Posted by aries/CA on 12/4/10 7:26pm
Msg #363951

Has this happened to any of you?

I got payment from an escrow company and when I opened the envelope, the escrow company had shorted me $25. I called them, and the girl told me she thought it was another amount. I told her if she saw my invoice before she cut the check. She said she was sorry and to get the money from the borrower, since they had already closed the file. I told her I was not getting the money from the borrower, since they were not the one's that shorted me, and she said there was nothing she could do. Can I still do something with the escrow manager or let it go? What would you do?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 12/4/10 7:41pm
Msg #363952

Here's what I'd do - for starters:

Make a copy of the check and send it to the escrow manager - keeping in mind that may be the same person who contracted you and provided you with the original confirmation - send the copy of the check with a copy of confirmation and copy of your invoice

"Enclosed please find a copy of a check received for services regarding the above file together with a copy of the confirmation for this signing. Note the check received is $25 short of our agreed fee.

Please remit the balance of $25 within *XX* days (set time for delivery of discrepancy) or by <date>...

I'd also send a new invoice crediting the payment received and showing a $25 balance due.

Curious what company this is that the person so flippantly says "get it from the borrower, we've closed our file" - sure..you've closed your file and made $25 off of me!! No, you should not go to the borrower - borrower has paid THEM the fee..they owe it to you.

And no..don't let it go ...

MHO

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 12/5/10 12:00am
Msg #363970

Good advice n/m

Reply by Pat/CA on 12/4/10 8:05pm
Msg #363955

I would expect payment from them unless the borrower, with final adjustments, are the ones who received the additional money in error. However, that being said, I've never had that happen and to be honest, I'm not too sure I'd really want to bother the borrower. Still, I think the title company is the responsible party so for sure I'd pursue those avenues until they're exhausted first.

Reply by Virginia/PA on 12/4/10 8:18pm
Msg #363956

Your contract is with the company that hired you and not the borrower. I think title companies have slush funds for instances like this and you should be paid out of that. If your confirmation said X and your invoice said X, then how could they close the file by paying Y? Doesn't make mathematical sense either.

They profited $25.00 off of you and then closed their file. Mind sharing privately the name of the company. Perhaps this is happening to more than one notary and the company name should be share publicly. If it is being done intentionally (not that anyone would commit fraud in this business [tongue in cheek]), multiply $25.00 x number of closings in a month and they're making more than we are in addition to their claimed profit.

Reply by Pat/IL on 12/4/10 9:56pm
Msg #363962

Since they very likely paid you out of their operating account, and not from escrow, it should not matter that the file is closed. I'm sure it can still be adjusted to correct any errors.

If an employee at my company ever told a contract worker to contact a borrower for money to compensate for our mistake, she would soon find herself in the unemployment line. I presume the same to be true for most title agencies.

Reply by trnsa_IL on 12/5/10 12:04am
Msg #363972

I completely agree with you, Pat!!

I do quite a few closings for a local title company. I submit invoices and they pay me weekly out of their operating account.

Reply by samH/CA on 12/4/10 9:59pm
Msg #363963

It has happened to me once that the escrow company somehow did not paid my invoice before they closed the file. I first contacted the escrow officer, she told me she would ask someone and pay me, but after a long time I did not hear from her again. I emailed the branch manager and never got reply. So I filed a complaint to BBB. Then the manager contacted me and asked me to invoice them again. and I got paid at the end.

Reply by LKT/CA on 12/4/10 10:33pm
Msg #363964

Escrow companies must be corporations - and licensed by the Dept. of Corporations. They must have reserves and bonds. They are audited on a regular basis. They are not like an SS in that someone cannot start an escrow company with just a pulse and cell phone. Check out what it takes to become an escrow company in CA: http://www.escrowhelp.com/qanda-10a.html

I'm sure the requirements vary by state, but probably not by much. When you're dealing with an escrow company - no boiler room operations like *some* signing services. You definitely have recourse when resolving pay issues.

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 12/4/10 11:19pm
Msg #363965

I think you should do exactly what little miss escrow girl told you to do: Draft a letter to the borrower, saying "So-and-so of such-and-such escrow company has instructed me to contact you for the $25 due for my signing fee for your loan. Please remit balance due, payable to me as soon as possible ..."

But then send the draft to the escrow branch manager, adding something like: "As a courtesy, thought I'd run this past you before I sent it off to the borrower ... thanks much!"

(Just kidding, but then again .....)

I bet your $25 will be in the mail before his/her next breath.

Reply by HisHughness on 12/4/10 11:26pm
Msg #363967

Don't forget to send a copy to both the loan officer and the lender's loan processor also. The borrower, after all, is THEIR customer.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 12/5/10 1:52am
Msg #363976

Good point, Lisa.

Rather than bothering the borrowers, I suspect you'd get lots more leverage by suggesting that their state licensing organization, the Department of Corporations, might be interested to hear about how they are executing (or not) their disbursements - especially if you're on the HUD! Don't they have a fiduciary responsibility to accurately take care of all disbursements from a borrower's escrow account? Seems to me that they can't have it both ways... If there's no money, and you were on the HUD, then they must have misappropriated funds, no?

This is just speculation on my part, as I've never worked in an escrow environment, but it just seems to make sense to me.

Reply by snoopdogMs on 12/5/10 8:08am
Msg #363983

Could this be Bryan's Signing Service out of Conroe TX?

I was never paid the $25 I was shorted last Feb. and others added to my post that they had also been shorted on their check.

Reply by Stamper_WI on 12/5/10 8:54am
Msg #363986

Ultimately, the borrower has already paid your fee.

Reply by aries/CA on 12/5/10 9:21am
Msg #363987

Thank you for the great suggestions. I am going to pursue this. The lender is the one that gets me their business, this was a purchase, so it was an escrow company they don't know. I have never heard of this company, so is probably a small company and will be hearing from me.

Thanks again,

Reply by jnew on 12/5/10 6:36pm
Msg #364066

The escrow is always zero based (Deposits minus Disbursements must equal zero). They would have no funds other than those shown on the HUD1 in which to pay you. The borrower can not be charged any more than shown on the HUD1 (RESPA violation for undisclosed charges). If the signing fee is shown on the HUD, the party paid would have to pay you out of its funds independently. This has always been a problem with me. I believe that all subcontractors should be shown on the HUD 1 settlement statement, especially the agent who conducts the signing (us). The relationship between the title company/settlement agent and signing company should be shown and the relationship between the signing service and the notary/signing agent should be shown. This way you have written evidence that you were contracted to perform loan services. It would be no big problem for the settlement agent to cut one check to the signing service and another to the signing agent. This way they know who is representing them at the closing and what the signing agent is actually receiving for his/her services.