I’m just curious to know. 
What order do you all place loan documents to help the borrower understand and make the signing go smooth and quick? CD, Alta, Note, DOT, Payments, E&O LPOA, etc
I go over the CD and the ALTA first (the 
) & address discrepancies, if any. They can call title, etc. If the 
& terms aren’t correct, it’s not going to close. As for the rest, I sign in order of the rest of the docs, leaving any information statement for them to fill in at the end, while I am double-checking the docs.
What do you do? And what is quick? I don’t concentrate on speed particularly…
I leave them in order received
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CD, Note, Mortgage, First Payment Letter, NORTC
If it’s going south the CD and Note will tell
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I also leave the documents in the order received. This avoids the possibility of returning the documents out of order which can result in a reduction in your payment for that assignment.
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I leave in the same order as received, unless there’s instruction for most important documents to be placed on top… yes, I have gotten instructions with that request.
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I apologize - should clarify - they stay in the order received but I tab them and present them in that order. Except for the CD - I always used to put the CD (HUD at that time) on top. I’d rearrange borrowers’ copies as stated above except signed NORTC was on top.
Apologies…not sure where my head was at - I went off on a different tangent than the question…lol
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My signings do go smoothly and a lot quicker when I move certain docs to the front, but the order of documents always goes back to Title in the exact same way they gave to me. I do place the CD, DOT, stmt Alta, payment sheet, E&Os in front, I place sticky notes on the slots where they need to go back in. It really helps the borrower understand and know what their rate loan terms and payments are a few times before I continue signing. Other huge reason for that, is if there are any discrepancies in rate, loan type and terns. I will get a hold of the title or SS company before we get into deep with signing docs.
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You couldn’t be more correct in the way you answered. I agree with you and one way to know if signing will be halted and no need to proceed if docs are wrong.
Another issue I’ve run into is on the DOT. Have had several instances where the vesting was incorrect: misspelled, trustee verbiage wasn’t exactly right. In those cases, those docs needed to be redrawn.
Patriot Act doc(s) on top, then CD. Everything else in order. I put a post-it on the back of the docs preceding the PA and CD. When I do my final check, I slot them easily into place.
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Might consider checking the DOT against the application while prepping. Also, during confirmation call, it may prove helpful to verify the spelling of names. It can save your fee if you get that info back to the lender/escrow firm in time for them to correct. Full pay is always better than half!
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This is the order that I follow as well.
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I wonder if it’s acceptable ALL signing pages to be first, since so many are not to be signed up… that for sure would cut time in 1/2
Yes indeed! But in my experience, the escrow firm will not be happy, because they have to go through the package to sort out docs for recording, then send the rest on the the lender. They want docs to match the lender’s order requirements generally stated in those many “not to be signed” pages.
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I guess I keep doing “in the order as received” then.
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I recently had that happen on the DOT. They had to sign on that date or the interest rate lock would expire. It was after hours and no one could help. The help desk was no help at all since they did not draw the docs. It was a divorce, although, thankfully, friendly. First doc was a quit claim. After that docs were kind of a mess. Loan docs were in his name, but there were the SSN and IRS forms in her name as well. We got to the note and it was his name only. Good. Then the DOT in both names. After no help from anyone, I told them they had a choice to stop right there and contact lender and attorney tomorrow or go ahead and contact an attorney and their lender the next day.
My real complaint here is that lenders are pushing the loan signings up against their loan lock expirations! I understand they are busy and short handed, but it has caused me to have to do 2 trips in one day while docs were redone!
CD and ALTA on top. If you leave them in the middle and there is a discrepancy and the signer is refusing to go on, you have wasted a lot of time with them signing. Then I put them back where there were in the original order.
I wish escrow could arrange order in better way, for example most important documents on top, like the ones you mentioned, then ALL notarials to follow… that’s what I call a big time saver.
I go over the closing disclosure first. I leave all the rest of the documents in the stack The way they were received.
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