Posted by Mary Voelker on 11/23/13 6:28pm
Msg #493879
FEES : Charge what you are worth !
I think notaries need to value their time. If the customer offers under $75.00 for a loan signing, pretty much anywhere in the US, this is bogus. They are just trying to give you 25% of the fee. *I know there are laws against conspiring to fix fees, but this is not my intention: only to inform what you are up against: Most of my escrow/title officer friends (in 12 states) say they always allow at least $150 for the notary signing fee, if not $200 because it is a weekend/evening signing.
So the fee can be split equably* between the notary and the signing company.
If you are like myself and spent over 25 years in the escrow business, and/or have studied and are certificated in some way regarding the forms used in most loans, your time is valuable. If you feel comfortable providing a simple explanation of the loan documents, such as pointing out the interest rate, term, monthly payments, prepayment penalty clause, rescission/right to cancel, funding conditions to be supplied by the borrower, or any other items in the package, you are merely being helpful.
I have never been sued or complaints made when I might say that a certain form is required by the government, was the result of a long-ago consumer complaint lawsuit, or was the result of the lending business having not disclosed enough information in the past.
If the escrow and lending companies did not need experienced notaries, they woulds send the documents to the borrower, and ask them to be notarized at the UPS store.
You are valuable and they are Thankful for you! HAPPY THANKSGIVINGUKKHA!
| Reply by MW/VA on 11/23/13 6:38pm
Msg #493881
I agree with you, Mary. No self-respecting notary accepts a
$75. fee. My minimum has been & still is $xxx. The market is down, and we're not getting as much as we used to.
To quote you, though "....did not need experienced notaries, they would send the documents to the borrower, and ask them to be notarized at the UPS store". That has happened. WF had a lot of mail-away pkgs. sent directly to the borrowers & they were told to find a notary. I got some of those calls, but I know that they also took them to the UPS store, etc. In those cases, WF wasn't charging any closing costs, so the borrowers had to pay the fee "out of closing".
| Reply by Exclusive Mobile Notary on 11/24/13 2:04pm
Msg #493926
Re: I agree with you, Mary. No self-respecting notary accepts a
I too have had those Wells Fargo closing packets. Customers felt lost in the process and didn't know what to do.
| Reply by BobtheElder on 11/24/13 2:07pm
Msg #493927
Re: I agree with you, Mary. No self-respecting notary accepts a
I've been told that a couple of the local UPS Stores refuse to do them at all...
I also agree, I've had my same standard fee for ten years now and I don't accept anything below that. If they can find somebody to do a signing for $75 then good riddance to them... been thinking it's high time to raise my fee 
| Reply by MAC/WA on 11/24/13 4:35pm
Msg #493941
Excellent pep talk! Thanks. n/m
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