Posted by droman_IL on 1/19/10 3:15pm
Msg #318565

Notary ASAP - NSF CHECK!

So I received an apologetic email that their client paid them a very large check that didn't clear, an thus their payment to me didn't clear. They further indicated that once the bank charges me the NSF fee, they will send a replacement check plus the fee. Some of the email exchange:

Me to Them:
"Are you kidding me? I believe this check was like 25.00. Are you telling me a 25.00 check could not clear your bank? As of now, I have not received notice that it was returned. Can you check to see if it was redeposited by my bank? As for a replacement check, Notary ASAP has outstanding invoices with me. What assurance do I have that this will not happen again?"

Them to Me:
"I understand your concern...but whenever you have a large deposit of $10,000 not clear it effects all my checks big and small. It is not easy to run a business with overhead when we are not getting paid on time...I will keep an eye on this one and no need to worry about future payments, we have been in Business for 12 years and I will do everything in my power to continue that."

Ok, so I'm not running a business either??? Seriously, thanks for keeping tabs on your situation, but I want to be sure I am paid with checks that clear before I accept any more assignments as I do not want to get caught up in the same situation that you are in right now (receiving checks that don’t clear and in turn, writing checks that won’t clear.)

I've suspended taking any more assignments from them until their "situation" is resolved. I was assured that they have 150 notaries they pay every two weeks, and the loss was mine. I wonder how many of the other 150 got "paid" with NSF checks too???

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/19/10 3:24pm
Msg #318567

Why are they writing check on uncleared funds?

Sorry guys... if you are going to contract notaries, you need to have the capital on hand to pay them. Your contract with the notary is NOT dependent upon payment from another vendor unless it is specifically detailed as such in your agreement. If it is, then you should NOT be issuing checks on any payment they send out until those funds are free and clear.

Reply by droman_IL on 1/19/10 3:35pm
Msg #318570

my sentiments exactly! n/m

Reply by Ken/NoCal on 1/19/10 3:35pm
Msg #318571

Re: Why are they writing check on uncleared funds?

This is not Notary ASAP out of Orange, Ca. is it? They are one of my favorite companies and always pay on time.
Hopefully this is another company with a similar name.

Reply by droman_IL on 1/19/10 3:39pm
Msg #318572

Yep- out of Orange, CA - n/m

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 1/19/10 5:38pm
Msg #318602

I agree. n/m

Reply by Notarypwr on 1/19/10 7:20pm
Msg #318619

I have worked with them for over a year, and never had a check bounce.

Reply by Jose Gutierrez on 1/19/10 8:27pm
Msg #318634

I have worked for these girls for a few years and never had any problems with payments.I'm sure Velvet will correct your situation.

Reply by Teresa/FL on 1/19/10 9:54pm
Msg #318639

The same thing happened to me in October. I deposited a $50 check from them on Monday, 10/19/09, and got an email from them on Saturday, 10/24/09, stating the following:

"I am so sorry to say that your check did not clear our bank. We didn't get a deposit into the bank that we should have. I apologize for this problem. My bank said that your bank will make a 2nd attempt. Please let me know if that does not happen and please let me know what you may have been charged for this check if any."

Huh? "your check" meaning the check they had written to me!

I did not get notification from my bank until Monday, 10/26/09, and it was Saturday, 10/31/09, when I received the check back from my bank. It had been submitted for payment on 4 separate dates. I took the check to the local Chase branch and was told they could not cash it due to the number of times it had already been submitted.

I notified Velvet regarding the situation and she did send out a check immediately for the original amount of the check plus the fee charged by my bank. At least it was a small check and I had not written checks on the funds, which would have caused additional fees to be charged to my account and created an very big mess.

I will probably not accept any more work from Notary ASAP, especially since they appear to be having cash flow issues.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/20/10 1:12am
Msg #318649

Of course they're having cash flow issues

It's been a few months since I worked for them, since I was banished for refusing to backdate something for them. But at that time they told me on several occasions that they were only charging $100 per signing to one of their big accounts, First American Title if I remember correctly.

They would use that to try to convince me to reduce my price, since that is my minimum for any signing, and flat out tell me if they gave me the signing anyway that they were making no money on it. With that business model, how could they not eventually have cash flow problems?

Reply by Notary_ASAP on 1/20/10 5:44pm
Msg #318710

Re: Of course they're having cash flow issues

We never ask our notaries to back date.

Is this Brian Lynch?

If so, we didn't ask you to back date. We only asked you to try and work with the title company to fix the error you made on the acknowledgment for the Deed of Trust. The title company would not allow us to use you for their signings anymore because of that error and how you handled it.

Reply by Cari on 1/20/10 12:42pm
Msg #318686

what r u folks doing for $25 to $50???? n/m

Reply by UKCowboy_CA on 1/20/10 11:02am
Msg #318671

I used to do a lot of work for this company but they haven't called me for a long time. Now I see why. They know I would not do a closing for $25.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/20/10 11:05am
Msg #318673

That might not be the closing fee..

that sounds more like a printing fee or a one-doc close to home assignment.

MHO

Reply by Notary_ASAP on 1/20/10 5:31pm
Msg #318707

I take it this is Desiree Roman from Chicago Illinois?

If so, I'm not sure what else you are looking for. We came across an accounting error on our part and I was trying to make it right before any problems happened. It was an FYI email letting you know that we found an error and that if you had a problem with the check that we would correct the problem ASAP. So you respond with "Are you kidding me?". Really? I was simply letting you know we made an error and wanted to notify you in advance. Turns out your check cashed without any problems as I suspected. All I wanted to do was keep my notaries informed as I always do.

As for accusing us on writing checks against funds that have not cleared....

We pay our notaries long before we get paid for the assignments they complete. Most of our notaries get paid two to three weeks after the signing. That means we use our own money to make sure our notaries get paid whether we get paid or not. This is nothing new and I've been doing this for over 12 years. In addition to the regular flow of checks we are paid on, we have to keep an extra amount in our checking account to cover the notary fees that we do not get paid for (no signs, notary errors, trip fees, etc.), signings we have yet to be paid for (past due invoices), and signings will never get paid for (being stiffed by companies closing their doors or simply ignoring our invoices). This amount changes from month to month and can be complicated at times to keep track of when we become extremely busy with new work. In our case, we are really busy and one of our clients stopped paying us and also had an issue with a large check they sent us. So the long and short of it was we have to cover the notary fees for the extra work we receive (in addition to the regular amount we cover above) and also have to cover the bad check for $10,000 we received ($38,000 total). We didn't get paid but we made sure everyone else was. I rechecked the numbers and noticed that a few checks might have an issue so I sent that email to you and 14 others (out of the hundreds). You are the only one that had an issue and it turns out that your check actually did go through. I've given you way more information that any sane business person should provide but I've always kept an element of transparency with my notaries and always will.