was booked. I should have told her the truth that there is no way I would take a job from a hand-holding, low-balling, slow-paying company such as Nations Direct. I didn't though. I just said I was booked.

Reply by Bonnie T Gray on 4/26/10 11:10am
Msg #333536

They just called me too but I tell them what I charge & they can either accept it or decline which they usually do. They always say that they will put that in the computer but obviously they don't or they wouldn't be calling me.

Reply by Notarysigner on 4/26/10 11:41am
Msg #333540

Ditto...I told them I'd love to help them out but faxing back an entire package didn't make sense to me. The exchange was pleasant.

Reply by Sandra Clark on 4/26/10 2:27pm
Msg #333557

I have never worked for this co. nor do I ever intend to work for them that being said, I received 8 cell phone calls and 3 home line calls from them on Sat. evidently for a closing. I know the different numbers they use and I ignore them. You'd think they could take a hint.

Reply by Notarysigner on 4/26/10 5:01pm
Msg #333604

ND was offering $60 for 100+ Docs + printing copy + faxback and travel to a from. Vs I just got back from general notary appointment, 2 Docs, four sigs, 2 miles round trip...same fee. Pleez!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 4/26/10 5:14pm
Msg #333614

And I had the other night - another company, 80 pages, no faxbacks...62 miles total - at table one hour as borrowers were very savvy and knew their loan and had to leave at drop dead time - $150....

So please, don't tell me $60-$75 is the "going rate", "industry standard" or any of those other silly cliches....why would I work for $60-$75 and do more work when I can work for $125 for less demanding people who trust their notaries and treat them like the professionals they are.

I'll hush now.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 4/26/10 5:15pm
Msg #333615

s/b "can work for $125-$150+"...sorry n/m

Reply by Notarysigner on 4/26/10 5:48pm
Msg #333621

Re: s/b "will work for food" n/m

Reply by MikeC/NY on 4/26/10 6:13pm
Msg #333626

You folks on the Left Coast are actually in a better bargaining position at $10/signature than those of us who get $2/signature or less.

I think my all-time high was a re-fi with a piggyback, with about 36 signatures requiring notarization. At $2 a pop, I wouldn't have made much money but you would have had a nice payday....

I did get paid very well for that assignment because of distance and the fact that there were two huge packages to complete (a NY CEMA is not a pretty thing) - and the docs, which stacked about 6-8" combined, went to the BO because the client I was working for at the time (a law firm) insisted on printing and sending the docs overnight. This continued until one time when the docs were not going to be ready until the day of the signing, and they were going to send a messenger from NYC to meet me on Long Island - an hour away by train. I said, "That's crazy. Why don't you just email them to me and I'll print them for a small fee?"; after a couple of seconds during which I could almost hear the light bulb going on, she said "You can do that?"

You folks out there can always take the approach that since a) CA allows you to charge up to $10 a signature, and b) you know that an average of xx notarizations will be required (based on your experience), you've set your fee accordingly, plus travel and printing. As far as fax backs are concerned - first xx pages are included, anything after that is $x/page PLUS the docs don't get dropped until the following day. The low-ballers will have a cow, but who cares about them? The more serious ones will want to negotiate, and it's always easier to negotiate down than it is to negotiate up...

Reply by kmontyCA on 4/27/10 2:21am
Msg #333673

Hey Mike, those of us on the "left coast" who do loan signings, don't charge per signature. We charge per job as you do, so we don't have any advantage over you. We can only charge $10 per signature if we're doing a regular notary job. But as a signing agent who does loan signings, we charge just like everyone else does. Get your facts right. Believe me, we struggle as much as you do to make a living doing loan signings. I made a whopping $500 this month and it wasn't charging $10 per signature!!!!

Reply by MikeC/NY on 4/27/10 7:27am
Msg #333688

I have my facts right - maybe you should read the message again and get your own facts right. I didn't say you get $10 per notarization for a signing, I was suggesting a way you MIGHT be able to negotiate higher fees.