So I receive this assignment over Snapdocs that is over 60 miles away, they are offering 125 dollars and there are 3 signers. I complete the assignment after 3 hours with at least 2 spent waiting on one of the signers who was told a different time. The signer is getting nervous but he doesn’t say much of anything and he is basically reading the paperwork I give him. Later the signer starts getting cold feet right as I apparently use the facilities and calls up the loan officer to explain a few problems. Since all of my notary training basically tells me that I can’t say basically anything about the docs because I’m a notary I let him. He is on the phone with the LO for a while and we complete the signing shortly after.
Two days later the LO is apparently angry because she had to answer the signers questions and actually talk to the guy because counter to all my notary training notaries are supposed to discuss and explain the minutiae if the signing.
So they refuse to pay a single solitary cent and when I ask to contact the Loan Officer they say no.
This is not necessarily true. As an NSA you wear two hats - that of the notary and that of the Signing Agent - and under your SA guise you are to have a basic comprehension of the documents and be able to tell your signers a bit about them. You can explain the “what” but not the “why”. What were his questions/issues?
None he never directly asked me anything.
Also everywhere I look everyone just says “notaries witness signings and verify IDs” and there were no such instructions.
Notaries, yes. But remember - it’s that other hat you’re wearing when you’re doing loan signings. If your signer asks a questions and the answer is right here in the paperwork you can point him to it. You can briefly tell them the purpose of each document. What you can’t do is tell them the why of it - “why is that my interest rate?” - “why is there a prepayment penalty” - etc etc
One of the questions he asked was, “Why do they want my tax returns” when he came upon the Request For Transcript of Tax Returns that’s about the only thing I remember him asking . Besides, so many of these docs have titles that are just self-explanatory: Notice of Right to Cancel- it’s a notice of your rights regarding the ability to cancel the transaction. Signature affidavit- an affidavit of your various signatures. Federal Notice of Fraud- a Federal notice of the punishment for committing fraud…etc.
Anyone that tells you that as a trained and certified Notary Signing Agent you are not allowed to answer questions and explain documents is wrong! I teach my students that there is a huge difference between a Notary Public and a Certified Professional Notary Signing Agent. Your job is to make sure that when you leave a signing the borrower(s) have a complete understanding of what they have just signed, know where they can find the information on the documents after you leave their location. It finally came to me after years of teaching this that we can, and should, show them the “What and the Where” but not the “How or the Why”. So basically as you go through the documents you can show them what their interest rate is and where to find it, but if they ask you how the lender determined the interest rate that is a question for their lender.
If you do not do a good job at guiding the borrowers through their documents you become nothing but a “point and signer” and that is unacceptable.
Your very first mistake was taking a signing with a 120+ mile round trip drive for just $125. Half the fee was eaten up in mileage expense. Given the amount of hours you put into it, you didn’t even make minimum wage. We are in business to make money, and you won’t make a dime by taking low ball jobs.
Eric, I’ve never done a signing for Superior. However, I have also rarely worked for a company for which the assignment sheet or signing instructions do NOT provide contact information for both the SC and LO in case the borrower has questions or concerns. Perhaps an email to Superior clearly explaining your experience - you were, after all, working for them, not the lender - might prove helpful? If the signing was accurately completed, you should be paid. If the lender is refusing to pay, Superior may not be paid either. In that case, they may defend you.
I wholeheartedly agree and I will go one step further. We can and should answer basic questions about the what and the where and in some instances, even the why! Why the 4506T, because mortgage fraud is pervasive and the lender sometimes needs to verify customer provided income documents and tax returns with what the IRS has on file for those years. Simple, not lender specific and required with every single refi and purchase, period. No ambiguity there, there is a reason, it is straight forward and doesn’t change from one lender to the other.
“Why is my interest rate x.xxx%?” Not to be touched with a ten foot pole. Very client, lender, loan officer specific and not our business, and frankly, we don’t know. Now having owned a mortgage company for 12 years prior to starting my Notary work, I could look at the docs and figure out that particular why, but that is not my job and answering that question is fraught with peril.
“Why must I sign a signature affidavit?” Everyone signs it so that they “lender, title and any potential investigative team” have a reference sample of your signature and any variants, “some title companies”. It’s a fraud prevention and investigative measure to help determine whether it was really you who signed the documents today, or in the future if someone is attempting to sign documents my impersonating you. They a required with every single refi or loan for purchase. Again, that answer doesn’t change from one borrower or lender to the other.
We all should know these answers and be able to answer them. If all we do is witness signatures then why do we call ourselves Certified or Professional anything?
$125 - that is a fee of a notary public for their travel, time, paper and toner. Those are not fee of the professional certified signing agent.
I have had a bad experience with the Superior Signing Service as well. I agreed to print 167 pages and meet the signer in an hour away from me for $100. When this order was assigned to me, I was surprised to find out that I had to make a copy of the full package for the client as well ( that is other 167 pages). Appointment was scheduled for 3pm, I had plenty of time to drop the package at UPS till 5pm.
Fine, I printed 334 pages, drove an hour, the signer was 20 min late, then he answered his phone two times for another 20 minutes, we have finished signing at 4:50PM and I was late for the UPS.
So, I had to take the whole new trip to UPS next morning. That was an extra expense for the same $100.
The client signed exactly like he signed in his driver’s license. His middle name initial gets together with his last name but it matches the signature of the drivers license.
The lender has made a mistake and used a past date in the 3 days of right of rescission. I believe that was the reason why Superior Signing Services called me 3 days later and said “We wont pay you because the lender wants the client to sign the way we would clearly see his middle name in it”.
So, basically, they wanted the client to sign the way he never uses and preferably it would not match the signature in his driver’s license. That makes no sense. I believe they just wanted to fix the date in the “right to rescind” doc.
I have filed a complain on them in BBB and will block them on Snapdocs.
Oh, by the way, they really charged the client $160 dollars. So they keep more than a half of what they pay me. I guess they call it “finding fees”, I am not sure. I asked them about it and the answer was rude and short “That is non of your business”.
Agree and not agree. Often we do signings for out of state title companies. It is nearly impossible to know the laws applied to the other 49 states. Each state is slightly different from another.
Often we receive the docs 2 hours prior to the appointment, and we have just enough time to confirm the appointment, print out papers, read instructions, jump to the car and drive.
Once I have received the docs from out of state title company, it was 167 pages and I had to print two copies to leave with the signer. I had no time to review all 167 pages, I printed them out, read instructions, called the signer, jumped to the car, came to the signer and as soon as I entered the signer’s home, his first question was “When and how will I receive the money that are due to me at the closing”?
Could I ever know the answer to this question? Do I ever have a right to answer this question? I started to explain him about 3 days of rescission period while trying to go through all those 167 pages very fast trying to see if there is any direct deposit application form there.
But, again, if I answer his question - he will take it as a fact and I am not allowed to do it. Of course I had to call LO.
It has nothing to do with my unprofessionalism.
Send them to Collections. You can collect up to 7 years. The loan officer has no say in who gets paid, it is their job to answer questions that the signer has. Superior Notary is responsible on the pay. I would contact the title company to advise them of the situation. The loan officers contact info and the title company’s info is on the closing disclosure as well and you can contact them. The only time they cannot pay you is if they state that you didn’t finish the closing at all. You had them sign, also waited because they did not communicate the correct time to you and the signer. This was an Inconvenience to you, not them. You sent the documents and the signing closed with no problems.
Just chiming to add a note that Superior Notary Services (signing agency) being discussed here, and my business - Superior Notary Service (local notary service started in Superior, CO) - are two separate entities.
There’s often been some confusion since I started in 2005, but they’ve really begun doing more business here in Colorado in the last few years.
@SuperiorNotary if this had happened to me - since 2005 no less?? - and with knowledge that it happening?? - I would, a long time ago, have formally changed my business name to distance myself from a non-payer…perhaps “CO Superior Mobile Notary Service”? Just a quick thought.
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