Posted by Select Processing Servivces - Southeast Michigan on 7/25/05 9:40am
Msg #54464

Hearing Impaired Borrowers

Good morning everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I did. I scheduled a closing for Service Link today at 9:00am on Thursday or friday of last week. Everything was great. I recvd the next day package and all supporting faxed documents with no delay. Today I get to the borrowers' home and they are both Hearing Impaired. Not a problem---even though I don't know sign language. We just went throught the closing scribbling concerns, answers to those concerns, and thank you's like it was totally normal.

It made me feel good that even though Service Link did not mention that borrowers were hearing impaired, I didn't miss a beat. The borrowers were treated with professionalism and courtesy just like any other hearing customer. They didn't read lips so again, we scribbled notes to one another. All in all, I was out the door in about 20 minutes for this HELOC.

I just thought I would share this. It made me smile first thing this morning.

Markita -MI

Reply by Cris_AR on 7/25/05 9:56am
Msg #54467

Good for you, I am sure the borrowers were delighted to be shown patience and respect, something we all could shell out a bit more.

Reply by CarolynCO on 7/25/05 9:59am
Msg #54469

**even though Service Link did not mention that borrowers were hearing impaired**

I guess I've never given this a second thought -- or that it would even be pointed out to me before a signing.

I had a gentleman -- and gentle in every respect -- that did not have a voice box. The element of surprise is usually better than preparing for the situation in advance, which will only cause you to stumble bum.

Reply by db_IL on 7/25/05 10:06am
Msg #54471

Way to go, Markita! Sounds like you fulfilled your office with the utmost dignity and great consideration for the Bwr. Where some would perhaps spazz and look for a way out, you rolled with it. That's coming from a SA fluent in Sign Language and lots of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing friends (also starting college in a few weeks to become a Certified Interpreter).

Sorry just a bit of a tangent, but here goes. Since for decades the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing have been lumped into the general "DISABLED" category, oftentimes opportunities of a financial kind pass them by. However, if you think of it, their cultural situation is very similar to that of a foreign immigrant. He/she is surrounded by those different from them in one way or another. In this case having a different language, to bridge the gap makes it tough but not impossible.

Just as a foreign immigrant learns to survive by noticing common signals and patterns of letters/symbols or by smiling and gesturing alot. So have the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing but in a much more complex and technical way. Fortunately though a foreign immigrant can try to live closer to those of similar background to make common dealings & transactions easier. However in serious situations (i.e. legal, medical, financial, etc.) the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing need to rely on an interpreter, at best, or at least a diligent professional - like Markita.

Thanks for sharing that experience. Within the first month of my being an SA, I met one Deaf man (but I did have advance notice). Keep smilin' -- you deserve it!!

Reply by christiSoCal on 7/26/05 7:52pm
Msg #54917

for db IL

Hi, I'm taking ASL in college (finished one class, will start 2nd in fall) I'm mainly taking it because I want to - but was wondering how often that is needed in sa work? Do you get calls for it very often? tia