Posted by Linda_H/FL on 7/16/11 10:38am
Msg #389844
Your mileage may vary..
Note to signing services: When you call me, or any notary for that matter, to offer an assignment, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't argue when we tell you how far we are and the distance and time involved.
I got a call last night for a reverse mortgage next Wednesday a county away - she tells me "it's only 20 <something> miles"...I told her no...it's more like 36-38 miles one way - she says "well, my information says it's 20 <something> miles"
I KNOW WHERE I AM!! But just for giggles I did a MapQuest on it today (which, btw, I've found MapQuest to be increasingly accurate for my area) - my location to destination town center (35.22 miles - 1 hours), to FedEx drop (31.40 miles - 45 minutes) and back to my location (13.5 miles - 30 minutes)...okay that, in my old-school math, is 80 miles - and could be more if the signing location is west of the town center - and a little over 2 hours just on the road, not allowing for traffic stops and slowdowns.
Please - I know where I am, my demographics and not only the distance involved but the TIME involved to cover that distance you don't. Trust me. I don't know what program or mileage tracker you're using, but you need to trust me - I know where I am.
Thank you.
| Reply by Lee/AR on 7/16/11 11:01am
Msg #389847
I hear you and agree completely. Which is why I have my preferred and most accurate mapping program open all day long...and I ask for the 'exact address' because so many zips in my area cover huge areas that are far, far away from the little town/zip they think it's in.
Mileage + Time = Expense
| Reply by Notarysigner on 7/16/11 11:26am
Msg #389849
Right on post Linda.....I'd like to add, also (as Lee put it, distance+time= expense) time is equally important.
I refused an assignment, from a SS (Notary Assurance) because he argued with me about the distance. "It's only 15 miles" which I agreed but at 5 pm evening commute, 2 hours time. Anybody who has traveled on hwy 24 through the tunnel can tell you that.
San Francisco is only 7 miles from me but I refuse to go there also, bridge toll $6 parking is $24 an hour.
| Reply by HrdwrkrVA on 7/17/11 11:17am
Msg #389934
Re: Your mileage may vary..In the DC metro area, a 20 min
trip takes 45-60 min during rush hr- more if there's a lane closed, accident, rain or construction (even durring non-rush hr). Woodrow Wilson Bridge - add 15-20 min at ALL times b/c some ppl are scared to drive across a bridge & make traffic hell, traffic purgatory!
| Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/16/11 12:15pm
Msg #389852
I remember getting a call from one company several years ago. They told me the signing was only 8 miles away. I had to agree that it was only 8 miles as the crow flies, only I don't swim and I have to go by highway which made the distance further.
| Reply by kcg on 7/16/11 12:32pm
Msg #389853
About a month ago, I get a call asking me to go to a town which is (under ANY circumstances)an hour away. When I gave her my trip fee, she got so indignant and said....."you are only 31 miles away, why in the H**L would you charge a trip fee?" I was taken aback at her anger but said (nicely) that it was MORE than 31 miles away, I know that for a fact since I travel between my home and that town and that whatever mileage chart she was using was, unfortunately, inaccurate. At which point she hung up on me.
So any schedulers who are reading this......please pay attention to Linda's post. We KNOW where we are, we KNOW our area geographically and we KNOW what our costs are to travel distances.
| Reply by rolomia on 10/22/11 2:48am
Msg #401288
Too bad you didn't return the favor. SS agents need to taste their own medicine. I'm not as nice as you toward verbally abusive SS agents. I am a human being who deserves the same respect that said SS agent expects but doesn't give. I would have pretended like I might be willing to accept said assignment just so I could get her name, TC's name, Lender's name, etc. Then, I would have written letters to TC & lender regarding said SS agent's nasty behavior/attitude toward me. At the very least, I would leave remarks in SC. But, then, that's just me. JMHO
| Reply by rolomia on 10/22/11 2:52am
Msg #401289
My comment was directed to kcq's post above my response.. n/m
| Reply by MW/VA on 7/16/11 2:06pm
Msg #389855
Yes, Linda, and it isn't only about the mileage. Maybe if I
had that jet-pak I've been wishing for, it would be different. In my area 18 miles can mean going through tunnels in heavy traffic & could take 40 min.
I've gotten a few calls for over on the eastern shore of VA. By mileage it may be 45 miles, except that it's across the Chesapeake Bay! Tolls on the Bay Bridge-Tunnel are $10 each way. I seldom go over there for pleasure, much less to do a signing!
We run our own businesses, and know fully well what travel is involved. LOL
| Reply by barb/NH on 7/16/11 3:26pm
Msg #389859
OMG do I ever hear you Linda. I live in mountain country, and in the winter some of the roads found on mapquest and google maps are closed to winter driving. These companies will argue all day long that they wouldn't be listed if you couldn't travel on them. Ah, well excuse me, they obviously are. I have one in particular that is only 3 miles from my home, but in the winter I have to go to the end of my road, which is 7 miles long and in the opposite direction, then back track to get to the end of that road, then calculate the miles to the signing from there. To get the accurate mileage, you'd have to add another 20 miles. Then being in a rural county we have to deal with the fact that we don't have our own post office either. They would have to go by another postal zip to get the actual mileage from my office. Seriously, our mail is delivered to another town, then gets transported to another post office, which is in another state, then a private company picks it up from there before delivering it to my home and office. I try to tell these companies this, and they act like I'm lying to them.
And I love it when they tell me if I can't contact the borrower to just go to the closing anyway. Well, what they don't understand is that it's almost impossible to do that from where we are because most of the homes are either in the mountains, with no street lights, or names of the roads posted, or if they do have a street sign, they don't have numbers on their houses, and most homes are in the woods. So how is it that they expect me to go WHERE??? When I have attempted to go to a signing, and thanks to google maps, and my droid, I've found the house, they insist I need to wait for a half hour to give them a chance to show for the closing. Later I find out that the borrowers had told them time and again, that the address they sent me to is not where they live, but is their vacation home they're taking the loan out against. Then they tell me they can't pay me for the job because the loan didn't close. They will pay me my print fee, but nothing else. Although I had a company pay me a trip fee of $50, and the $25 printing fee after much ado. Considering the closing was 3 hours away, (6 hours round trip) and a last minute, late night signing, and was a piggyback loan too, I can sum their generosity up as being real big of them...not! I truly wish that the NNA would do something to help us notaries out with these companies that expect us to do these signings for nothing, or dang near close to it in most circumstances. I have a few companies I'd do signings for all day long because they don't argue or dicker over prices with me. They know my work, and appreciate that they can depend on me. Why the vast majority don't is beyond me.
| Reply by JanetK_CA on 7/16/11 5:45pm
Msg #389872
I wouldn't expect any help from the NNA. IMO, they're part of the problem - not part of the solution, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that belief!
Many thanks to Linda for bringing up this important topic. I wonder sometimes if the schedulers just don't get out much or if they think we're gullible or clueless. Those of you in rural areas have my sympathy and respect!
Here, it's mostly traffic issues I have to contend with. However, I do get calls from time to time for an area that is due east of me that looks accessible on maps that just show cities, but there happens to be a mountain in the way. I either have to take a major, highly congested freeway to go around it in one direction, or go the other direction on a winding mostly two-lane mountain road that's known for lots of traffic deaths, due to bikers and others taking some of the curves too fast. Getting caught behind an accident in that area is a nightmare nobody wants! The worst part of it is that it seems like most of the calls I get for that area are for mods. There's no possible way that adds up to profitable, even if they're willing to boost the rate a little. We're always way too far apart!
I get that they just want to get the job assigned, but how they can argue about our own circumstances that we deal with on a daily basis, when they're sitting in a cubicle staring at a pc screen, is beyond me...
BTW, this is just another illustration of why every person needs to set their own fees!
| Reply by LisaWI on 7/16/11 3:52pm
Msg #389862
Re: Woot! Linda, right on!
that is the gospel truth~well said 
| Reply by Holly Schafer on 7/16/11 3:55pm
Msg #389863
Welcome to OK. The last town I lived in over half the folks didn't have an address, that's right. You simply addressed the mail to:
Jane Doe
North (or South) of town
Boondocks, OK
I'd love to have that come across the desk of someone from either coast. You know any lender would freak out.
The USPS didn't deliver mail either. You came in to town and had your mail handed over to you at the counter. No PO box needed. UPS delivered to the post office and FedEx only came as close as the town east of us 45 miles away.
Having been raised in the DFW metroplex, it was a culture shock needless to say.
| Reply by jba/fl on 7/16/11 3:58pm
Msg #389865
You don't have to live in the boonies for these things to happen either. The city may have grown too fast for the infrastructure to keep up, so the roads are clogged.
| Reply by jba/fl on 7/16/11 4:14pm
Msg #389866
I don't know what happened, so continued:
To go 4-8 miles at certain times of the days can take over 1 hour - invaribly someone wants me to go to these places between 4-7pm and I know that I will be v-e-r-y cranky if I go at that time due east of me. TC and SS seem to think those times are golden, but for those of us trying to get through traffic, including the BO's trying to make it home I have found the BO will work with me on time adjustments.
And why are appointments made for 5pm when the BO gets off work at 5pm?
| Reply by Linda Juenger on 7/16/11 4:26pm
Msg #389868
Re: I don't know what happened, so continued:
>And why are appointments made for 5pm when the BO gets off work at 5pm?>
Because the LO only hears 5pm. They don't think that these people have to pick up kids, drive an hour home, or let them catch a breath and get in the door or eat dinner. I so wish they would let us work it out with them or at least give them a time frame of 5-7 or something, anything.
Had one of those just last night. Appt was for 5. I called to confirm and Mr says his wife is USUALLY home at 5, sometimes a little later. I just told him I will be there around 5:15 - 5:30 and he said ok. I get there at 5:25 and she is there, but still not ready. She had to change the baby and get him settled etc etc. I use that time to fill out certs, journal etc etc. But, its the point that they are not ready. I clearly blame this on the LO/Title for doing this to them.
| Reply by Linda Juenger on 7/16/11 4:19pm
Msg #389867
Boy, after reading some of the posts about the boones, my first thought is about your homeowners insurance. Most companies rate your ins by the ISO rating of the fire dept closest to you. I bet you pay dearly for it. And, with most of the homes you mentioned that don't have street/road signs much less house numbers, that sure plays havoc in an emergency on whether they can even find you. Pretty scary.
I have often come home from a signing and tell my husband that it should be a law that EVERY home have their house number clearly visible from the street for emergency purposes and if they don't, its a fine. Murphy's law is the home that I am looking for does not have a number posted but every other house does.
In my area, we have many many rural roads and homes too but 911 has changed the way the roads and homes are marked. It is no longer RR 1 or 2 or whatever. Thankful that it changed.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 7/16/11 4:33pm
Msg #389870
"I have often come home from a signing and tell my husband that it should be a law that EVERY home have their house number clearly visible from the street "
That's how it is here - we all have house numbers...and they must be clearly posted.
HO ins? - $1300/year ($500 deductible I think) for $200k coverage or full replacement value; outbuildings coverage; hurricane and sinkhole coverage; liability; medical payments; blah blah.....I was paying $900/year in CT just before we left 5 years ago so IMO this is pretty much in the ballpark.
| Reply by Linda Juenger on 7/16/11 4:56pm
Msg #389871
Ours is right at $1,000 with no hurricane. lol Do have earthquake rider and mine subsidence rider. Our replacement is $250,000 plus contents if rebuilt on same lot.
I don't know Linda, maybe I should have hurricane ins. Hurricane Ike in Sept 2009 made landfall in Galveston Tx and then came up the middle of the country and did a heck of a lot of crop damage up in our area by St. Louis and southern IL. It was a Sunday morning and it rained sooooo hard and it literally flattened corn fields. It was amazing. I have pics somewhere.
| Reply by Art_MD on 7/18/11 7:58am
Msg #389981
every address should also have GPS coordinate n/m
| Reply by ikando on 7/18/11 3:47pm
Msg #390052
I have a post office box address on my file. When someone says it's only xx miles, I say, "I don't work out of my post office box. It's too cramped."
With regard to the comments about house numbers, I spoke to a state representative who told me that is a city issue. I often worry about the 9-1-1 calls that are late because there is no number visible from the street.
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