Posted by Carissa Wiley on 9/20/05 8:20pm
Msg #66298

First Signing

I completed my very first signing today. It was a huge package and there were 13 documents that required notarizing, along with all of the other documents that needed signatures and initials. Is that a typical loan package? It was for a single refinance.
Any tips for a new notary/loan signer would be greatly appreciated.

Reply by SoCal Signing Co. on 9/20/05 8:30pm
Msg #66301

Feel free to contact me, I will help you go through it
909-917-4586

Lisa

Reply by Carissa Wiley on 9/20/05 8:34pm
Msg #66303

Well,
I already did it and I am hoping that I did it properly. I just thought that was a little excessive. Am I wrong?

Reply by Iris_WA on 9/20/05 9:30pm
Msg #66316

Just my opinion here, but 13 notarizations seems quite excessive. I came across that sort of thing only with an Ameriquest loan and one other, the name eludes me.

The typical AVERAGE number of notarizations I run across in a package is two to three -- the DOT, the Correction Agreement and/or Limited POA, and the Signature Affidavit/AKA. Obviously, if it's a piggyback loan, it can be twice as many.

Sometimes, there are special circumstances in a loan which necessitate (from the Lender's perspective) lots of other documents requiring notarization. Perhaps they cater to Borrowers with lowered credit ratings.

For your first signing, sounds as though you got hit with a "big" one! Consider it practice, and you will breathe a sigh of relief on your next one for a different lender.

And don't overlook the generous offer of help Lisa made to you!

Congratulations, Carissa! Good luck in your new career.

Reply by Iris_WA on 9/20/05 9:34pm
Msg #66317

P.S. If it wasn't a piggyback...

then it sounds as though you had to notarize EACH Borrower's signature separately on some of the same forms.

Reply by Monika Ficcaglia Complete Closings on 9/20/05 9:44pm
Msg #66318

Yes, I have been a notary for over 2 years and worked in the lending and title business for over 8 years and YES! that is a typical package.
Don't worry. you will only have to actually notarize a few pages and the rest just require sugnatures, and ALSO there will be duplicate documents, Just have the borrower(s) sign EVERYTHING. no matter what.
Good luck!

Reply by Iris_WA on 9/20/05 9:58pm
Msg #66323

There is a PLUS to so many notarizations ...

At tax time, the notary fees are exempt from the self-employment tax -- ONLY the self-employment tax (at 15.3%, that can be a nice savings).

Be careful, though, you'll still have to pay federal and state, city, local (if any) taxes on the entire amount.

Reply by Brasring_Ca on 9/20/05 9:59pm
Msg #66324

Well, I can tell you that I do many loans for a particular company and there are many notarizations in their packages. I wondered if this was typical or not too.... so, I asked them why so many...... they explained that they do not service any of the loans that they create and they transfer them all and when a loan gets transferred..... other companies require different things so as not to be limited by who will pick up the loan they want to have as much in the packages as possible. I now just know that when I do a signing for this company it will take a much longer time to complete and I charge accordingly for the extra time it takes me. I have to say though that the MoJo (modern journal) is a real time saver! Other signings usually have 3-4 notarizations.

Good job on being brave enough to take that first signing and complete it! I know how nervous I was on my first signing!

Reply by Nd_WA on 9/20/05 11:56pm
Msg #66340

Often not, when a package is thicker than usual chances are the lender may have included the borrower's copy in the same set of docs. Bank of America and World Saving do this; they sometimes include a filler page and sometimes not.

Reply by Renee Kovacs on 9/21/05 3:20am
Msg #66353

First Franklin loan? They have tons of docs t/b notarized.

Also remember it's not just lender's, but title co docs in pkg - most of the time I find it's the title co w/ more docs t/b notarized than lender.

Get a pkg from FF through a title co with a lot of notarizations and NOW you're having fun! 16 in a pkg on a single loan is over the average that I see. On average, I'd guess more like 5.

Reply by Carissa Wiley on 9/21/05 10:14am
Msg #66378

The Loan Company was Citywide...