Posted by 101livescan on 5/26/13 9:12am
Msg #471324
It's all about CHANGE!
Change.org
The young man who started this website is a Harvard graduate. He hails from Santa Barbara, his mother is the marketing director for First American Title on the Central Coast, father heads up Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara.
Change.org is the site responsible for getting BofA to back down on the $5 ATM fee they were proposing, and several illegal foreclosures and forced to modify some loans for folks across the nation.
I wonder if there is a slant we can get going on Change.org to change things in our industry, like requirements for starting a signing service. I think ultimately most signing services will go out of business. They don't have the staying power, they'll just stiff notaries for a while. Meanwhile, I'm only working for a handful of them.
for starters:
Principals and all employees must be background checked by the DOJ and the FBI (most employees/employers are already required to have this BGC~nurses, drs, contractors, car dealers, massage therapists, psychiatrists, in home supportive caregivers, childrens' day care, on and on and on)
Must be bonded and insured, errors and omissions for $5M
Must have business license
Must be organized as a partnership, corporation or DBA, not just a godaddy website operation that can be setup and taken down in minutes.
Must be licensed by Department of Corporations or Department of Insurance.
Any other thoughts?
The XYZ is having a seminar in June in Austin on how to start your own signing service. This gives wide berth to more and more people with criminal backgrounds to be able to start SSs. Aren't there enough of these out there already?
I'd like to see someone tighten the requirements for SSs across the country. Maybe we can bring about change for the good in our industry.
| Reply by sueharke on 5/26/13 10:41am
Msg #471329
Writing from the accounting point of view I think the concept of partnership, corporation, or DBA is nice. But a sole proprietorship (in the owners name or Ficticous business name) is also acceptable if the company pays its bills and is legitimately in business.
If a corporation wants to do wrong, there is no way to collection from it, unless a responsible person in the corporation has personally promised to pay the debt in writing. Otherwise, the debt may still not collectible.
All in all I have no issues with the rest of the post.
| Reply by Les_CO on 5/26/13 11:03am
Msg #471331
I have no love for the many thieves, deadbeats, and liars in our mostly unregulated business. I see nothing wrong with us as independent contractors, having certain requirements for those that we will work with and extend credit to, whether it is a SS a Title Company or anyone else. Putting “legal requirements” on these/us folks is another matter. A $5,000,000.00 E&O policy? What would it cover mistakes (errors) in documents they never touch? Must be licensed by the Dept. or Corporations, or Insurance?? What is that? Laws and regulations on businesses vary widely from State to State, and for us are mostly meaningless. Genuine Title LLC is located in MD and licensed by the regulatory agencies necessary. This does not stop them from having some ‘verbal’ agreement with the likes of Kosi Safir running a supposedly arm’s length SS, that has cheated many for years. Or it does not stop a fully “licensed” company from not paying anyone, shutting their (virtual) doors and starting again under another name. I think you need to contact Michael Bloomberg with your ‘suggestions.’ My thoughts are that your suggestions, with the exception of a criminal background check, that would not stop non-felon thieves, or bad businessmen, but would be helpful to us in making our decisions are mostly not germane. In business we need to rely on our own judgment and not a stack of regulations put forth by some unknowing bureaucrat. JMO
| Reply by Notarysigner on 5/26/13 11:10am
Msg #471332
LIKE! n/m
| Reply by Sandra G Holland on 5/26/13 11:29am
Msg #471333
When you mention having a licensed business, you must be referring to those in big cities. We don't have a business license. There are licenses for buildings, but that doesn't cover the rest of us, especially those who are home-based or who have a business in the countryside or small towns. I would not want to have the government decide if I am a licensed business. I know that government officials who are not honest can be bought off--by competitors. I am constantly amazed at scandals that break. The government has no part in that aspect of business. I'll stop now as I need to be somewhere, but there is a lot to say on that subject.
| Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 5/26/13 12:26pm
Msg #471336
The world of SSs
It's my observation that NSAs are by nature independent types and don't want anybody "telling them what to do." Judging by the few posts here already, that mindset extends to SSs, as well. But the fact is that the lending industry is regulated to the yangyang and back again. Lenders have HUD, as well as state agencies, and title companies have the Dept of Insurance (in CA) not to mention the Dept of Corporations and the Dept of Real Estate and on and on. And yes, despite all this, the industry is plump full of cheats and liars. Which brings me to SSs, the biggest ones of all.
It baffles me that SSs, an integral part in the whole lending process, go completely unregulated. They're the lone cowboy out there that does whatever it pleases. It can be run by any bum off the street. No license, no oversight, no nothin'. We all flock to them cos that's the only way to get business, and we're lucky when we hit the jackpot with reputable ones.
The main point is, however, these SSs have access to every drop of borrowers' personal info. (and now more and more they want our personal info, too: DLs, SocSec cards, insurance proof, etc. All of this with no protection of our privacy. Additionally, they have access to our background checks.)
Lenders, TCs, GLBA, Dodd-Frank. etc. don't see this and apparently don't care Seems like a huge hole in all the borrower privacy protection regulations everybody else is expected follow. I guarantee if borrowers had even the slightest idea this was going on they'd filp. How do you think the borrowers you just signed over the kitchen table knew that their loan app was in the hands of the well-known convicted identity thief who runs a SS. And she's just the tip of the iceberg.
In any case, nobody is *for* more government regulation, we'd probably llike to repeal what we've got. And we've all managed to deal in our own ways with nonpaying scum. The very existence of SC servces as a warning system of cheats and liars.
Still, the issue remains that inummerable SSs, come and gone and come again, are the rogue Bad Boys out there. There are many Bad Boys out there in our profession, but at least there's legal recourse in many instances. There's nothing reigning in SSs, and at this point nobody who matters sees or cares what they do (to us or anybody else). This just amazes me given their enourmous influence and potential for harm.
| Reply by Les_CO on 5/26/13 2:11pm
Msg #471341
Re: The world of SSs
I would agree that this “business” is rife with liars, cheats, thieves, con-men, and with the unknowing, unskilled, and inept. It’s a ‘business biased on ‘trust’ a rarity these days. It is an important and necessary business. And for us NSA’s there’s a long ‘learning’ curve. It’s been proven that it is impossible to regulate stupid or inept. We can try to regulate ‘criminal’, but until we resurrect ‘debtors prison’, and can make all those in business (or those ‘regulating’) qualify with a IQ score of over 50, your best bet is to DECIDE for yourself whom you will work with. When you mentioned Dodd-Frank, I agree with the potential grievous harm with little good, and when you say... “Their enormous influence and potential for harm” I thought about Congress and not about some Signing Service. JMO
| Reply by leeinla on 5/26/13 2:35pm
Msg #471342
Re: The world of SSs
Some regulation is needed, but too much regulation will be counter productive. What we need is more enforcement by title companies, so these jerks don't get hired. Also, I wish title cos will stop to listen to XYZ and realize the damage that organization has done to our industry. The only way things will get better is when the big three: Fidelity, First American, and Chicago Title would have more stringent requirements regarding the SSs they hire.
We need an organization that truly enhances our reputation as signing agents. XYZ is not it.
| Reply by 101livescan on 5/26/13 3:40pm
Msg #471347
Re: The world of SSs
I think it's pathetic that someone with no business experience, no ethics, no brains, no competency and a history of id fraud and forgery can land an account with a major bank, escrow and title company and stiff notaries along the way. Maybe one day the bank, title and escrow will learn who they are dealing with cut them loose. There are many great companies to work for, unfortunately there are as many companies out there who've snaked the NSAs for years and will continue to do so.
Karma is powerful and one never knows what's around the corner.
| Reply by Yoli/CA on 5/26/13 3:59pm
Msg #471349
Re: The world of SSs
If you know which SS owner was convicted of ID theft and forgery and if you know who their accounts are, why not let that bank, TC and escrow know about it? Probably the sooner, the better -- before they have a chance to have their records expunged. Then, the ball is in those clients' court.
JMO
| Reply by CarolF/NC on 5/26/13 7:29pm
Msg #471354
LIKE n/m
| Reply by Les_CO on 5/27/13 10:55am
Msg #471383
Re: The world of SSs
It is pathetic that someone with no education, or experience, or ethics, can start a Title Company, or a SS, or ‘become’ a Notary Signing Agent. I think it’s a very rare occurrence where a bank will hire a SS; or a lender. Banks, lenders, and LO’s have been known to hire notaries directly, as have some Realtors, and attorneys. Usually a SS works through a Title Company. Some of the bigger Title Companies as mentioned are a great part of ‘our’ problem (as in First American/FASS) and some larger Title Companies along with the NNA and unknowing notaries, have been the direct cause of the ‘low-ball’ companies here today. Some by using offshore companies (that know NOTHING about this business)have made our plight worse. Others know well that they are working with less than honest people. And in some cases deliberately use an ‘in house’ SS that does everything it can to cheat notaries (like Genuine Title) Some just want the cheapest they can get, and couldn’t care less if the notary gets paid or not. I see nothing but problems in trying to ‘regulate’ or ‘re-regulate’ an multi-facetted interstate business with components that may be licensed (or Commissioned) in one state but not another, that may involve six of seven separate people in maybe five states, mostly working with ‘verbal’ contracts, all of which come under separate laws and jurisdictions, and all of which are now regulated in some manner. . I say carefully choose those you are willing to trust and ‘partner' with, leave the regulators to Obamacare, and the thieves and deadbeats to Karma.
| Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 5/27/13 12:48pm
Msg #471390
FWIW, Les ...
... I was reading every word of your post, weighing pros and cos of what you were saying ... taking you seriously ... until I hit the Obamacare reference... and then you immediately lost all credibility with me. (And by the way, you have no idea how I feel about Obamacare or even Obama himself, one way or the other).
If you want to rant about politics go ahead, just take it to Just Politics. When you infect an otherwise seemingly sensible work post with inflammatory political asides, you become a joke .... at least by me.
| Reply by Les_CO on 5/27/13 10:01pm
Msg #471418
Re: FWIW, Les ...
It was simply an example of what happens when ‘government’ decides to regulate something. 906 pages of incompressible legalese that the regulators still don’t understand. Nothing to do with politics. I guess I should have said “Affordable Care Act”? Better now?
| Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 5/27/13 10:47pm
Msg #471421
Your last post has everything to do with politics, as well.
And no, it wasn't "an example of what happens." It was an example of your brand of politics and what you think is "incompressible" (whatever that is) legalese. What is it you don't get? Take it to JP for gawd's sake!
And no, it's not "better now." It's actually worse.
Apparently now that Hugh has decided to leave the board, there's no stopping politics of any brand from drifting into work discussions.
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