Did a signing Friday, a commercial property purchase and the buyer had to read every word of every page. And his comment was “Why do they not send me a copy in advance”.
Took over two hours. I had four appointments on Friday and had to cancel a 5th because I figured out at this appointment I would NOT make it.
It was at a branch office of the title company so they took care of scans and shipping but I NEVER figured on being there over 2 hours.
What’s your record at the table?
My 2nd notarial act ever took about 2 hours. The signer was elderly & nervous but competent. The daughter-in-law was there but stood at a distance practically glaring at us the whole time. I was told by the Son that they had gone over the loan signing with her the night before so we shouldn’t have a lot of questions but the signer read almost every word and I had to explain a lot. She was very nice though and I tried to keep it light as the tension from the DIL was palpable for some reason. Then the DIL asked how much it would be to notarize her Mother-in-Law’s absentee vote and I said, “for her, free of charge.”
Just last Monday (2.5 hrs)…a copy of docs were sent to signer at 1pm for a 4:30pm closing. He did not have time to read them; 206 pages, get to the last few pages and he and I discover that his wife also needed to sign on page. She was not there and he did not want her to be obligated in the first place. I didn’t get the docs in time to review. He wanted me to explain each doc, which I declined to do by law, had to get an atty on the line for the whole 2.5 hrs…
A brief overview of what a document is, isn’t against the law. Advising somehow how to sign, whether to sign or how to fill out say a 1099S that’s against the law.
I always tell a signer they should take all the time they need to review. But don’t you think it’s strange they wait until the day they sign to ask a professional advisor?
The man last Friday was spending 7 figures on a commercial building so I waited patiently while he read. And then he says 'you have to be a blankety blank attorney to even understand this". People can be so odd.
Signers should be able to read their contract prior to signing it. They should be able to contact any legal counsel or advisor for guidance. That’s why it is so important that we price our services appropriately. The quickest way to get an E&O claim is by exerting pressure or to coerce a signer to sign document(s).
Like I said, he wanted me to explain each document, not a brief overview. I always read the title of the document to the signer and allow them to read it for themselves.
Wow, that would have been rough. I sometimes wonder how explicit loan officers are with signers. Seems like some of them - not much.
If any of you have been in the “business” long enough to remember the borrower and lender shenanigans involved in the frantic 8 years that cumulated in the mortgage crash of 2008, you will remember the absolute cluelessness of the signers. Some of the signers only lender experience was with a pawnbroker so naturally they would be apprehensive to sign anything much less a 100+ document set that included a note and a DEED OF TRUST! Yes it was the notary’s job to deliver the settlement statement along with the dreaded APR disclosure document that required a logical explanation of why the Lender had promised a 5% interest rate but the APR interest rate was actually several miles north of 7%. Easily 30% of the signers requested a cancellation on the spot, unless they spoke/yelled (using your flip phone) to the loan officer. There was always tension in the room even if the process seemed to be going smoothly.
Those notaries that survived (such as I) have a similar “attitude” especially toward the con men and lowballing signing services that today literally control the training, work and fees.
Only lender experience was a pawn broker? Just wow, Joe.
All time horror story was a Reverse Mortgage Application with a signer that already had a Rev Mor. I couldn’t understand at the time why it was even possible to refi a Reverse Mortgage. When I called the LO with my question she replied that the earlier loan did not include an impound account for her property taxes and homeowner’s insurance and it would be better for the Borrower to have those taken care of monthly. She told me her daughter lived two blocks away so I called the daughter and asked her if she could join us. She refused? The hardest part of the Rev Mor application process is that there are numerous statements that need to be collected for example: copy of ID, SS statement, proof of Homeowner’s insurance, mortgage statement and maybe another bit of information that the Lender wants to have. Most of these dear Borrowers are elderly and do not have a copier at home. She did not. I asked her if she would like the originals back and she did. This meant making a copy at my office and making a second trip back to give her her documents.
She was unable to take care of her house and everything was in piles. I had to go through her car glove box to look for her ID, stacks and stacks of piled up mail for her SS award letter. There was all kinds of things piled up, half-eaten food, dog feces. She was an absolute angel and I felt very bad for her. When the actual loan came around, I could not bear to go back. That experience had taken 4 hours without returning her documents. The scheduling company sent out the job offer multiple times and called me at the end. I had to tell them I was not available.
Runner up was a hard money loan that started at 7 PM at a Starbucks, the man refused to leave the store at 9 PM and told me that ‘they know me here.’ At 9:20 a store employee said they wanted to go home. He then remembered the nearby supermarket had a deli and they were open until 11! Oh Joy! We moved over there and spent another one and a half hours with the loan. When I signed out of the appointment, the scheduler told me that he had a full copy of the documents the previous day and that she would increase my fee $25 for my time and trouble. This she forgot when she did pay me a month later.
Ooff… That’s frustrating.
I can relate that as executor for my mom’s estate, I told EVERYONE associated with the sale of the house that everything was to be copied to my lawyer.
They didn’t. All the sent prior to the signing was a seller-side CD. I asked for the whole package which they didn’t want to send. They actually asked why I wanted it!! My responses was “You know as well as I do that there is one form in that packet that states that lawyers prepared this document and those lawyers don’t work for me. Furthermore, it strongly encourages the signer to have a lawyer look it over.”
They sent the docs. And sure enough - they screwed things up.
And then they had the nerve to try and make me feel bad about it.
When I finally got to the title office to sign (because they wouldn’t let me pick the notary I wanted to use to avoid errors), they messed that up too. I never signed a notary book for the documents for the sale of the house which I didn’t realize until later because after fighting with them and being harrangued by agent phone calls for 8 hours, I was a mess.
It was my childhood home and there were a lot of big feelings.
The all-time horror story is exactly why I refuse to be a part of anything that is involved with an RM. The standard hook is that you get the signing after approval. These products shouldn’t be done with mobile notaries.
The Starbucks one is your fault. Hard money loans usually mean the signer is inexperienced or he’s enamored with you. He’s wasting your time, and you’re wasting his time because you can’t give legal advice.
It’s best to point and sign those. If that doesn’t work, fold your tent and go.
I had a purchase closing a little while ago that took almost 2 hours because the gentleman officer had to read every line, not only in the Deed of Trust, but every stick of page in that whole package - I’m talking line.by.line did he read. Plus, he had it Zoomed with his dad, lender rep, and the cow across the yard! LOL! Plus, one of the documents needed a witness, so we had to wait for his army subordinate to come from across town to be a witness! That was some day!! LOL!
You had me laughing at “Oh Joy!” Just when you thought it was over, a recommendation for the deli relocation opened up! LOL!
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