Posted by 101livescan on 5/17/12 3:59pm
Msg #421149

Screening SS Callers

Suggested Line of Questioning

What is your method of payment?
What is your turnaround time for payment?
Are you a corporation, partnership, sole proprietor or flim flam disappear in the night company
Do you have a business license to operate this service? Have you filed a Fictitious Business State?ment in your city of operation?
How much E&O to you carry, and are you bonded and insured?
How long have you been in this business? Have you ever operated this type of business under another name/location?
What is your address and how long have you operated your business in this location?
Can you provide at least three business references whom I may call about you?
Have you ever plead guilty to a misdemeanor or felony charge?
Who do you bank with? May I have your business banker's name and telephone no.
How many alcohol drinks to you have in a week, do you smoke or use recreational drugs?

If you have other questions you think are appropriate, will you add them here? Only serious replies please!

Reply by Roger_OH on 5/17/12 5:29pm
Msg #421163

Nice thought, but...

about the time you pose your third question, they will be moving onto the next notary on their list.

Reply by janCA on 5/17/12 5:57pm
Msg #421165

Re: Nice thought, but...

Too many new SS's popping up. I stick with the ones that have been around and have a good track record. Anyone else, I pass on.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 5/17/12 6:12pm
Msg #421172

I see a couple of problems here

The first is that these are questions you should be asking the owner(s) of the company, but your first (and perhaps only) contact will be with a scheduler. They're not going to know the answers, and will quickly hang up in the hopes of finding a less chatty notary. Even if they are willing and able to provide references, they will not hold the assignment for you and wait for you to check them out. They're moving on to the next number, and you'll be forgotten about until the next time your name comes up on a calling list, at which point you get to do this dance all over again. After two or three iterations, your name will be permanently removed from their list.

The second is that some of these questions are a bit over the top, such as the one about drug and alcohol use. Frankly, I don't think that's relevant.

I agree that there should be some way of screening prospective clients, but this ain't it for most people.

You said in a previous post that you are so busy that you are turning away work, which puts you in the enviable position of being able to do this (for now). Most folks here are not in the same position, and suggesting that they ask a series of questions like this before accepting a job is doing them a disservice because it will cause them to lose potential business.

I don't know what the answer is. There should be some way of vetting new clients, which is what you're suggesting (and there's nothing wrong with that), but in this business it can't be at the point of initial contact because they don't have the time or patience to deal with it then.

Reply by BrendaTx on 5/17/12 8:02pm
Msg #421181

Re: Screening SS Callers LOL

She's basically asking them the questions that they ask us.

I'd add to the list that I would be sending a DNA swab kit and that I needed it back before I would take signing #2.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 5/18/12 6:18pm
Msg #421271

Re: Screening SS Callers LOL

"She's basically asking them the questions that they ask us. "

Really? I can't recall ever being asked one of those questions when a scheduler called me the first time.

Reply by Les_CO on 5/17/12 9:20pm
Msg #421190

What city/country are you calling from?
Are you a notary?
Who/what is the Grantor?
Is 1003 the number I call after hours?

Reply by sanjqnvly on 5/17/12 10:45pm
Msg #421197

Four stars or better on SC or they can find someone else

Reply by 101livescan on 5/18/12 12:06am
Msg #421204

Thank you for all your contributions...I really wrote this with tongue in cheek. Some of you didn't see my humor, or understand the point I'm trying to make. These callers get to know everything about us, but what do we really get to know about them at the same time.

DO NOT ASSUME that callers will be a legitimate business nor have any real time experience running any kind of business, i.e., no biz license or fictitious business statement. I had a call from someone who conducted the order completely by email...Never did have any conversation UNTIL I received the documents and discovered at the signing table that the escrow documents did no belng to the people I was sitting with. Escrow had gone home so I couldn't receive them at borrowers home an print out the correct ones. If you were a signing service, wouldn't you want to look at the HUD to make sure your fee was correctly shown?

No attention to details that matter.

My point is, be cautious in accepting orders from companies new on the horizon. How do you know you'll ever be paid. They aren't rated on SC.