Couldn't gets docs in time, lost signing

I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that really irritated me. Here’s what happened.

I drive a school bus and during the regular school year this has been very difficult to juggle with doing signings as it splits up the day in such a way as to conflict with many of the signing requests which I have received. I am worried about getting a reputation as to being unreliable due to this, but that’s another story. I am now doing summer school routes with a more maneagable schedule of being done by 1-1:30 pm and having most of my weekday afternoons and my evenings available to do signings.

So back to my main story, I received a request on a Friday to do a signing the following Monday evening which would work with my school bus schedule, provided I got the documents in a timely manner before leaving for my afternoon route that day-I normally left the house by 1:45 to do my route so I would need the documents no later than 1 pm in order to print off two sets and go over them properly. I would then take the documents to work with me and go immediately from the school bus to the signing afyer route.

Well Monday came and I had some errands to do in the morning and got home around 11 am. I checked my email, no docs had been sent as of yet. I then called Signature Closers and told the contact person that I needed the docs no later than one. She said that she would contact the closing team.

Noon came, no docs, however there was an email she had sent to the closing team contact person telling them that I was inquiring about the documents.

I then typed in a reply telling her to tell this person that I absolutely needed these docs by one if they wanted me to do this closing.

Her reply came back very shortly saying that the closing team would not have the docs available by one and therefore the signing was being given to someone else.

I was furious to say the very least. I mean wew had known about this closing since Friday, they had more than enough time to have them to me early on Monday and yet they did not. I had told these people about my school bus commitment and yet it felt like I had been talking to a blank wall.

Has anyone else had experiences similar to this one? If so, I’d like to hear them. These people need to understand that we’ve got responsibilities/commitments outside of our notary signing work and should be willing to bend a little. Please share your thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them.

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yes, I have also experienced this. I do not understand how people can do this part time, this is my full time career. I have had issues similar to yours all the time. I have one company that pays well, I get the docs early or if there are no docs they will email via secure email once I request them from title or lender. With other signing companies I have worked with docs and even appointments are always last minute! My first job as a signing agent last month on May 1st was from HELL. I was so excited to land my first appointment, I was READY. The signing was 5 minutes away in my neighborhood. Everything went well until I did not receive the docs. I follow up that evening and that morning. The next morning no docs and I am told to let the signer know I might be late or the signing might be cancelled no docs in time for 10am. I am on standby, finally at 2pm the docs arrive. The lady is now across town 30 minutes from my home and she is not available until late at that further location because she is staying the night there. I dedicated way too much time but I wanted to get a signing done.

Last friday, I was contact at 12pm to do a 12pm signing the same day. I said I can do this but it’s already 12 and I am not available until 5pm. They agreed, borrower said 5 is fine, I print the docs and go on my way with the busy day. Well two hours later it is this big drama why it is at 5pm and we need to rush it and now another notary is going to rush out there to get these docs done asap. I guess the notary before me never showed up and this was originally and early appointment. And the lender did call me too about when it will be signed and she said 5 is fine as long as I can scan her the docs after which I agreed to do so. In any case I was taken off the signing so another notary can rush out there asap.

I do this full time and I do have to often spend time setting up my schedule confirm calls to only have cancellations and constant changes so any set schedule has been somewhat challenging. I have gotten to the point where I can pre-set up most of my appointments for the week but you still never know what event will pop up. If I get a cancellation or a random last minute I can fit in I will usually take that on as well. I came to realize anything real estate like this with so many people involved it’s going to be pretty hectic. I am thankful for when I get a nice smooth week and when traffic is mild. I have 3 appointments tomorrow. Middle appointment has the docs at their house so I just show up, the other two appointments I just finished up printing the documents, they were all here early so I am hoping all goes quick and easy tomorrow.

SOrry to hear about your frustrating experience of not getting the documents. I hope you get some good upcoming signings where you can have the docs early enough, it sure helps plan the day, especially when you have other commitments.

I’ve been a full-time signing agent for 4 years and have completed thousands of closings. This happens every week, and it is definitely frustrating when you have a tight schedule. However, there may be a couple of reasons as to why and how you lost this signing.

The first is that you were assigned the order on a Friday for a closing the following Monday. Things tend to slow down or even halt on weekends, so there is usually a rush to catch up and get things rolling again. Monday closings are notorious for having last minute documents and rescheduled signings.

The second reason is that these closing packages pass through a lot of hands before they get to the signing agent. The lender and underwriters, attorneys, title company, etc. all have to submit their documents in order for the loan package to be complete. It isn’t just one person filling out the paperwork in a back office. With that said, nobody is going to start rushing even more, potentially creating errors, because the notary has a conflicting schedule. They can just get another notary. As far as your other commitments, they do not (and should not) have to consider your schedule. It is your schedule to manage. Sometimes I schedule my signings pretty close together, and if one has last minute docs, it has a domino effect on the other. Instead of calling the title company and demanding the docs, I call my next appointment and ask if they’re comfortable pushing their closing back by about thirty minutes. Most the time they agree and don’t have a problem with it.

10 years ago I was having a heated conversation with the owner of a signing service and he flat out said to me that notaries were like cattle and catering to them was a waste of time. I was shocked by his candor but his honesty was refreshing. Flooding the state with trained Loan signers drives signing fees down and drives profit up. It’s lose-lose for the NSA. Your mistake is thinking those guys give a crap about your “availability”.

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Unfortunately, It happens all the time. Docs are late, signings are assigned and cancelled at the last minute. Some lenders are better than others

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This is why you have a 2 hour cancellation policy - if you don’t have documents within 2 hours of the closing - you cancel. Realize they don’t pay you if they cancel. It’s your business. If you want to work it part time - then you work it part time. A lot of people do notary work part time. I also work another job (that is my main steady income). The notary business, can be what you want it to be. I quit stressing out about no packages - I book the appointment with the borrower - and state - That I will call them 2 hours prior - and we will do the appointment - if I had documents - you get a reputation - of doing good work - and they will make sure you have documents the day prior. Realize with the closing statement having to be done so many days in advance - the title company - has the documents - and although the paperwork goes through quite a few hands - I’ve worked with some title companies that send me documents 3 to 4 days in advance. Others have a habit of sending them in the nick of time - and if I’m not already booked - I will entertain their closings - but realize I do those at a higher cost. My title companies know -I will be $15 to $20 cheaper if they send me the documents the day prior. They also know - I will make their closing a priority - the last min sending documents - can happen to the areas where notaries are plentiful. When you get a reputation of being a great notary - they will send you documents early - and work more with your schedule (also depends upon how many other notaries you have in the area). Don’t sweat it - diversify - and let your schools know you notarize documents, and look around for other opportunities.

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The sign company did nothing wrong you obviously weren’t going to be available after 1pm and they wouldn’t have the docs til after 1pm, No reason to get mad. Just say thanks, I’ll get you on the next one…

This is common, so don’t bit the hand that gives you the orders.

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True. They do not care about notaries. They care just about the money