Signed yesterday with a retired man who paid over 27 grand in fees for his loan. Covered the closing disclosure he says they told me the payment would be 2500 a month I said here is your escrow for taxes insurance and PMI . This put it at 3300 a month.
He says that’s for just a few months? No. Pointed out the info.
Then he says well he told me when interest goes down he can get me a better loan without PMI and it could be as fast as before the end of the year so okay.
OMG. Pay 27000 in fees and do it again in six months?
That’s predatory lending big time. Especially telling a signer rates will go down when no one knows what rates will do.
And because of his medical situation a 45 minute signing went two hours. There the rest of the day way off. Yikes.
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I am in hopes that the client has someone to help him with doing this kind of thing, the fees and escrow PMI insurance sound really out of bounds. Don’t know who he went to for the loan but this should be reported.
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that’s a tough situation, especially for us notaries. I always just re-iterate to the signer that if for any reason they don’t feel comfortable signing, they don’t have to
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Reported to who? As a notary when it’s none of our business we do not report bad loan decisions made by consumers . We are hired to demonstrate no bias - no expertise.
To me, consumers need to recognize the signs of living beyond their means. Natural disasters are driving up insurance costs for everyone. Can we as homeowners afford the escrow rises coming? Better be able to.
That and taxes and maybe HOA or coop fees. Predatory lending is supposed to be monitored by HUD. they and FHA can do their jobs when it comes to loan churning.
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I understand your thoughts, but you have a contractual agreement with your customer (the lender, title company, signing service). The signer should exercise their own caution (Buyer Beware), as we see people refinancing for 0.50 interest drop a lot, but as long as the signer states they affirm they are acting soundly without coercion…then this is their choice in life.
Be careful to not bite off the hand that feeds you business, or you may not be in business. Not to mention claims can be filed against you for abusing your notary commission. It is not our place to give legal advice.
Good luck.
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Oh I agree. I never say anything. I just think it’s a little sad.
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First, of course. Is to determine if he is competent and understands what he is doing. If you have a question, stop. Then, alone, call the lender. Lenders are federally licensed and sadly, we cannot question the terms of the loan. People can shop. It almost sounds as if he did not understand. That’s where i would have stopped.
In our area, we have a highly advertised plumbing company that is very expensive, predatory, and does heavy sales. Web sites all recommend against using them, but people still do. My neighbor paid 3 times what i did for a new water heater. People don’t always choose wisely.
I’ve been a real estate broker for 41 years, and with the notary hat on, i sometimes wince at what’s been done. 27k in just closing costs sounds high, but a lot goes into this.
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He knew what he was doing.
He did not seem understand the loan terms. I also emphasize the have a 3 day right to cancel.
You got to stay out of, your not lawyer or LO. These people are grown adults. Also, who are you going to tell, that won’t report you the the state? It not our job make judgments on this stuff, just show them the facts and move on, and hand them the Right the Cancel, and tell them the final day they can cancel this transaction.
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I may be wrong but am open to feedback. When I do a confirmation call, I do this with everyone, I ask if they have reviewed their documents and have addressed any questions they may have with their lender. I let them know that I cannot comment, give advice, etc., on their documents. Our role is not to go over terms of the transaction and give advice. We can point to certain topics, but that is it. That falls on to the lender. If the borrower is concerned, I tell them that I will wait with them while they call the lender, if need be and they are open. When I leave them with the right to cancel, I highlight the date and reiterate what that means. At that point my role is over. It does suck when we have that thought in the back of our minds that something may be off. But we also have to remind ourselves about what our role is and stay in our lane.
I can absolutely relate to feeling bad about certain signings. I had a client who said she was getting a reverse mortgage to afford new flooring in her home. She provided her bank statements and they read she had a couple hundred thousand in her savings accounts. The statements also showed A LOT of cash app transfers to her grand-daughter which the signer was not aware of and didn’t understand what Cash App was. The grand-daughter had stolen over $20,000 for drugs! I believe the signer had un-diagnosed early dementia. I reported the circumstances to the company doing the underwriting, but they honestly didn’t care. It’s my believe they were praying on her. For this reason, I no longer accept signings for Reverse Mortgages. Additionally, I don’t accept signings for debt settlements which I also believe are predatory and put notaries in a position of acting as an employee of the debt settlement company as they require notaries to conduct an actual presentation with regards to the loan. No thanks.
I did report the family to the state Depart of Aging for investigation of elder abuse. The grand-daughter was eventually arrested for the theft. The family lives close to me and I saw the arrest on the local news blotter.
