That’s what I said to myself when I went to a same-day signing that I took today to get a Warranty Deed signed for $100 and the guy didn’t want to sign it because they didn’t send him the document ahead of time and he didn’t understand the wording. Staying calm and collected (yay, me!) I gave him the title company’s phone number so he could ask, while I emailed them, telling them to call this guy immediately because he wasn’t going to sign unless someone made him understand this document. Fortunately, the escrow officer called him back, calmed him down, and he signed. Turns out, he was confused by the wording, which he interpreted to say that he was getting $10 out of the deal, when in fact, he was getting over $200,000. I wasn’t going to try to explain it to him, since I hadn’t even looked at the document and didn’t want to risk telling him the wrong thing.
One of my pet peeves is Title not taking the time to explain the ALTA, CD, state specific tax documents, or any “important” doc to the signers. I had 2 sellers yesterday that should have taken 1 hour total to sign, instead because the clients didn’t understand or had questions about these docs we had to stop and call Title, multiple times for each signing. What should have taken 1 hour between the two signings took about 2.5 hours. Which could have been avoided with Title communicating with the clients. They stress to us the need for good communication, but they don’t practice it themselves.
When this happens to me (5 or 6 times in five years) I call the signing service and explain what happened and politely ask for an adjustment in my fee. As best i can recollect, I’ve been paid what I asked for (or close to it) without pushback. I attribute this grace to my fostering a good relationship with the SS and doing good work for them. Sometimes, I just eat it.
You win some and you lose some.
Parenthetically, for some reason, I have not experienced many no-pay situations like so many people on this site have complained about. I’ve collected almost all of what has been due me using the various techniques discussed on these forums. I seldom have to use them (so goody for me). Maybe I’m just lucky, I really don’t know. I do know that acting quickly, professionally and firmly has yielded the desired results.
There, now that’s off my mind.
To some extent, it’s a matter of luck whether you get stiffed on pay or not. If you limit yourself to dealing with reputable companies, you’ll be treated fairly, for the most part. If you take a lot of jobs with fly-by-night signing services that you’ve never heard of before, you’re opening yourself up for potential problems. At the very least, the good companies will always respond to you when there is an issue (even if you don’t like their answer). The bad companies will ignore you (I think “ghosting” is the currently popular word used).
Well said everyone needs to read this.
The $10 is the magical number they used To satisfy the program. It has nothing to do with the proceeds
I guess the person at the title company explained it to him well enough to get him to sign, since he signed immediately after getting off the phone with her.
Thank goodness. I know it’s so frustrating when people freak out and you’re not able to explain or can’t explain. We see these papers all the time and a lot of people have never seen them.
This is the first time I’ve ever had an issue over a Warranty Deed. Usually, they just sign and don’t even look at it. Maybe because it was the only document that he had to sign?
Disclosure! I am not an attorney, and this comment is not to be taken as legal advice or council.
OK. Want an answer to the “$10” on the Deed?
Remember, there are several types of Deeds. For example, some Deeds (Like a Deed of Trust) are for the lender to have a security interest in the property, like when taking out a loan. Some states refer to this as a “Mortgage”. Either way, it’s the same thing.
Warranty Deeds are used when a seller is stating that the Title to the property does not have any undisclosed liens or encumbrances. So Deeds like Warranty Deeds, Quitclaim Deeds, etc. are just transferring the interest in the property to someone else.
The $10 is VERY common on Deeds that transfer ownership.The $10 they list on the deed is generally the minimal amount for a real estate transaction (Some states it’s only $1). That’s not the actual sale price or how much money they will be getting from the transfer. Those Deeds will always have added verbiage similar to “$10 and other good and valuable consideration”. Since this is a recorded document with the county clerk, it helps to keep the actual value of the property (or a portion of the property value) being transferred private.
When signers ask me this question, I simply have them read the entire thing that says there is other valuable consideration on top of the $10. Then just point them to the CD or ALTA which shows the actual amount being paid to them.
Don’t offer advice. Just point them to the places that they might want to look.
Does that help?
That’s interesting. I’ve been doing this for 11 years, and in all that time, this is the first time that has come up as an issue.
It’s never been an issue for me either. Although I have had several signers ask about the $10 out of curiosity. For those occasions, I just point them to where to read and tell them that it might answer their questions, without me stepping into a legal position. Very simple.
In this particular case, that was the ONLY document that he had to sign, so there was no CD or Alta to point him to. His brother (in another state) was also signing and I guess he’s the one who signed the main document set. I usually don’t take the time to learn all of the intricacies and relationships between the signers of any particular signing (particularly single document signings).
Or the lender making clear what to expect.
Lenders don’t always tell you if it’s a split signing. You have to figure it out for yourself. There will be nothing in the notary confirmation about it. You see two signature lines on the documents, but when you get to the signing location, there is only one signer. When you ask them if the other signer is there, they’ll say “Oh, he/she is signing somewhere else”. That’s fine, but it would have been nice to know, since I do a lot of prep work on the documents, and it’s annoying when I have prepared the notary forms with two names, and it turns out there is only one.
A few years back, that never happened. Now I get it all the time. I feel foolish when I stumble around adjusting to a split signing because the signers think I should know already and I don’t like putting the signing service in a bad light by saying they should have informed me. Blahhhhhh.