Posted by 101livescan on 9/30/11 10:02pm
Msg #399355

Notary Service Fees that Stink

You'll love this!

We at SL have requirements for all of our notaries. Yes, we charge differently than what you do only because we have so many notaries out there charging around the same price which makes our notaries and us business. It is unfortunate that you will not be working with us, but we here at SL understand.

So all you knuckleheads and idiots out there working for less than $100, as low as $45 to $60 for loan refi packages, this is the result of your toil. SHAME ON YOU! You are eroding and defouling our pool.

This was in response to my response when I was told my fees are WAY TOO HIGH!

Oh my, that is quite a reduction by more than 50%. Well, I guess I won't be your preferred notary in Santa Barbara . I'm afraid this reduction is far below my average signing fee of $125. It was once $175, but of course, things have changed since 2007. I've modified my fees to accommodate industry conditions.



If you ever need a top drawer notary in Santa Barbara county, as well as the entire Cental Coast , I'm here for you. I'm sure you'll find someone who is willing to do this work for these low fees, it's like anything else, you get what you pay for. I could not possibly stay in this business at these rates with the cost of living here on the central coast, as well as the cost to do this business. Of course, with my larger, long-standing clients who pay the going rate for notary loan signing accommodations, I could not possibly accept these fees and the time it would take away from better opportunities. My reputation as a top-level professional is unsurpassed in my area, I know this because my clients tell me, but also I do a lot of damage control where other notaries have dropped the ball, are no shows, or are simply incompetent.

MY E&O insurance premium, office rent, high speed internet access, scanning and other high tech office equipment, printer, paper and toner are a big part of my expense load. Most of my work is for Premium Title Companies across the nation. I also work directly for lenders who have very high profile clients and cannot risk any missteps in the final signing and notarization of their documents, resulting in loss of rate locks and client loyalty. I can see that your firm is willing to settle for less experienced, knowledgeable and industry savvy people to handle your clients' valuable documents.


(this in response to: Did you get my email about your fees being too high? Since we have so many notaries in CA there is a lot of competition. I am afraid with the fees you are asking for that you will not receive any business. I need to know if you are willing to come down on your fees at all. CA base amount is about $45 and $10-15 for e-docs. If you could please let me know so that I can put this information in our system I would greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Have a good day.)

Reply by Calnotary on 9/30/11 10:24pm
Msg #399359

What a bunch of scum bags! I did 2 Yesterday one at 225, the other one 175 and today one at 185. Oh yeah I will miss their 65.00 with edocs.

Reply by Calnotary on 9/30/11 10:52pm
Msg #399362

I don't understand why loan officer let their loans get signed by someone they don't know. My clients mostly are LO that they know me for years and they trust me. They always tell me that they never let their loans get signed by a SS because they never know if it's a newbie. I would do the same some loans take many weeks to close and they put too many hours on each file and an inexperienced notary can ruin the deal of too many hours. JMHO.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 10/1/11 1:30am
Msg #399368

That's why we nicknamed them Service Stink

I got that email about 5 years ago.
Good for you that you got another 5 years of acceptable fees out of them.
It makes me wonder if they think they have another notary in your area who has some semblance of competance, who doesn't charge appropriately.
I feel for you!

Reply by 101livescan on 10/2/11 9:59am
Msg #399429

I was speaking with a friend yesterday about these lowball fees. She asked me if I accepted work from Bancserv...I said no, well someone is, but before long the local title companies are calling us directly because of the poor quality of notary Bancserv gets for $50 in our area.

GET WHATCHA PAY FOR, LOWBALLERS!

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/1/11 1:50am
Msg #399370

"CA base amount is about $45 and $10-15 for e-docs"

HUH!!!!???? I guess they have the right to claim whatever they want. But I wonder what their reaction would be if they were asked to have their salaries reduced by more than 50%!

Reply by 101livescan on 10/1/11 8:24am
Msg #399377

Chase loan officers in my area dumped them for another settlement agent because of all the logistical errors. Last week, a notary was a no show from 45 miles away,and I got called in to rescue the loan signing from having to be rescheduled to another time. The rate lock was expiring the next day. Customers had come home for lunch to meet the notary. Notary had a bunch of screaming kids in the background, what today, no I had it down for another day! How do you miss these details when the documents are sitting in your email box? Well, the dance with servicestink is over. Have a heyday, competition, I'm on to bigger fish.

Reply by taxpro on 10/1/11 10:06am
Msg #399381

I never got the reported phone call from SL asking me to lower my fees, but I got a call from them yesterday for a signing Monday night. She said it will be overnight docs and "it pays" $75. I said OK, my fee is $xxx. She said, did you hear me say it's overnight docs? I said yes, I heard you; that's my minimum fee. If it was edocs, the fee would be $XXX. I've been doing signings for SL for several years, and this is what I've always been paid. I haven't raised my fees in several years. She said OK, I'll send the confirmation right over.

Shockingly, the confirmation never came and I guess she found someone cheaper. No skin off my nose. It's not worth it to me to take their new low fees. The season premiere of House is on that night anyway.

Reply by GWest on 10/1/11 11:16am
Msg #399384

They called me this week to discuss the new fee schedule also. They have given me quite a bit of business over the years, probably my largest client, and always paid my fees of $XXX and up. I told them to remove my name from their list. I have now taken a full time job, so telling them to remove my name was no problem, but for some of you out there, it must be difficult. I know since February of this year the phone just isn't ringing as much. I refuse to work for less than $100.00 a signing. I live in a rural area, so it was pretty easy to get my fee, but the volume is gone. Can not live on this job alone anymore.

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 10/1/11 11:25am
Msg #399385

When I got that phone call

and she said we are lowering our fees to $50 - $65 so we can stay in business, I responded, "If I take those fees I will not be able to stay in business". Click!

Reply by Liz/OR on 10/1/11 5:30pm
Msg #399412

A Stinky Fee Taken Is a Stinky Fee Earned n/m