I did a refi signing on Tuesday June 30th involving Freedom Mtg. The signers first payment on the refi is/was set for August 1st. Freedom Mtg withdrew a payment this week for July and they are blaming me, the NOTARY, because I did not tell them that they should contact Freedom Mtg and stop the payment. Freedom Mtg refuses to refund the payment to the Signer. This is a young military family and Freedom Mtg’s action is putting them in a bind financially for the month.
Have you heard of such a thing? Why on earth would the Lender call out the NOTARY on this?
Wondering how you know this? If borrower called you about it, all you can do is suggest/advise they contact the Lender as there is nothing you can or should do about this matter. It’s between borrower & lender. But it is definitely a strange situation that should not have happened.
1 Like
Okay…hang on - this doesn’t make sense - the rescission period ends tonight at midnight - Was it a same-lender refi?
OK, so maybe it’s not same Lender and old Lender took ‘autopay’ July payment???
Or when Title requested the payoff from the old lender / current lender, they forgot to advise the borrower to stop his Auto pay. I’ve seen that happen. Either way, it’s not the notary fault. Someone at title drop the ball or the borrower dropped the ball.
They have until midnight tonight cancel the loan. And then scream at their loan officer
IMO until we hear back from the OP, can’t speculate any further. I think there’s some info missing here - " Why on earth would the Lender call out the NOTARY on this? - my question exactly
1 Like
Arichter, the signer called me. He felt this was in error (the lender blaming me) but wanted to hear it from me. I immediately called the signing company that hired me and asked if they would get involved. They were sympathetic but said it’s a dangerous thing for them to poke the BIG bear. No one was available at Freedom Mortgage or the title company when I attempted to call them.
I believe It was but I always erase any documentation from my computer after a signing. I’m always concerned about cyber security.
The Lender actually told the B it was your fault? Well, it’s not! But blame always rolls downhill and there ain’t nobody lower than the notary. On the other hand, I’ve had a B or 3 that have fabricated something because they think their story will give them some advantage. Sometimes it even works! But honestly, as more info comes out, I’m beginning to think a lot of fabrication is going on here from your signer. I truly doubt the Lender would take an early payment nor blame you for not telling the B to stop autopay from old Lender–not your job.
FWIW…don’t be in such a hurry to delete packages.
2 Likes
Well, here’s my thought - new loan closed 6/30/2020 - rescission period ended Friday night, 7/3/2020 at midnight - disbursement on Monday, 7/6/2020 with payoff going out, give 2-3 extra days to credit…
If same lender refi, someone at title should have picked this up, title and lender together should have coordinated along with borrower to not have July payment made pending payoff (UNLESS they were behind and owed that month or more anyway) - payoff will get there beyond auto-pay date so, without instruction from borrower to auto-pay department, they take the payment.
That payment, eventually, will be refunded to them or credited to them either on next month’s payment, principal paydown, or all go into escrow - something for borrower and lender to work out as to how they want the excess funds handled.
But NO MATTER WHAT, is it NOT YOUR fault…and I hope someone at the top gets the memo…and soon.
Good luck with this
1 Like
Thank you once again Arichter. I love the wisdom in “blame always rolls downhill and there ain’t nobody lower than the notary”.
Thank you Linda. We are on the same page as there is no way this is my fault. Now I need to decide as if I want to continue closings for Freedom Mortgage. There are very few Mobile Notaries in my area so it would actually be harder on them then me. Maybe I should double my fee next time they call.
Sometimes errors like this happen. When the review of cases is completed, the lender will see that there was an exra payment made and will refund the payment. I have seen this happen before on a few occasions, and even once to myself when I refied. It is convenient to deflect criticism. More than likely it the problem will be corrected promptly. However, it is not ethical to blame the notary, and without direction in writing from the lender, the notary should not get involved in those details. I would would imagine that to do so could be giving legal advice, which a notary should never do unless he or she has the appropriate legal license. JMHO.
1 Like
I’ve closed a few Freedom mortgage loans and actually like their name:). “Freedom”. 
I thought they are professional and efficient.
My question is did someone from freedom told you that it was you fault or did the borrower told you that the person at freedom mortgage said it was your fault? The don’t think the lender or the title co expect you the notary to do their job like instructing the borrower to place a stop on their auto-pay, etc. They know, that would be totally out of your scope of practice.
You did not do anything wrong! I would let go and move on.
1 Like
Thank you mglatfelter. I hope they refund them soon as this family is cutting things a bit tight financially. I agree about the legal advice. I advised them to call their LO to find out what is really going on.
Freedom Mortgage is a disaster company. I refuse to do any signings where they are the lender. If I get an assignment and find out after they are the lender, I tell title or the 3rd party company to find another notary. Have had way too many issues with their docs, them changing the CD and the first time the borrower sees it is at closing, etc. Not worth the aggravation for me.
1 Like
I’ve closed their loans through Amrock only and all were great.
1 Like
VIPnotaryCO it was the borrower that told me that Freedom Mortgage blamed me. I did ask the signing company to check into it but they were reluctant to “poke the bear”.
1 Like
blongtin1, I have closed others for Freedom Mortgage and between them, the title company, and this perticular closing company, I ALWAYS feel like I earned that paycheck and more. It’s seldom smooth.
I have done many Freedom Mortgage signings. The worst thing about them is the title company always requires faxbacks. It’s a nightmare especially during this COVID19 crisis. Who’s got time to fax 50+ pages? As far as the payment issue, no it is definitely not the notary’s fault that the Lender took the payment. When I am with the Borrowers and there is a question about when the first payment is due, I usually ask the Borrowers if they want to sign up for auto pay. Within that conversation, I ask if they currently have auto pay. If so, I suggest that they cancel the auto pay to make sure another payment doesn’t get applied. It only takes a moment to have that conversation and avoids potential issues for the Borrowers. I know it’s not my job to advise them of this, but I think it helps them in the end. Also, if the payment was taken and applied to the old loan balance, when the payoff is sent at disbursement, any overages has to come back to the Borrowers. They can only charge interest until the loan payoff is received. In your case, I’m sure the excess payoff was returned to the Borrowers just like any excess escrow would be returned.
1 Like
Thank you for your response SandraMcMiller. I do a similar presentation about the 1st payment, usually when we get to the Note. I am in the habit of scanning all docs back even if they are not asked for.
