Posted by Claudine Osborne on 6/14/10 9:48pm
Msg #340911

Lowest fees ever..

! received an email from Equifax Settlements asking me to sign up with them. I emailed asking a few questions and of course asked about fees..The are paying $ 45.00!! I wrote back and told them that their fee was an insult to our profession. I hope no one signs up with them..Ugh!

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/14/10 9:53pm
Msg #340913

Everyone--on the count of 3

1, 2, 3--NO, no no nooooooo

Reply by MW/VA on 6/14/10 10:02pm
Msg #340916

Geeeezzz--what the h@#l are they thinking! I AM NOT seeing those lower fees passed on to the borrowers!

Reply by Jayhawk/KS on 6/14/10 11:32pm
Msg #340926

I got a call from them a few weeks ago, I always quote my fees on an individual basis because I live in a rural area. They said, that fee wasn't acceptable. They quoted their fee and I said, well, sorry, I can't do it for that, I can't drive 70 miles for that amount. They called back and accepted my fee. I guess you have to stick to your guns.

Reply by Larry/IL on 6/15/10 6:41am
Msg #340945

Sticking to Your Guns, Then a second No

Just curious, does any body ever say NO, they can now not accept an assignment when called back after TC / SS goes shopping for lower fees? Wonder if this happened enough times, TC / SS might be afraid to go shopping for lower fees, thinking they will miss their one and only chance with that NSA on the first call.

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/15/10 9:07am
Msg #340958

Re: Sticking to Your Guns, Then a second No

Oh, sure. Often the time slot fills in and leaves 'em saying b-b-b-but~~ However, they never do seem to learn and more often than not seem to feel you've left them in the lurch. Not that it matters as they'll call again and do the same thing. Sorta reminds me of one definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over & over and expecting different results.

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/15/10 9:24am
Msg #340960

Re: Sticking to Your Guns, Then a second No

I often get callbacks after I not (maybe a 20 mins lapse) but I just don't answer. My cell phone will ring, then my office phone, sometimes even my fax. One right after the other, very funny!

Reply by JulieD/KS on 6/15/10 11:18am
Msg #340972

Re: Sticking to Your Guns, Then a second No

I'm the same way, NotarySigner. If they decline my fees and then later call back, I don't answer the phone. Sometimes I will tell them when they decline my fees is that if they call back later, my fees will increase.

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/15/10 12:06pm
Msg #340981

Julie may be onto something here... I like it!

When they tell you or imply 'we're shopping', you tell them 'the sale is on now, price goes up with next call'... Ought to make 'em think, anyway.

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/15/10 12:26pm
Msg #340988

Re: Julie may be onto something here... I like it!

sounds do-able to me.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/15/10 2:28am
Msg #340936

I just amazes me how "low-ball" just keeps getting lower and lower and lower. They just keep pushing the limits. They must be getting away with it.

I turned one down tonight from a company that I work for occasionally when they have something really close to me. Aside from their fairly low fees (but not as bad as $75 edocs!), they're otherwise a decent company. But I see what's on the HUD - and even if there are costs for other notaries included, it leaves an awful lot for someone else.

Tonight was over the line, though. I agreed to do a nearby signing, then they called me back a few minutes later because they needed to have the documents hand delivered to the tc by 9:00 tomorrow morning. And they were willing to pay me a whole $10 extra to do that. Talk about no respect - or just plain not caring. That's an extra trip, even if it's just to drop something off. And by the time I'd deduct operating costs for the car, it would be the equivalent of less than minimum wage! The scheduler said she would check to see if she could get approval for anything more. They wouldn't even approve another $5!! I think I'd rather go for a walk or sleep in. They found someone else who would do it, because I never heard back from them. (I didn't doubt that they would.)

The document drop-off is the kind of service I would include for a really good decent paying client, but their fee doesn't leave any room for extras. BTW, they also told me it was a refi, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that it's a purchase. (They've done that to me before.) That's probably why the tc wanted the docs first thing the next morning.

Speaking of title companies, another trend I've been seeing lately is for some of them to create another business name so that when they call you for the signing, it makes them look like a ss and they'll only pay ss fees (or what signing services used to pay). But big surprise -- the scheduler's email address has the title co's domain name. I wonder if they think we don't notice...

Reply by CopperheadVA on 6/15/10 5:17am
Msg #340941

<< Speaking of title companies, another trend I've been seeing lately is for some of them to create another business name so that when they call you for the signing, it makes them look like a ss and they'll only pay ss fees (or what signing services used to pay). But big surprise -- the scheduler's email address has the title co's domain name. I wonder if they think we don't notice... >

Yes, I've noticed that for a while now. And I agree, the fees just keep getting lower and lower and lower to the point where it's just not worth doing it any more. Unless these companies want to start doing mail-away packages to the borrowers, I don't see a middle ground here. Of course, a mail-away package would mean that docs have to be prepared ahead of time - ha!

Reply by Stoli on 6/15/10 7:56am
Msg #340951

Professional Signing Services offered $30... n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 6/15/10 10:05am
Msg #340961

That's just plain ridiculous! n/m

Reply by Frank/NC on 6/15/10 8:00am
Msg #340952

The companies can call themselves whatever they want and offer whatever they want to. In the final analysis I think that they will discover that using low ball notaries or sending packages to borrowers to have them signed is more costly in that many of them have to be redone for whatever reasons. I think it will revert to them using the more competent notaries, and, yes, we all know what our work is worth by what we have confidence in charging the higher fees but also doing the work that does not require going back and having it redone.
We just have to stick it out and let them know where we stand.

Reply by HARRY_PA on 6/15/10 8:39am
Msg #340956

It appears to me that low ball fees have been doing nothing but grow as a business model both for signing services and settlement companies. It seems like wishful thinking that this trend is going to reverse. The volume and fees of the 1990's and early 2000's may have been the aberration rather than the norm. I would expect, as time goes by, that fewer and fewer of us will be able to choose loan signing as a full time profession. Just my opinion.

Harry

Reply by aurelio/FL on 6/15/10 11:05am
Msg #340970

There is some expression about sh*t rolling down hill

For a while I did this as a full time job but now I can only do it part time if I want to keep paying my bills. As this profession goes down the toilet so too will the NNA congolmerate and the other companies pushing more and more uneducated notaries into the NSA profession. We now have too many NSAs and not enough loans to close, and I don't see that changing as the NNA continues to churn out more and more.

Reply by Dollface/NY on 6/15/10 9:47pm
Msg #341041

I just puked on my keyboard.

Reply by jnew on 6/16/10 3:49am
Msg #341084

Nations Direct offers a job consisting of a giant package for $40.00 Twenty more for edocs, and 50 page faxback on the house (ie your house). Such a deal. I can't resist. They deem you crazy for not taking this exciting offer. I'd even kick my own butt, if my leg bent that way.