Posted by KKinNoCal on 10/16/07 11:55am
Msg #216666

Total idiot Loan Officer-you may enjoy this.

I have dealt with this idiot before. And actually declined a signing another time, because I knew he would be there. We are at the table at a reverse mtg. signing. It is for Countrywide. I hand the people the identity affidavit and ask them to fill it out. Mr. LO says they do not need to fill it out-that Countrywide has all the info. I tell him i disagree, that this needs to be notarized. He actually hollers at me, and the whole mood of the signing changes. I said fine, please write a note on these ID affidavits and sign and date them yourself and I will include these in the package. he does. I called the Title co. when I leave-they said Countrywide will not fund the loan without these--idiot!

Reply by Phillip/TX on 10/16/07 11:58am
Msg #216667

Yeah the LO are not always the most intelligent folks... and I really dont like for them to be there. I tell them that this is my closing, and they are the to answer any questions that the borrower may ask, but they are not to tell me how to do my job.

Reply by Paul2_FL on 10/16/07 12:21pm
Msg #216673

Did you try to contact the TC before you left? Unfortunately, now the borrowers are the ones that will take the brunt of this because the loan will be delayed. I would have let the LO hash it out with the TC without offering any advice as to what the LO should do. Granted, if you were unable to contact the TC then I would agree with your approach.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/16/07 12:38pm
Msg #216688

While he may be an idiot, I'm not much more impressed with you.

You deliberately left a loan package incomplete. Why are you letting someone who OBVIOUSLY doesn't know how to do your job tell you how to do your job? Is that really all it takes, just a little yelling at you and you cave in?

Reply by KKinNoCal on 10/16/07 1:04pm
Msg #216706

Hey Cali-

This guy started hollering at me and got verbally abusive. I have quite a temper myself and was afraid to continue this debate. It would have been inappropriate for me to get verbally abusive in return. Even the BO got quiet and the whole energy of the room changed. As I said the guy was an idiot! The best I could do is keep my mouth shut. He insisted that this affidavit did not need to be signed. That is why i made him sign something to that effect.

Reply by Paul2_FL on 10/16/07 1:55pm
Msg #216724

Re: Hey Cali-

A little more thinking on this...

I believe the ultimate responsibility for this loan lies with the LO. While he may be an idiot, he still can call the shots as to what he needs in his loan package (not the Title docs of course). I'm assuming that the ID cert in question is the one for Countrywide and not for the TC. I therefore believe you shouldn't have argued with him over it but rather just put a note on the doc that stated it was not necessary per the LO (by name). When the docs get back to TC your note should suffice as to why the doc wasn't filled out. Your mission is not to decide what the LO needs for the loan to close. I believe that's why he was so upset with you. You were telling him how to do his job. Nobody likes that! The loan is his responsibility. If he screws it up, shame on him and I'm sure he'll be called out on it.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/16/07 2:26pm
Msg #216734

Re: Hey Cali-

"I believe that's why he was so upset with you. You were telling him how to do his job. Nobody likes that!"

Ummm, it's OUR job to get the loan docs signed properly, not the loan officer's. If it were his job to do it we wouldn't be there in the first place.

Just because he's the officer on a particular loan it's not his loan package. It's Countrywide's. They put the docs in the package because they want them signed, and as this situation clearly shows, the loan officer can't decide what does or doesn't need to be signed.

Now everybody is inconvenienced, god knows how many unnecessary phone calls this created all around, the loan is delayed, because the borrower has to set another appointment with the notary to get the affidavit signed and notarized, and the notary has to drive back out to do it (which should be done at no charge IMO). All of which could have been avoided if she had simply stood her ground and got it completed in the first place.

Reply by Paul2_FL on 10/16/07 3:05pm
Msg #216748

Re: Hey Cali-

Yes, I agree, Its not his loan package but Countrywide's. However, he is there as Countrywide's representative ON THIS loan.
Let's step back and look at it as if he wasn't there and an issue surfaced with the loan package. Most instructions to the Signing Agent state that if there is a problem with the lender docs during the signing to contact the LO. Well, here he is in front of you and he's telling you that something isn't necessary and you want to argue with him? Would you do the same if he wasn't there but on the phone?
It seems to me that by doing so you would be putting yourself above the LO and acting as a senior officer of Countrywide. Noble idea but it can get you in a whole lot of trouble. You are basically telling the LO and the borrowers what YOU want them to sign not what Countrywide is telling them. Granted that if they didn't want that particular doc signed then it shouldn't have been in the package but we all know that we receive packages that are filled with boilerplate docs. Some necessary some not.

Reply by CaliNotary on 10/16/07 2:19pm
Msg #216729

Re: Hey Cali-

You didn't need to get verbally abusive back. You simply needed to take control of the signing and tell him that either the ID affidavit would be completed and he would allow you to do the job you were hired to do, in the way you see fit to do it, or the signing could stop at that moment and you could leave. I also would have reminded him that in the time he spent arguing with you about it, the affidavit could have been completed and notarized 5 times over.

There is no reason to put up with verbal abuse. Once he saw you were serious and not intimidated by him it's very likely he would have shut up and let you finish. He's not an idiot, he knows his commission is contingent on the docs being signed.

Reply by Terri_CA on 10/16/07 3:59pm
Msg #216759

Sorry that you had to endure that abuse. Even when you are polite and try to explain that something needs to be signed, the LO goes off without very little provocation. It's a tough situation to be in. I believe that you did all you could do. Yes ultimately the borrower is the one that suffers. I bet that Countrywide will re-draw the docs because they are pretty picky about the dates all being the same on docs.

You were right to get the LO to write the note, I would have included my own note, though you may have as well, stating that I advised the LO that it should be signed etc., but he was adamant that the borrowers need not sign it.

Terri
Lancaster, CA

Reply by KKinNoCal on 10/16/07 6:02pm
Msg #216783

Paul in Fl. you seem to have a much better grasp

of this situation. But I always find these squabbles on not/rot extremely amusing. It makes me wonder if I should start selling loans. The LO's I've come in contact with are not mental giants. But they are driving Bentley's, Hummers and Caddy's......I drive a Hyundai. So who is the smart one?????

Reply by Philip Johnson on 10/16/07 6:19pm
Msg #216793

I don't deal with Realtors, LO's, etc

that flaunt their wealth with expensive cars and such. It doesn't take many smarts to realize that the person who pays for that is you and for me I am not into buying other folks cars for them. My Realtor and LO drive Ford trucks and on the outside project a modest lifestyle, they may live like kings behind closed doors, but I don't see it.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/17/07 12:28am
Msg #216867

This MIGHT have been avoided...

...with perhaps a little more finesse on your part. If you straight out disagreed with him in front of his client, I can sorta understand why he lost his cool - not that that is an excuse. If you had explained your reasoning with a helpful attitude or by asking a leading question (e.g. "Could I make a suggestion?"...), he might have been more responsive. Perhaps you might have been able to come to an agreement to go ahead and complete it just in case CW needs a spare - or whatever excuse you could come up with. I realize I'm making some assumptions here from your post that may not be accurate. But it's generally not a good idea to put the LO in a position where he or she has to admit they are wrong in front of their client, if you can avoid it.

Having said that, I've been in the same room with an obnoxious LO who felt I was beneath contempt just because I was a notary, before I ever opened my mouth... So we never know. (Thank goodness, that was only one time!!)