Posted by 101livescan on 10/14/13 2:01pm
Msg #488086

CA is a cornucopia of deadbeat co's; huge issues facing NSAs

Just for drill, I cut and paste the SC listing of CA signing services. I found this astounding, thought you'd be interested to know my findings.

Of the total 328 companies who have been listed here,

102 are Unavailable, meaning they've been out of business for a while, nor never been rated.
86 are 3.5 to 5 star companies
140 are 1 to 3 star companies, and while some 3 star companies are okay to work for, most are not!

I have not yet done an analysis of those companies who have risen and fallen in the last 12 months, but I will be doing that soon.

We have many obstacles facing us in this industry today.

Fees are being diluted as SSs compete to stay in the ring with title/escrow by working for volume discounts
There is no vetting of SSs. All they must provide to title/escrow/settlement agents is E&O and a W9, which may not bear a valid TIN or SSN.
Now the NNA is requiring everyone, if they want to work in this industry, to have an annual background screening.
New notaries/NSAs being soaked for $200 to take a one day class to learn to become a ROCKSTAR NSA with new signing service on the radar in a market where there are fewer and fewer loans to be signed.

Title insurance is going up across the board, across the nation.

Notary fees are being negotiated down.

All this business about what is a fair margin, it's becoming less and less fair and equitable, and everyone needs to understand it. Builds a great case for why we should not work for less than $100-150 per file.

If any one wants my detailed list of who it's okay to work for in our current industry, send me an email and I'll happily forward it to you.

It's a holiday, I had some time on my hands. Going outside to prune some vines, no work today...

Reply by MW/VA on 10/14/13 2:59pm
Msg #488095

Many of the cos. I had problems with were CA cos.

That's also where XYZ is located, and I'm not a fan of theirs either. It's also where the nos. site is located. I think CA cashed in big time when the market was hot in recent years, and some still think they'll continue to make big bucks.
It's not the NSA's I'm referring to, BTW, because we all work hard for our money.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 10/14/13 4:07pm
Msg #488119

I don't think "unavailable" means they're out of business

I think it means either they haven't been rated, as you said, or more likely the person who rated them did not allow it to be available to everyone - probably for their eyes only. Just means the info isn't available to you.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/14/13 4:28pm
Msg #488124

Re: I don't think "unavailable" means they're out of business

A good many are out of biz. If they are in biz and there are no ratings available, it's very risky to work for them. Still analyzing the viability of companies' length in biz and their published ratings for CA. Goal: How many businesses rose and fell in the past year or so? Just in CA, and of course lately we had a company who started in 2010 and finally went out of business two months ago.

Reply by jba/fl on 10/14/13 4:33pm
Msg #488125

Unavailable also means that they have few ratings.

That can be from many different factors.

Reply by JPH13/MO on 10/14/13 4:43pm
Msg #488126

NNA BGC is still 2 year but they will soon offer 1 year

because some companies are now requiring BGC to be done annually. I am not saying they are the best place to obtain a BGC or for anything else, as I know they are not, but most companies I work for want their BGC, so I comply in order to keep getting work.

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 10/14/13 11:33pm
Msg #488150

This is amazing, but even more ....

..... astounding is the number of TCs and lenders across the country who actually gave business to 328 SSs in one state alone! Most with little or no regard to the possible criminal backgrounds of those who owned them nor the people they employed. Most with little or no regard for borrower privacy ... etc. etc. Mind boggling that any dog food salesman can open up a SS, score some fast bucks from Fidelity, First American, Bank of America, etc. and move on. Such is the state of our business! LOL