Posted by PegiT_MN on 8/11/12 5:35pm
Msg #430144

Was I just Webcammed At A Closing?

I'm sitting in a closing......rather bored because the borrowers have decided they want to read through the entire 16 pages of the mortgage.....so to entertain myself and pass the time I start looking around the room at all the decorations as it has already been determined that the borrowers need no questions answered because they have done this many times before. They just want to read and sign. So while I am gazing at the little silver sconces on the wall above the fireplace, and the mirror with silver trim that matches the sconces, I notice this little black thing sitting there on the fireplace mantel with what appears to have some sort of eye on it and a little solid blue light was on. Could this be a camera? Was I being taped, filmed, nannycammed, skyped, or webcammed? And was this for their personal use or was someone on the other end watching us.....watching me perform a closing. Then I start to think about the entire closing. I arrived 15 minutes early, I introduced myself as I came through the door, I offered to take my shoes off, I am dressed in professional attire.....Hey wait a minute.......Mrs. Borrower showed me where I was to sit......oh my goodness.......I really might be on camera. So I politely smiled and nodded a bit at the camera, finished my closing, notarized everything at the table, double checked my work, smiled and nodded a couple more times for that little camera, finished my closing and got the heck out of there.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/11/12 5:45pm
Msg #430147

Not on my watch (or my dime) would this happen

"... rather bored because the borrowers have decided they want to read through the entire 16 pages of the mortgage..... it has already been determined that the borrowers need no questions answered because they have done this many times before"

Then they don't need to read every word of every page, do they. Assuming there was the 3-day RTC, they have those 3 days to kill to do that - no need to do it with you sitting there, and I'd have let them know that. Time is money and you just wasted a lot of it - or rather, you let them waste a lot of your time.

My thoughts on the camera - maybe a Nanny-cam? Were they of age to have in-home help for the children? If not, I'd guess probably home security. Can't imagine a company would go through all the trouble of setting up an in-home camera to watch you. Besides, aren't there laws about all parties knowing about the recording/videotaping?

Reply by PegiT_MN on 8/11/12 6:06pm
Msg #430149

Re: Not on my watch (or my dime) would this happen

I don't know what it was. It was probably a skype camera that they left on. They have two young sons, so it could possibly be a camera to watch them.

And under normal circumstances I would have let them know about the 3-day RTC, but it was an investment property so there wasn't one, loan is funding today.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/11/12 6:33pm
Msg #430152

Well, IMO still no need to make you sit there so they

can read 16 pages...they've been through it before there's no need - too bad they did that to you.

Reply by HisHughness on 8/11/12 10:27pm
Msg #430163

Re: Well, IMO still no need to make you sit there so they

There is no right of rescission. Unfortunate as it may be, a borrower under those circumstances has the right to read every word of what he is signing <before> he signs it. If it gets out of hand, as in reading a 16-page deed of trust, then the signing agent certainly can try to negotiate an additional fee later. Othrwise, it's his misfortune. With a three-day right of rescission, it's a different animal altogether. Then, if they want to read the DOT, you tell them you're leaving in XX minutes, whether the closing is done or not.

As to the taping, I'd probably just lay my extended middle finger upside my, turn to the camera, and smile. I'd also make sure they were taping my good side.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 8/11/12 7:28pm
Msg #430154

First of all, if the borrowers have done this "many times before", there's no reason they should be reading the entire mortgage - it's mostly boilerplate, and they would know where the significant parts were.

If I became aware that the transaction was being recorded, I would immediately stop the proceedings and insist on knowing why, because I did not give my permission for that. If they denied it, just point to the camera and ask what the heck that is... if they admitted it and refused to stop, I would adjourn the signing and let whoever assigned it deal with the fallout - the last thing I would want would to be part of some whack job's "video record" several years down the road when they are facing foreclosure and trying to lay the blame off on someone else...

Some people are just paranoid and will do stupid stuff like that. It is kind of creepy, though...