Posted by Negrete on 9/24/11 12:41pm
Msg #398487

Negrete's Notary Service Inc.

Another one of our accounts is asking us to have the notary stack documents.

What are the general thoughts on this request ?

What would you charge extra for that ?

The Negrete Family.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 12:53pm
Msg #398491

I always check the docs a page at a time, so putting them in some order would not be much of a problem IF I had a place to do it, and time to think about exactly they wanted. Sounds like Title is asking us to do some of the clean out? Who is going to sign the lenders closing instructions, and how about the certified copies? Sounds like a pita, and should be worth about $25. (to you) maybe $15 to us?

Reply by Negrete on 9/24/11 12:55pm
Msg #398492

I agree Les, just checking to see what I can expect for fees.

Tony

Reply by Notarysigner on 9/24/11 1:09pm
Msg #398493

I wouldn't have a problem doing it but the real problem will no doubT emerge, having fees reduced for failure to do so, thAT is the real issue IMO.

Reply by Jack/AL on 9/24/11 1:09pm
Msg #398494

The easiest way to stack them is the same order in which they arrive. I usually just mive the HUD-1 to the top, if it is not already there. It seems to me that if someone wants the docs in a particular order, whomever it is that puts the docs together can put them in that order before sending to us, Roll Tide, y'all.........

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 1:21pm
Msg #398497

Re: Negrete's Notary Service Inc./ Jack

Jack the lenders almost always have a ‘staking order’ on how they require the title company’s ‘clean out’ people to send the docs back to them, along with other requirements like making certified copies of certain documents. It doesn’t matter how you receive the docs, or in what order you place them for presentation to the borrower. And yes the lender would be upset if they get the docs back in some jumbled manner. JMO

Reply by SouthernOK on 9/24/11 6:40pm
Msg #398564

Agree, send them the way you want them back. Orange Power! n/m

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 8:06pm
Msg #398566

Re: Agree, send them the way you want them back. Orange Power!

Here’s someone that thinks that you (Negrete’s) actually prepare the docs and send them to the notary, and they want you to send the docs to them in the ‘stacking order’ that the lender wants the docs returned from title.......... “orange power!”

Read and learn.

Reply by SouthernOK on 9/24/11 9:24pm
Msg #398572

Did I miss something here, Les? n/m

Reply by Les_CO on 9/25/11 9:19am
Msg #398592

Re: Agree, send them the way you want them back. Orange Power!

Perhaps I misread your post? But yes I think so. The Lender Docs are usually prepared by the lender, or a doc prep company. The Title Docs are prepared by Title. These documents are sometimes sent directly to the NSA (you) or sometimes to the borrower, sometime by courier (overnight) or electronically (e-docs) and sometimes these e-docs are posted to a web site that one goes to retrieve, download, and print. The SS rarely even sees the docs, let alone has anything to do with their preparation, or in what order they happen to get to the Notary.

Reply by Riley/FL on 9/24/11 3:06pm
Msg #398519

I wouldn't have a problem with it but why give $10 to the SS? There is no extra work for them involved.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 3:50pm
Msg #398527

Have you ever had or run a SS?

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 9/24/11 4:08pm
Msg #398533

Les, he is talking about a SS company passing along the requirement (maybe typing an additional line) in the confirmation.

SS companies don't handle the actual printed docs and unless they are going to print them out and stack them in the order that title wants, there is no "real" additional work for them to preform.

That said, I like Negrete's Notary Service and will gladly accept any order from them. Fair pay and great people to work for.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 4:32pm
Msg #398545

I’d say an example is Tony’s post. Tony posed a question, on this board that is read by many experienced notaries. We all know that there are droves of inexperienced notaries out there some of which haven’t a clue about this business (or much else). Out of a dozen or so answers maybe 4 have some inkling of what Tony asked. Just how many calls do you think he’s going to have to make to find a notary that has a clue, and that can follow precise explicit instructions exactly? Assuming that maybe 20% can get it done correctly, what about the headaches on the remaining 80%? The hundreds of calls to the notaries, and to Title trying to explain why the notary screwed up. Yes Title is trying to get us to do some of their ‘clean out’ work for them (thus saving time and money) and they WILL lay the responsibility for any mistakes right on Tony’s back. But times are tough, and some orders may be better than no orders. To those of you that think that running an HONEST SS is like falling off a log should just try it sometime.

Reply by Riley/FL on 9/24/11 5:07pm
Msg #398551

I consider myself a very competent NSA and I know exactly what he is asking. Why should I have to forfeit a portion of a fair $25.00 fee to sort docs because of those who don't have a clue?

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 5:32pm
Msg #398556

How can I put this? What Tony described was in essence a requirement that we as NSA’s do not usually have to follow. This stipulation would require some extra work, and attention to the detail of the document placement in the return package on our part, and require additional responsibility/liability on Tony’s part to be accountable for finding and hiring notaries that he believes could do the job.
Why don’t you just work directly with whomever? Then you won’t have to ‘forfeit’ any of your money to anyone, least of all some do nothing parasite Signing Service?

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 9/24/11 6:33pm
Msg #398563

Les, I don't think you are giving Tony enough credit. He is not some "new" SS that does not have competent and experienced notaries already in his database.

In the past, not so much in recent years, I have have several TCs that want the pkg to be returned in a certain stacking order. They list the order they want it returned in and I comply.Of course I was also receiving a higher fee for my services as well.

Unless you believe that Tony routinely hires incompetent and inexperienced NSAs (which I don't and I don't think you really meant to imply that) I think he has the database to handle the requests with very little "extra" effort on his teams part other than to inform the NSA when they are booking the signing. Again, he, or any SS really, can send the list along with the confirmation and the actual work is preformed by the NSA.

No one is saying that Tony should not charge the TC for the additional request, he should. But rather that he should charge them his companies fees <above> what NSAs would be charging. Not charging them <what> NSAs would charge then offer the NSA less than that amount. I honestly believe that Tony already understands this concept.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/24/11 7:58pm
Msg #398565

I give the F^*K up!

Maybe you could ‘read’ my first post?

Quote: “Sounds like a pita, and should be worth about $25. (to you) maybe $15 to us?”
Meaning a total EXTRA charge of $25….MEANING he (the SS) charges them (TITLE) an Extra $25 and then he pays US (notaries) an extra $15, and an extra $10 to him (the SS) for the extra trouble/ work involved.

“No one is saying that Tony should not charge the TC for the additional request, he should. But rather that he should charge them his companies fees <above> what NSAs would be charging. Not charging them <what> NSAs would charge then offer the NSA less than that amount. I honestly believe that Tony already understands this concept”

That is exactly what Riley said ,quote: “I wouldn't have a problem with it but why give $10 to the SS? There is no extra work for them involved.”

What planet am I on?

See Tony?

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 9/24/11 10:31pm
Msg #398578

OMG! Having a bad night are we, Les?

I took Riley's point to be that if HE charged a min of $25 for the service (using the $$ amount you put in as what you thought the overall fee should be to TITLE) he would not see any reason to give a $10 discount for someone passing along a request to stack the docs in a certain order. How hard is that for you to understand?

If there is a misunderstanding it was in how YOU presented your breakdown in your first post since I, as it appears others also, did not take Tony's OP to be a request for us to come up with a <final price for him to charge the TC> but rather what WE, as NSAs would charge for the service. After having some input on that he could then come up the the final magic number himself.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't recall Tony, or any other SS company, coming here for advice on how to price <their> services to TCs? One would think that the same advice applies to SS companies that is normally given to new NSAs wanting pricing advice; Each business has to come up with their own fee schedule. Maybe I'm wrong, (if so I've missed the memo) and everyone will finally have no issues with letting newbies know what they feel is a professional fee for the services of a NSA.

Where you got everyone off track was in your attempts to come up with a final number for an SS (Tony in this case) to charge their customers (TITLE). Had you simply left it at something like you feel that $15 would be a fair fee that you would charge for the service you might not have had such a bad night. Hope it gets better for you.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/25/11 9:08am
Msg #398591

Re: OMG! Having a bad night are we, Les?

Okay….To answer…Yes..for that I apologize.
You are correct! Tony did not directly ASK for my advise..but I gave it, including what I would charge. I have worked with Tony for many years.
As for the remainder…. Work for a SS or don’t, charge what you want to do the job. It’s your business not mine.

Reply by bagger on 9/24/11 1:20pm
Msg #398496

I have no problem returning the documents in the order I received them, UNLESS I have to sift through the stack for faxbacks, and then put them back in their original order.
This is just time consuming, and I would have to charge extra for that.
JMO

Reply by Buddy Young on 9/24/11 1:25pm
Msg #398498

I return docs in the order I recieve them, it's no problem unless there are fax backs.

If there are fax backs I probably wouldn't get them in the right order to send back.

Reply by SheilaSJCA on 9/24/11 1:53pm
Msg #398500

Most everyone is missing the point & ? in the orignal post

I agree with Les, I would want to be compensated an addtional $15-$25 for stacking docs in lender requested order. The high end of the range would be for the huge packages or if split packages were to be shipped.

Reply by Linda Juenger on 9/24/11 2:15pm
Msg #398505

Re: Most everyone is missing the point & ? in the orignal post

My thought on this is: Lender is wanting US to do their job to cut their costs down. So, if I/We are going to do someone else's job, then I want part of their paycheck. Plain and simple. We're already the bottom of the feed chain and this is ONE more thing they want to put on us, then possibly be docked for it if we don't do it right. They get the pkg back the exact same way they send it to me, except for HUD on top. If they want it different, then send it to me that way. I'll pass on this. Thanks

Reply by bagger on 9/24/11 2:25pm
Msg #398507

Re: Most everyone is missing the point & ? in the orignal post

Sheila, Linda I agree wholeheartedly.
I just am not sure how much I would charge until I can somehow calculate my time.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 9/24/11 4:15pm
Msg #398538

Agree with Linda, Shelia & others (re: faxes)

It appears that Anthony also agrees with us as he said in an earlier post that he was "just checking to see what I can expect for fees."

Reply by CT_Notary on 9/24/11 9:59pm
Msg #398575

Re: faxbacks

I clip the items together, that I removed from the stack and faxed to the client, and that get placed on top of the remainder docs that I sent back.

Reply by Lee/AR on 9/24/11 2:52pm
Msg #398515

$15 to $20 depending upon package size and how screwed up they are to begin with.
Thinking this thru... first, you'd need a decent size flat surface and you'd either have to arrange them prior to signing (& hope they stay that way) OR return home to do it--possibly prolonging the pkg. drop. This is not something you'd want to do in front of the B or in your car!

Further, we do many different lender/TC docs, so would probably not be as quick at "fast visual recognition" of every doc in a pkg. as a person who handles them daily.

Then, there are 2 more caveats: 1. I frequently find that TC or SS will incorrectly name a doc they are concerned about. (It's close or an abbreviation of what you actually see; i.e., RTC and TIL, even HUD...the jargon on more obscure docs may confuse.) 2. If we miss or confuse a couple, what's it going to cost US to do their job?

Kind of agree with a poster who said 'Send it in the order you want it returned'. Seems to me to be the most logical, least time & $ consuming method.

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 9/24/11 3:29pm
Msg #398523

Gree with earlier comments re: fax backs. Also back in

my title company days, the big problem was the the title of some of the dox on
the stacking list did not mesh with the title of the actual dox. Had to use your imaginaton to guess just which doc they wanted where.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/24/11 4:25pm
Msg #398541

Re: Gree with earlier comments re: fax backs. Also back in

I agree with Bob, Lee and others here. It does mean a little bit more extra time for us to do their stacking than it would for someone in an office who deals with the same docs all day, every day. It would probably involve an extra trip (or a stop somewhere, if feasible) in addition to the actual time to re-stack. That all can potentially impact our ability to accept other assignments.

Like the others, I think the biggest headache would be trying to get into their head when they're describing a document with a title that doesn't match what's on the page (except for the usual obvious ones). I've run into that on occasion with fax-back requests. If they want to pass that job on to us, I'd be willing to do it (and I think Sheila was right on track re: fees), but I'd like to see them do their part up front (which wouldn't need to be redone every time) and make sure the list they provide accurately matches the title of the documents we'd need to find.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/24/11 4:19pm
Msg #398540

I think you need to quote them an extra charge--$10-$15.

BTW, I always stack the docs in MY stacking order. It makes for smoother signings & I have never had anyone complain about it.

Reply by TishNotary on 9/24/11 8:46pm
Msg #398568

I would charge $15 - 25 to stack docs in a specific order

Depending on the size of the document package.

Reply by CT_Notary on 9/24/11 9:53pm
Msg #398574

I always send docs back in the order that they were rec'd. Too many times when we are instructed to send docs back in a specific order:

a) docs are listed on the list by one name and are actually titled differently on the signed docs
b) docs are listed but not actually sent to be signed

And, the companies that make these requests send the docs in scrambled order so that you actually spend almost as much time hunting down specific items as you spent doing the closing!


NO THANKS!

Reply by MistarellaFL on 9/25/11 1:49am
Msg #398583

I still work for one TC that requires it

But they currently pay me $175 for a single refi.
Not sure what to charge independently, but a good starting place I'd think would be $25.
Unless someone is doing these on a regular basis, they're kind of a PITA.
Especially with different lenders, different stacking orders.
And, as mentioned above, many times it's a guessing game, and I wouldn't be willing if a deduction was punishment for guessing wrong.
This can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on how familiar I am with the stacking order and the size of the package.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 9/25/11 1:55am
Msg #398584

Forgot to mention: Tony

TC says I am one of the few who have a good handle on it, meaning, for whatever reason, the majority of their NSA's (whom she says are experienced) have a hard time grasping this concept.
Just sayin' not everyone comprehends the task.

Reply by Les_CO on 9/25/11 9:21am
Msg #398593

Re: Forgot to mention: Tony

Now there's two good answers..I wish I had said that.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/24/11 11:47pm
Msg #398581

I would have charged $35 for the time-consuming clerical

work. Other posts have pinpointed some built-in snag-a-roonies, and liability is always a question when assuming a new responsibility.

I look at it this way - paralegals go to school, either formally, or Hard Knocks to learn a ton. They work within the minutia of legal world, and bill hours. Much of that work is mundane, but the billable hours are none-the-less paid, because nobody could afford the billiable hours for the atty to do that work.

This new service is essential to the flow, but "clean-up" work. On any given day, the clean-up of a stack(s) could easily turn into a lot of time out of a certain number of available time-slots for actual signings.

Personally, Tony, if you paid my fee for the job, I don't care what you make. You gave me the work, met my fee, and I'm a happy camper.

P.S. I've always appreciated your help and forehead-thumps when I was learning the biz. Many thanks, old friend. =^..^=