Posted by Notarycat/CA on 12/15/12 11:13am
Msg #446625

Bay Area Sign-Ups

Has anyone heard or worked with Bay Area Sign-Ups? They were recommended to me by a notary in my renewal class.

Reply by 101livescan on 12/15/12 11:20am
Msg #446627

They do a lot of work with First American Title. One notary I know in Santa Barbara made $65 while BA made $125 for in office signings. They charge $75 for edocs, notary gets $25, the same ole price structure. They do pay, however low pay for the scope of work.

Reply by Pro Mobile Notary on 12/15/12 11:27am
Msg #446629

Eric Stone is the owner and they were the first signing service in our county.

I know several local notaries in Northern CA that hate BASU and will no longer work with them.

I also know many escrow officers that will no longer use them because they have had so many complaints by borrowers about the quality of signing agents they send out and the lack of anything being explained. The escrow officer that actually started Eric Stone in the business will no longer use his company. He was a clerk & notary at one of those mailbox etc places when she got him to do his first mobile notary signing after work hours were over. That is how they got started.

Perhaps they are scraping "the bottom of the barrel" to get agents to accept their low fees for service.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/15/12 1:34pm
Msg #446642

Thank you for the tidbit of signing agent history! "Eric Stone is the owner and they were the first signing service in our county." I have been privately emailing friends and asking for information about the early days...there is so little of it.

Reply by Pro Mobile Notary on 12/15/12 6:20pm
Msg #446672

BTW- I have no axe to grind with Eric. There is enough business and enough room for all of us.

I actually think places like his serve a useful purpose. They give newbie signing agents an opportunity to get their fee wet and gain some experience in the signing world. Too often people do not remember the early days of their career and what they had to go through to get established. I can vividly remember what I personally went through in the beginning looking for signing assignments for myself before making the decision to grow the business and become a signing service.

Our perspective is that 'newbies' are too costly to use even if we were to pay them less than our normal signing fees and make more money on their signings. Newbies often make errors and can often do damage to escrow and signing service relationships. We suffered though some of those painful experiences in the beginning of our growth cycle.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/15/12 7:23pm
Msg #446680

I plucked out the part about "first signing company..." and was not concerned about the rest. Would love to know more details about how you know this is the first signing service. I'm trying to put together a little signing agent history for posterity.

Reply by Pro Mobile Notary on 12/16/12 9:48am
Msg #446719

Brenda, I know this because I know the escrow officer that convinced Eric Stone to do his first signing in someone's home and out of his mailbox etc. workplace. She was the one that told me the story of how it all started. That was the genesis of BASU. In those days there were no signing services per se in Marin County, CA. I know many escrow officers in Marin County for decades from being a mortgage broker in this county for a long time.

The escrow officer that related the story to me still works at Fidelity National Title in San Rafael, CA. Eric was working in a mailbox etc type place in Mill Valley, CA at the time.

Reply by 101livescan on 12/16/12 9:05am
Msg #446710

The title companies in my area are starting to use other agencies because BA charges a flat $125 whether it's a single document or a full refi package for overnight docs, $75 on top if it's email docs, and they feel this is way too much. He's lost a significant piece of their business this year. They are looking to other sources to handle their out of county/state signings.

Reply by Pro Mobile Notary on 12/16/12 11:24am
Msg #446733

The same thing is happening in NorCal

Reply by 101livescan on 12/16/12 1:14pm
Msg #446741

Re: The same thing is happening in NorCal

This is why last year Eric showed up with cases of wine, free pizza, salad, etc. for staff at Christmas time. Too late...

Reply by doglover/CA on 12/16/12 6:49pm
Msg #446752

Wonder if he is related to the Stone family members who run Nations Direct and Global Notary.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/16/12 9:04pm
Msg #446760

This Stone definitely is n.o.t.