Hi everyone! Just wanted to get a consensus of when should you hit the “completion report” button after a loan closing? Keep in mind, this is not a rookie question, but something that came to my mind after a recent closing and a call from a title company.
(1) Do you hit it IMMEDIATELY AFTER the closing, then upload the scanbacks, wait for approval, and then FedEx drop?
Or…
(2) Do you leave the appointment, upload the scanbacks, wait for review approval, FedEx drop, and THEN hit the completion submit button as the last final step?
I never gave it any thought until I recently did a typical closing and as par for the course, once the appointment was over, I submitted the complete report, then proceeded to upload the scanbacks once I got back to my office and waited for the approval to FedEx drop. I believe I followed this procedure from the very first closing I ever did back in 2018 and I’ve been doing it this way ever since. Or have I been doing it wrong?
But before I could even drive away, the title company called me almost in a panic thinking I had FedEx dropped without scanback approval because she saw that I submitted the completion report. I gently told her no I haven’t even uploaded the scanbacks yet, let alone drop FedEx. I simply explained that after each closing appointment, I do a completion report submittal, more so, to let the SS know that the closing has been completed (to avoid the many phone calls for status updates) and that scans will follow shortly.
What is your procedure - #1 or #2?
P.S. I’ve never been reprimanded by any SS about my timing as to when I submit the completion report. But that call from the title company made me ponder. Thanks for the feedback!
I haven’t been doing NSA assignments for several years. But I’ve had a similar issue with some volunteer work for a charity that operates through phone and computer communications. Typically a team of two volunteers would be sent to meet with a client who experienced a home fire, flood, etc. We would accept the assignment in the computer. When we arrived at the incident scene or other place where the client was, we would text a message to a computer to mark ourselves ON SCENE. When we finished interviewing the client, we would mark ourselves OFF SCENE. So should we mark ourselves OFF SCENE when we drove away from the interview, or when we arrived home? This was a point of confusion.
Eventually the charity modified their software to have two steps at the end: OFF SCENE when a volunteer drove away from the interview, and COMPLETE when the volunteer got home. The point is, it’s up to the organization that’s logging all this information to make it clear what they expect. It can be different from one organization to another.
@csmallsnotary That can certainly present a business owner with ‘cause for pause’ and subsequent analysis of the process utilized . . .
I appreciate your professional demeanor when responding to the panic-stricken query from that title company.
In my direct experience, over the course of nearly two decades, the hiring entities have a strong desire to know IF the signers executed the document package.That’s normally the sum-total of it.
Providing that status (documentexecution) is the PRIMARY IMPETUS & goal of Title & Escrow Companies [T/ECs] as well as Signing Services [SSs] when contacting the Professional Signing Agent [PSA] for completion status.
Every T/EC & SS that I’ve worked with over all of these years are FULLY cognizant that scans may (or may not) be submitted from the signing table.
Some signing locations are more than a one-hour return drive back to the office for commencement of the document package scan & subsequent secure webportal upload . . .
Truly, the employee at the T/EC could have immediately accessed the FedEx Tracking Page & performed a brief lookup to determine IF the document package had already been handed off to FedEx . . .
This simple action would have avoided generation of a panic-stricken call to the PSA and any subsequent ‘fallout’ as a result.
Continue providing your excellent professional services as you’re an integral element in the process!
I have the apps for services with apps on my phone I mark completed from my car before I drive off. I include any order notes and advise when scans will be uploaded. I upload scans from my PC back at the office.
I usually put ID scans directly into the app.
Most websites for services let you upload scans for a few hours after completion. Hasn’t caused any problems.
I have a variation on this issue: do you know if signing services will accept/handle/forward images of my iphone photos of signers’ IDs if I send it to them? Often, I get a NO scanback package but I return to my office anyway to print a copy of the IDs for inclusion in the Fedex package. I hate having to take this additional step just for a hardcopy photo. If I could simply transmit it to the SS separately, that would save a lot of time. Help!
Excellent question. I dislike having to come back home just to print a hard copy for pkg., too. Note to self: Next time I get one of those, am going to ask if it can be done as suggested by you.
I won’t return to my office just to scan an ID photo so I can include it in the package. I’ll drop the package at Fedex and then scan the photo back at my office and submit it to the signing service. I’ve never had anyone complain about that.
Something I have for this issue is a portable printer, no not that kind I didn’t go all out for this lol, but the small kind that can fit in your bag. It prints on thermal paper but I haven’t had any push back on it , It’s a PeriPage printer . I can upload ID’s or simply print them straight away and delete so I’m not carrying around their private information too. My scanner reads them just fine and it’s a hard copy of their ID to send with the package , you printed on site !
It could be different with each signing service. On the platform of one service, you have to do the completion report before the upload documents button is visible.
I have always done the completion report as soon as I was done at a house. Some SS will even call after 60 or 90 minutes if you don’t do a completion report and wonder if everything is OK. Now depending on platform, I usually do upload documents then do the report but I also scan from the table. As rural as my area is, I’d only get one signing a day if I ran back to the office every time I needed to scan.
I’m rural as well, I have three today and I told them each scans are tonight when I get home. Shipping is tomorrow.
I’ll do the completion report at the location and I’ll upload ID’s from the table. But I don’t scan on the road unless it’s under 50 pages. So - they will wait.
It’s really no big deal for me to take an extra 5 minutes, if even that, and scan at the table. I don’t like to bring my work back home with me and have it hanging over my head to go ship the next day. I don’t have any in person FedEx within an hour of me anyway so like to use the in person shippers while I’m already out that way.
Most take longer than 5 minutes for me. I don’t carry my laptop and won’t get a mobile scanner. Adobe mobile scan works fine for small packages but it’s not fast. So that’s great you have a process that works for you.
I think Brother was the only brand I found to scan to a usb. The scanner has a carry case from Amazon. Its really not much larger than a case for a flute. Fits in my big 31 bag that I carry. Signers are always very polite about it and actually really enjoy the fact they know title will have documents right away. If I know they have somewhere to be, I’ll just pull over at a McDonald’s or a convenience store that has tables and scan. That situation is very rare though.
many phone calls for status updates) and that scans will follow shortly.
appreciate 
That’s normally the sum-total of it.
Continue providing your excellent professional services as you’re an integral element in the process! 
