Hello my fellow notaries:

I ran across a different situation last week involving a signing service. I was given an appointment for a signing for a refinance by a single borrower on the last Friday of the signing month. By the end of the day I received the documents and was given the go ahead by the signing service to move forward with the signing. I made contact with the borrower and confirmed the appointment. When I arrived the borrower began to go over the documents and sign at the same time. About half way through the borrower found that the terms were not what were originally negotiated. Apparently the broker had promised different terms than what the documents had stated. We adjourned the signing and made arrangements to contact one another when we got more information.

After the weekend I contacted the signing service and was instructed that the borrower and I would be meeting again and were going to sign with the same original documents. After I again explained that the terms were not what the borrower had asked for I was quickly assured that there was only a small issue" and that it would be worked out and the same documents would be used. We met again and signed the documents per instruction.

Several days went by and I received another call asking me to sign the same borrower again. I was told that a redraw was needed and the executed documents could not be used after all. The first thing that I thought of was keeping track of all of my attempts for this borrower. I asked the scheduler if their system showed my two previous attempts. The answer was no. I now had explain the whole scenario before getting the scheduler to correct the computer system to include my previous appointments. Now the next thing I was concerned with was what if I could not take the redraw appointment. Well I asked and was told that if another notary was used then I would forfeit part of my fee and only get one trip fee even though I had met the borrower twice and actually went through a whole signing. Luckily I was available and accepted the additional appointment, but was shocked to find out their policy, which had apparently been in place for years, according to the agency.

Being so surprised I spoke to a few other notaries to try and verify this forfeiting of pay policy. I was soon informed that many companies use a similar policy to try and save money. The most common reason for signing services doing this is money. They claim that the title companies are squeezing them and forcing them to take less money for each signing. This is then pass down to the notary who often has no choice but to accept this policy, no matter how unfair. I fortunately received the correct compensation for all of my trips, but what if you are not. Getting paid for services you performed due to an unfair policy by companies trying to save money can hurt all notaries unless the profession pulls together and creates a united front against forced policies such as these. The notary is one of the last parties to be considered in a loan transaction. We're often looked at as an obstacle or hindrance and not a help to the process.

Always know the signing services payment policies for all of the different scenarios that can happen. And if you cannot locate their payment policy, then ask and get the person to put it in writing. Try and know what you are getting into before you start.

Work smart ,

TheNotaryGuy
Matthew Valera
www.bayareanotary.com