Posted by Leon_CO on 4/1/06 9:58am
Msg #110239

"Dumb Foreigners"

Don't bet on it.

Their English wasn't perfect. And they didn't look like business executives. But these people were the smartest, savviest borrowers I have come across. They knew the terms of their loan, and they knew how to read the loan documents. I was impressed.

I tell the borrowers to take a moment to review each document, especially the ones that contain important items, like the HUD, TIL, ... etc. Normally when I show the borrowers the amortization schedule, they take a quick glance at it, initial it, and go on to the next page. These people actually studied the amortization schedule -- payment by payment, year by year. And they found something that wasn't right. "No, sorry Mr. Leon, this is not right."

We contacted everyone we could get a hold of who was associated with the loan -- the signing service, the title company, and finally someone who knew something about the terms of the loan. Instead of speaking into the phone, they laid it on the table with the volume turned all the way up. They were shouting into it saying what was not right, what they were told, ... etc. These borrowers had him up against the ropes with questions he couldn't answer and things he couldn't explain. I was just calmly sitting back, taking it all in, but it was quite a sight to see. The loan officer suggested that they go ahead and sign all of the documents anyway and he would try to come up with a solution on Monday. He told them they could exercise their RTC if things weren't right. But this was an investment property. No RTC. "Sorry, Mr. Leon, but we can't sign this."

No problem. I draw a line between explaining what each document is and explaining why the numbers aren't what they're supposed to be. I take the documents, thank them for their time, and leave. These were definitely not "dumb foreigners".

Reply by lulu on 4/1/06 10:18am
Msg #110240

So what would make you assume they were dumb people in the first place?
What would make you think they are foreigners in the first place?
I just don't know where to begin to respond to this and the appalling heading that you have put on this comment.
If this were a totally clearly english grammar speaking borrower this thread probably wouldn't even have come about since the only issue I see regarding being a signing agent is that they were one of those who really scrutinized the docs including the amortization schedule. Nothing new here.

Reply by Leon_CO on 4/1/06 10:43am
Msg #110242

quotation marks

** So what would make you assume they were dumb people in the first place? **

If you will notice, the title is in quotation marks.

They are not my words. This is an expression -- a pejorative term that is wrongly applied to people.

This is not the way I think of people. You would understand this if you knew me, my ethnicity, and my background. I lived, worked, and studied in Germany for several years, and myself was a "dumb foreigner".

So please read it again, carefully, and you will see that my post is actually laden with compliments to these people.

Reply by CaliNotary on 4/1/06 1:17pm
Msg #110257

Dumb Americans, no quotation marks

Don't worry Leon, your meaning was crystal clear. Some people just can't help their politically correct, kneejerk reactions, and if it means that they have to take things completely out of context to get offended they'll gladly do it.

Lulu, the last line of his post was "these people definitely weren't dumb foreigners". How much more clearly do you need him to state it for you to comprehend?

Another candidate for 1-800-ABCDEFG

Reply by Korey Humphreys on 4/1/06 10:47am
Msg #110243

Tis a figure of speech. (Notice quotation marks) n/m

Reply by lulu on 4/1/06 5:21pm
Msg #110298

My apologies Leon. I understand that you are complimenting their intelligence and I commend that. The heading was just such a shocker, it somewhat dumb-founded me that someone would post a heading like that. I guess if it had said something like: "the phrase 'Dumb Foreigner' " it might not have been such an item to make my mouth drop open.

Reply by janCA on 4/1/06 12:00pm
Msg #110252

Leon, I know where you're coming from. I don't think I've ever had a dumb borrower, just many naieve (sp) ones who believe everything that their LO tells them. Even though it can make for an exceptionally long signing, I do applaud those borrowers who take the time to actually read over what they are signing. Unfortunately, the majority do not and all you can do is stress the RTC and hope for the best for them.

Reply by Leon_CO on 4/1/06 12:11pm
Msg #110253

These people really are from another country. They told me from where, but that's not important.

What I wanted to get across is that, you can't judge people by the way they speak, or by the way they look. This is something I have always believed. It became even more apparent yesterday.

As I said with my compliment, these people were actually the smartest borrowers I had met. They were going over documents in English -- a foreign language to them -- and making better sense of them than they are to people whose native language is English.

It reminded me a lot of the movie "Crash", but that's a totally different topic.

Reply by John_NorCal on 4/1/06 6:07pm
Msg #110310

Does this also come under the heading "You can't judge a book by its cover?" It's pathetic how people will judge others because of their looks, manner of speaking, etc. I enjoy it when I see people put their foot in their month because of their bias. You must have had a pretty good show of this one!