I completed a signing yesterday, and to my dismay, upon entering the house, the smell of smoke was strong and disgusting. I walked in to a house that hadn’t been cleaned for years and paper and trash were piled up all over the place. Cigarette butts were all over the floor and sofa. There was no place to sit, and the smell was nauseating!
I completed the signing w/o explanations, and got out of there as quickly as I could. The question is, should I report this to the signing company? Ask for an additional fee? Let me know your thoughts…
No don’t report to signing company and no extra fee, all this is part of the job. You did your job and got out. Next time bring on standby in your trunk a folding table and 2 chairs and do the signing outside. Hopefully it won’t be like that again but you never know. Be blessed.
Agree with lrdb42 - no report necessary - title can’t do anything about that. Agreed it would have been nice if the LO had given someone a heads-up, but it is what it is. Agree with carrying the table and chairs
In fact, I’m surprised you’re doing indoor signings - the majority of notaries are now doing signings strictly outside due to Covid - at least outside you can be more likely to get distancing accomplished.
Unfortunately, I doubt that the SS will pay you extra after the fact. If you had to incur additional costs, for example if you needed to have your coat and bag professionally cleaned after leaving because the home was so dirty, you could ask if they’ll reimburse you. But it’ll be a gamble.
I (thankfully) haven’t faced this kind of situation yet but, if I were in your place, I would have requested that we do the signing outside. Thankfully we can use COVID as a totally valid excuse right now. If they refused, I would have called the SS to tell them that the home was a health hazard, the borrowers refused to sign outside, and that I would not be able to complete the signing for them.
I don’t mind a cluttered home, no judgement there. But a dirty home? My biggest concerns in this regard are mold and pests. I don’t want anything hitchhiking a ride home on me. No thank you!!!
I take a jar of Vicks Vapor Rub with me for instances of cats which I am highly allergic to and also for cases like this. Sometimes I can tell ahead of time that the house, smell may not be up to par.
