Posted by Nathan Laatz on 11/24/10 5:27pm
Msg #362693

Getting Paid

I have seen many posts in the past on this topic. However, I have not heard many good results. I am really hoping someone has a way that they use to ensure payment.

I did try the "use my PayPal before I go" type approach. Yep, you guessed it... no one wants to do that.

I did read somewhere that a Notary was having the borrowers sign a form that stated if the Notary did not get the payment with in X days, the Notary can go after them for payment.

The major issue ism I have about $2000 of uncollected fees out there and I could really use the cash right now.

Reply by Frank/NC on 11/24/10 8:11pm
Msg #362702

Please understand that I don't mean anything demeaning but if you have $2000 in actual bad debt out there you had better be doing research in SC about every company you take work from. There are obviously some low life companies that have been taking advantage of the fact that you are not researching them when they call and when the rest of us keep turning them down, they go to you.
There is no way you should be approaching the borrowers to ask for payment from them. Your contract is with the company that gives you the work.
I must stress again that there is a world of information on SC and have no ill feelings turning a company down for poor payment or no payment practices. In fact, absolutely let them know why you turn them down. One of our primary focuses here is not only to exchange information but to put these low life people out of business.

Reply by Lavergne Manuel on 11/24/10 8:58pm
Msg #362710

Never, never, never, never, never even think about approaching the borrowers. They don't owe you. You need to be more careful about who you work for and don't ever let it go this far before you do something. I have been doing this almost ten years and I have not lost half of what you have. You need to get organized and have a plan of what you will do in all situations. Look for problems before they start and know what you will do when they do start.

Reply by Blueink_TN on 11/24/10 9:13pm
Msg #362711

$2K in uncollected fees? Unless you have accumulated this unpaid balance in a period of 50 years or more, that is totally unacceptable. Are you still working for companies that haven't paid you? I have approximately 1500 signings completed and have collected on all but maybe $200.00. (And half of that was my fault). Are you doing the job? Are you following the "to receive payment" instructions? Do you have a bookkeeping system? Is this a joke?

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 11/24/10 10:09pm
Msg #362714

Nathan, Are these old payments of monies not yet paid, or is it for recent work?

Reply by Anita Posluszny on 11/25/10 12:05pm
Msg #362749

I'm just a newbee so you can take what I say with a grain of salt, but I worked for a couple of companies that were very slow to pay. Like 60 days. So what I did was contact the escrow agent. The title companies do not like when SC do not pay notaries. These SC may not call me again, but that is okay.

Anita

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 11/25/10 1:27pm
Msg #362758

Knowing these companies payment histories would you want to work with them again? I have called TC on a couple of companies that were 60+ days late. Payment arrived quickly. Until you get to know some of these names of the bad payers (comes from experience and SC) Always check with SC before doing the signing.

There are notaries that will take closings from the really bad companies and we see them post their payment problems here..Those notaries will not have any sympathy from me..It shows they did not do their own research!

Reply by Doris_CO on 11/25/10 9:51pm
Msg #362788

Nathan, what have you done in your collection effort? If you've e-mailed your invoice and called and still haven't had success, then you need to be a bit more aggressive. Do a search on "collections" and "collection letters" and "small claims court" on this forum. Check out Signing Central (SC) and look up the company name. You might get some information on what others have done to collect from a particular company. Check out this message for two collection letter samples. Msg #223759

Reply by Jodith Allen on 11/28/10 5:03pm
Msg #362961

I've only worked for a couple of slow payers, but so far I've had no one not pay at all. The slow payers, I've been raising my price on every time they call. I figure eventually, they'll just quit calling me *laughs*. But as long as they'll pay a premium for taking 60 days to pay, I'll do their signing.

I've only refused one signing, and that was one that had a great deal of "no pay" reviews.