Signing at a "cat lovers" home and other reasons not to sign

I almost never leave a signing without completing but came very close last week when the household had six cats and five litter boxes and cat urine was so strong my eyes burned the entire time. One of the signers had an expired license so there were two witnesses there which is the only reason I completed it.

The other signing I wanted to leave was a house with no clear surface to sign paperwork on, the table - covered with dust gathering junk, signers used folding TV trays to sign and I scooped things off the coffee table to find a place to sign and stamp. Had to walk between the two signers with the pages. It was a reverse and took FOREVER.

Has anyone else found signing conditions to be so horrible you did not complete a signing?

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Yes, I have signed in similar conditions, both. I always keep a clipboard in my briefcase so that I don’t have to use their makeshift “signing tables”. With the clipboard I have them pass the documents between themselves as I find a way to keep papers ordered and clean, prepare the next documents for clip boarding, signing and passing. Soon they figure out a way to put a seat between themselves to make the passing less cumbersome. Get used to hoarders, untidy houses, smelly conditions. It happens on occasion. It is the nature of the job. You never know what you are going to find.

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Have never left a signing for ‘personal reasons’. Have endured hoarders, messes, pets & their messes, stand-up thru whole process, on hoods or tailgates, on bleachers at a little league game, IN my car or theirs, readers
and a couple of very rude signers.

Learned 3 things: 1. Have clipboard and 2. I sit/they walk and 3. It’s the horrible part of the job. OK, 4 things
yes, you can do it a lot quicker than you thought possible.

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Same here, I’ve had unruly dogs as well as signers who hoard cats. I’ve insisted on standing at the homes of other signers because the furniture was disgusting. Makes me appreciate a good shower when I get home!

Since I live near a beach resort area, I’ve done signings on the beach and rowdy vacation homes

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@johnsonps306 Did you flush your eyes with an abundant amount of water immediately after departing that ‘aromatic’ situation? I hope so! UGH! :skunk:

You’re a TROOPER to have endured it to conclusion. :clap::tada:

Regarding my direct experiences over more than a decade of providing Professional Signing Agent [PSA] services - I’ve experienced multiple instances at both ends of the continuum (from Posh/Ultra-Riche to hobo poor/hoarder) as well as lots in the middle range of that continuum . . .

I’ve learned the signs to watch for when approaching a home that generally will provide additional information.

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There are times that one may be quite surprised (not in a good way) when the signers open their front door. On occasion, I’ve had to kindly request that we travel a brief distance to McD’s or Braum’s or Panera’s to sign at that location (due to the hoarding conditions present including an overpopulation of “critters” four-legged & otherwise . . .).

:swan:

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I have never not completed a signing unless the signer refused to sign a document. However, I have been inside some very deplorable homes with or without pets. You would think borrowers would be more hospitable when someone comes to their home.
Did I mention the time the ladies cat peed all over my brand new leather briefcase or the time the two Dalamations charged and one bit my hand so quick it required 12 stitches or the time I was glad my husband went with me at a night time signing in the “country” and their was gun fire, mean dogs and they offered me a seat on a hair covered sofa that I had just witnessed a dog pee on?

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I haven’t left a signing yet for filth but that doesn’t mean I never will.

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Yes worse conditions

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I picked up three letter and three legal size bamboo clipboards. These things are impervious to liquids. They won’t get ‘soggy’ when wet and won’t easily break like the acrylic types.

My Notary kit is a wheeled catalog case that holds everything in one place.

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Been there, done that. Tailgate with the rain and wind. Standing at a kitchen counter because the furniture is gone or signing on the dryer, or a ping pong table. Sticky table that I will wipe off myself with their kitchen towels and water. Hoarders who cannot find their supporting documents for a Rev Mor (three hours and I will never do that again), cat kisses, dog kisses, ten-minute backing down a mountain, single lane, driveway in the dark. Turned back because of flooding. Forgot my reading glasses (I have a pair of cheaters in my car and bag at all times.) Lost deep in a canyon with no phone service looking for a house with no street address. Car crashes, angry signers, the infirm with no table and documents being passed back and forth. Signers who were being coerced into signing. Signers with no mental ability to realize what they were signing (a hard pass.) The dreaded coffee table signing with a soft couch and my knees under my chin. Tag team signers who each had to sign before the other (220 pages, two and a half hour signing and 50 minute drive one way.) Lawyers poring over the documents and making all kinds of remarks, some of them annotating the documents. Outside at noon on a rickety patio table and child’s chair. A very large man who mercifully asked to sign at a fast food restaurant with such a pungent ‘aura’ my eyes were tearing. Climbing endless flights of stairs in the heat and recently signers who only communicated by email and didn’t give me their gate code. I had to finesse myself through two security gates in the dark. When I arrived on their doorstep they were blinking in surprise. I nearly had a stroke with frustration but they were really sweet!

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@keaton4notary ***LOVED IT!!***:joy::joy::joy: Been there . . . done that . . . Felt your pain while simultaneously unearthing my very similar experiences.

Thank You for the belly laugh! :tada:

:swan:

I have extensive knowledge on the “least favorable locations for notarization in San Diego.” For nearly a decade, I advertised my 24/7 notary and fingerprinting services in the Yellow Pages. One of my regular clients was a lender who lent cash to victims awaiting monetary settlements in pending court cases. For example, the APR was over 90%. After months of some of the scariest meetups one could imagine, a different scheduler called and sent me to see nice people in a safe part of town. Curious me asked why me, and she told me matter-of-fact she didn’t have a lady that was free that afternoon. Vicious dogs, barrio gang houses, greasy spider webs, hoarders with dozens of cats, crack pipes, Glocks, and tweakers. And believe me, the calls between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. fill you with adrenaline.

This is a cut and paste - when a mortgage company is involved witness identification is not an acceptable form of ID.

While some states may allow using witnesses to verify a borrower’s identity in certain situations when signing a mortgage loan, most lenders require a government-issued, unexpired photo ID and will not accept witnesses as the primary means of identification due to strict regulations and the need to comply with the Patriot Act