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CopperheadVA
Virginia
420 Posts |
 Posted - 02/02/2010 : 11:16:09 AM
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I've heard these same type of FASS stories before from other notaries that have posted on this forum and others. I've never worked for FASS, and I don't think I ever would because they seem like too much of a PITA to work for. And then cutting off loyal notaries at the knees for such minor issues.
From what I've read, they don't pay very well either. I would never work for the fees they offer. Sounds like it's good riddance to bad rubbish. And rosmonson, if they call you again for one of those treacherous drives, have the satisfaction of saying no or charge them a hefty fee commensurate with the hazardous conditions.
CopperheadVA
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rosmonson
Idaho
8 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2010 : 10:28:56 AM
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FASS used to be a wonderful company. We have closed over 400 closings with "white glove" rating. FASS asked me to get a smartphone which I did. I was a "clutz" using this phone for the first few days. We had some communication difficulties and with no warning whatsoever I was terminated with a simple e-mail. They are cheap and are very difficult to communicate with and they make so many mistakes which I correct and never a "thank you" Their e-mail to me stated that they will call me "if they ever have had need of me"....I travel to some very mountainous areas that most notaries avoid. I am not sure that I would cooperate just to please FASS. I work for so many Title Companies that I must say, it is OK to have FASS in my past!
I am a dual notary in Washington and Idaho with 6 years experience |
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Minnesota7
Minnesota
23 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2009 : 07:26:01 AM
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I have been doing closing for FASS for 6 years. I have completed over 400. Lately if you have an issue they will not return your phone call. They have rescheduled closings I was scheduled for without letting me know the closing date was changed. Their schedulers are not near as professional today. On the upside, they have always paid. Anyone had a bad experience with Pacific Dox? They ripped me off for $140.00. I think they are in San Diego.
Bill |
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n/a
California
2 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2008 : 2:29:18 PM
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It is not just the fees they want to reduce, They want you to do their job,(Escrow) when they do a CH SE loan they want you to do a split package, which is actually the funding package. This was the job of the Escrow Dept. but they are outsourcing even their jobs now TO US, They are expecting us to make copies, spilt packages and send to different locations, I guess everyone is just willing to take as much as we are willing to give, I told them today if I do this service I will add 25.00 on to my fee, They were not to receptive.
OVER WORKED AND UNDER PAID
Thank Lynn |
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NotarySharon
Missouri
26 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2008 : 09:05:06 AM
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Hi Linda, I find a lot of the closings I do for a lot of my ss's not just FASS, are for Countrywide, and Countrywide sends their docs in mixed sizes. I have two laser printers, both with dual trays, and I don't have much luck with the swapping. So I print the doc list and then go through it and print all the letter and legal sizes separately. It's not really a problem, except when I have several closings close together, since it takes a bit more time. But it serves as a good way to check the docs to be sure everything printed ok.
For me, Swiftview docs swap just fine, but Countrywide doesn't use Swiftview.
I agree that the ss shouldn't have to sort the sizes, but if they are printing them and then scanning them to the notary, they could sort at that point. I do closings for several title companies who actually do that, and still pay more for a closing.
But I also have some ss companies who scan the docs sent to them by the lender and then forward the scanned docs to the notary. When those are scanned all as legal, those docs have no choice but to print as legal. The ss in that case could have easily sorted before scanning.
I don't know how much paper is where you are, but I just bought a case of legal paper at Staples for $61.00. When the ss pays just $65.00 base plus $25.00 to print docs, it is a very close profit margin.
All the other costs factored in, coupled with the fact that a lot of the closings end up being up to 100 miles round trip, it helps to save on the paper.
Sharon Hopkins |
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lkassis
Iowa
60 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2008 : 11:07:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by NotarySharon
FASS is not one of the best paying companies, that's true, but they do pay promptly. As far as printing everything on legal, I find that to be very costly, since legal paper is now about double the price of 8 1/2 by 11. If they would pre-sort their docs before scanning them, it would be a big help.
And, I don['t believe they are struggling too much as a company, since FASS stands for First American Signature Services which is part of the First American Title empire.
Sharon Hopkins
I don't think the company should have to sort docs into legal and letter size for us. If you choose the printer setting to recognize the size that each page was scanned in it will all print on the correct size of paper if you have a dual tray. Once printed, flip through the documents to see that nothing is cut off. Unless instructed to print all on legal, I do not. This is taking away from my bottom line since legal size is more expensive.
For those who ask what to charge for print fee? Call Kinko's or Staples and ask what they would charge to print two copies on all legal size and the avg amount of pages in any given loan pkg that you have had. Granted the office supply store is working on volume so your price should be at least what theirs is, IMO.
When I first started as a Signing Agent I called and got these figures. The price to print two copies, all legal for a 100 page loan was $18. That would compute to a per page charge of $.09. I charge $25 for edocs up to 125 page loan pkg. So I am charging $.10 to $.13 per page. Otherwise consider the cost of a ream of paper per page and a per page toner cost and multiply that times the amount of pages you print in a given loan pkg including borrower copies and set a print fee from there. Don't forget to account for a little for wear and tear on equipment. It will not work forever.
Linda Kassis
United Notary Association (UNAA)
www.unitednotaries.org
www.halitek.com
If you are not riding the wave of change, you may find yourself under it. Ride the wave with the UNAA. |
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gzimmer
Louisiana
17 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2008 : 1:10:29 PM
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I've done about 4-5 for FASS in the last month and I haven't had any problems with them trying to loball my fees. If the client is within 15 miles, $80 to sign and $20 to print. Outside of 15 miles, I calculate an additional charge for milage.
Geoffrey Zimmer |
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jlissem
New Jersey
139 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2008 : 1:06:58 PM
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| I got $125 for a rush eom in April. Just quted my price and they sent confirmation for the $125 |
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n/a
California
0 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2008 : 11:46:53 AM
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I worked for FASS for five years as one of there notaries. At first They were paying me $50.00, then I told them I just couldn't do signings for less than $75.00. When I took the issue us with the assistant VP,Tish Bush, she deleted me right out of there system. Out of that 5 Years I never made a mistake on any signings, and that is the way this company says Thank You! They are a very impersonal company,and really could care less about you unless you are willing to work for $50.00.
Notaries need to stand up to companies like this. FASS is a fortune 500 company. They are ripping notaries off. They get paid $125 to $325 per order and are only paying the notaries who do all the work $50.00 of that.
The more notaries that make a stand not to accept less than $75.00, the better for everybody. If you demand more, these companies will have no choice but to pay what we deserve. |
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n/a
Florida
3 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2008 : 10:55:30 AM
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I agree. Many companies that I have dealt with paid a normal fee - 75.00 plus 25.00 for e docs, this at times included a fax back of ceretain documents. Recently, this same company has started to try and get my service for 75.00 only, no additional for e docs and wanted fax back of certain documents. We work hard to make sure the documents are correct, providing 2 sets of documents, the rising prices, and do not feel a company should do this to people who are trying to make a living.
Lois
Lois M Kerr |
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n/a
Florida
3 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2008 : 10:50:41 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jbowden123
How many of you are sick of the companies that are reducing the fees that they pay us, I personally think that we still do the same work our supplies cost more and more and gas continues to rise, therefore a reduction of our fees is an insult to those of us who do a decent and professional job, I will no longer work for companies doing this and I think if we all stuck together and let each other know when a company is doing this then these people would not be able to just switch to another notary for a lesser fee. We need to stick together in this industry to prevent abuse of our services.
Lois M Kerr |
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NotarySharon
Missouri
26 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2008 : 07:52:08 AM
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FASS is not one of the best paying companies, that's true, but they do pay promptly. As far as printing everything on legal, I find that to be very costly, since legal paper is now about double the price of 8 1/2 by 11. If they would pre-sort their docs before scanning them, it would be a big help.
And, I don['t believe they are struggling too much as a company, since FASS stands for First American Signature Services which is part of the First American Title empire.
Sharon Hopkins |
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msc5866
Florida
25 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2008 : 04:55:11 AM
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I too was working for Upstate Capital taking the applications and I quit working for them. I had several thousand dollars outstanding and they took too long to pay me. They started out good but got worse as time went on. They spent a lot of money in my area to market, they did seminars with free buffet dinner. They approached me to do the seminars for $250 for an hour. I agreed to do them but they stopped. People were coming for the free meal.
quote:
Originally posted by jbowden123
FASS is another that I used to work for that I will no longer another is Upstate Capital they use notaries to complete their loan applications for reverse mortgages, this can take over two hours at a time the people are old and confused sometimes they cant find stuff and you end up routing through boxes of papers for them not an easy task though and sometimes I would go up to 60 miles each way they just reduced their fees by almost 50.00, not me no more I worked for over two years with them and that was my thank you, most times I was the only contact these people had and it required my efforts to assure them this company was legitimate.
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jbowden123
Florida
6 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2008 : 04:00:12 AM
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| FASS is another that I used to work for that I will no longer another is Upstate Capital they use notaries to complete their loan applications for reverse mortgages, this can take over two hours at a time the people are old and confused sometimes they cant find stuff and you end up routing through boxes of papers for them not an easy task though and sometimes I would go up to 60 miles each way they just reduced their fees by almost 50.00, not me no more I worked for over two years with them and that was my thank you, most times I was the only contact these people had and it required my efforts to assure them this company was legitimate. |
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crtowles
California
553 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 04:13:55 AM
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Marina, keep in mind that legal paper is most often times higher in cost than standard. (unless you can find some great sales) :)
C |
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Marina
North Dakota
6 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 02:19:09 AM
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When I told FASS that I needed more for doing all the prints and copies (315 pages), they got testy about it. They did finally agree to give me $30 for the extra work. It wouldn't of been so bad but everything came 2 hrs before the closing. In the future I will print everything in legal and call it good. I am getting smarter about what questions to ask and I thank everyone for their help.
Marina |
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crtowles
California
553 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2008 : 11:15:26 AM
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Jbowden123 I suppose they are trying to keep their doors open. The sad thing to me is that we are the ones that do all of the work and assume all of the liability but they are trying to lower our fees. If they need to cut costs they need to do it elsewhere. But As long as their are notaries that keep taking these low ball fees this will continue to happen.
C |
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crtowles
California
553 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2008 : 11:08:17 AM
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I personally charge 25-50. It will depend on who the lender is. Once you become familiar with the some of the lender packages you will know how many pages you will have to print. Then you can determine the fees from there. Also, when I get a call from a title company I ask who the lender is and are the doc's ready. If they are not ready I give them a cut off as to when I will able to receive them in order to complete the signing.
C |
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jbelmont
California
3106 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 2:42:59 PM
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| You might want to have your rate for e-docs also depend on how early the docs are downloadable so you don't have to make an extra trip home without getting paid for it. |
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LindaH
Florida
1754 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 03:56:01 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Marina
I'm fairly new to this yet, what are most people charging for recieving EDocs?
Marina
My signing fee includes my e-doc fee...however, if I had to set a charge for e-docs only, I'd charge $30-$50, depending on the size of the package...naturally a package of 75-100 pages would warrant a lower fee, where an FHA package of 175-225 pages would be more. JMHO
Linda
www.notarydepot.com/notary/lindah
http://www.notary.net/websites/LindaHubbell
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dfye@mcttelecom.com
New Hampshire
681 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 03:47:49 AM
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I use legal for everthing.
Legal Eagle Para Professional Services |
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Marina
North Dakota
6 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 11:58:15 PM
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I'm fairly new to this yet, what are most people charging for recieving EDocs?
Marina |
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jbelmont
California
3106 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 6:06:43 PM
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Marina,
I have never heard of this before, but if you know its a problem with them, you can print all docs as legal documents. I used to always print everything as legal documents and nobody ever complained once. That was a while ago, so I don't know if general standards have changed. But, at a minimum, with that particular company, you can print only legal sized docs for everything.
quote:
Originally posted by Marina
Has anyone out there dealt with FASS? They have lowered their edoc payments to $25.00? It is a ripoff, they aren't sorting the documents they scan by page size, you print out what appears to be all letter sized doc. then find out you have to go back to print some of the scans as legals. The last closing I did for them ended up being 12 emails with 3 updates to one document. It was confusing.
Marina
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Marina
North Dakota
6 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 03:54:28 AM
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Has anyone out there dealt with FASS? They have lowered their edoc payments to $25.00? It is a ripoff, they aren't sorting the documents they scan by page size, you print out what appears to be all letter sized doc. then find out you have to go back to print some of the scans as legals. The last closing I did for them ended up being 12 emails with 3 updates to one document. It was confusing.
Marina |
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dfye@mcttelecom.com
New Hampshire
681 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 08:08:06 AM
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The problem still remains in that there are still notaries out there who will do them for paltry fees.
Legal Eagle Para Professional Services |
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jbowden123
Florida
6 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 07:32:03 AM
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| How many of you are sick of the companies that are reducing the fees that they pay us, I personally think that we still do the same work our supplies cost more and more and gas continues to rise, therefore a reduction of our fees is an insult to those of us who do a decent and professional job, I will no longer work for companies doing this and I think if we all stuck together and let each other know when a company is doing this then these people would not be able to just switch to another notary for a lesser fee. We need to stick together in this industry to prevent abuse of our services. |
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Dear Signing Agents,
Reduced Fees
1 person liked this post.