Posted by John Taylor on 8/18/06 6:55pm
Msg #139442

Closings on call Signing Service-beware!

Does anybody know of any other companies other than Closeline/PES and COC that don't pay anything if a loan doesn't close, or closes but later doesn't fund? I just added this to my confirmation email whenever I get a new client:

Thank you for your business. We have a few questions that we ask all of our new clients, to eliminate potential problems that we’ve experienced repeatedly in the past. What is your no-sign and no-fund policy? Will we be invoicing your company directly for this closing? What is your invoice and payment policy (e-mail/mail/or fax invoice)? What time of the month does your company typically mail checks out? Please reply to this e-mail. Confirmation of this closing will not be complete until you do. Thank you for your time, so that we may confirm everything up front.


Closings on Call thread:

>Short answer: get their no-sign/fund policy and who's paying you up front!

Just had one from them tonight. Confirmed two days ago. At last minute they sent a new confirmation as an e-mail attachment that said:

"In the event that the loan does not close or fund we will do everything in our
power to put in for a trip fee but it is not guaranteed"

(Only other company I know of that does this other than the much maligned Closeline, a/k/a PES, etc.)

This was a 100 mi. closing so I responded that we couldn't do it unless they made an exception to this policy in this case. Replied the day before the closing. They didn't respond and sent late docs. I again sent the same e-mail I sent before and asked for full fees for no sign/fund. Then came a barrage of emails and phone calls. I kept telling them the same thing. They kept ignoring the issue and sending a confirmation of the time and place.

Next I found out that they wouldn't be paying me for the closing, a title company would be. (3PM now for a 3PM 100 mi. closing). I then requested that I get a confirmation with full fee approval for no-sign/fund directly from the title company. Response was "I gave you the confirmation, I don't know what else to do?!" I say I must have the confirmation for no-sign by 3PM or I will consider it cancelled. Don't get response so I put it down as cancelled and charge cancellation fee of $50.

3:30PM I finally hear from title company. They are furious as to why the notary is not at the borrower's home at the scheduled time. I start over. Get's kicked upstairs to supervisor. I start over again. I give up and go to my next closing. Finally get an e-mail saying they (title co.) will pay if it doesn't close. They keep calling and e-mailing at my closing. I BBerry back that I'll have to call them when I'm done.

5:00PM I tell them I have one more closing, but I can do it Saturday to help them out. Title co. supervisor e-mails saying this is "unacceptable" and I get a message of the you dropped the ball and you're blackballed forever variety.

Lost 2 clients. COC's fault, and a huge waste of my time.

Reply by John Taylor on 8/18/06 6:59pm
Msg #139443

Closings on call Signing Service-G/B/U?
Posted by Anonymous of FL on 9/14/05 8:47am
Msg #65105

Got a closing for today. Anyone have any feedback on this company out of orlando, FL?
I was unable to find any info on "search", or net,etc

Reply by Life Saving Services - Doug on 8/18/06 10:40pm
Msg #139470

I'd rather be blackballed by flakes and keep my good companies happy anyday.

Reply by MelissaM_FL on 8/19/06 8:10am
Msg #139495

Re: Closings on call Signing Service-On the other hand

They do pay quickly and will send a lot of work to you if you do a good job. I work for them pretty regularly. My experience has been that the schedulers are friendly, there is no hand-holding and they do go to bat for you if there is a problem with the title company (late docs, etc.). They also meet my fees, which are NOT on the low end of the spectrum. One out of 10 that I do for them is my average for no fund or cancelled loans, which means I'm getting paid for 9 out of 10 and paid within 30 days. YMMV, but I will work for Closings on Call any day of the week.

Reply by SueW/Tn on 8/19/06 9:09am
Msg #139502

Re: Closings on call Signing Service-On the other hand

yep yep....the number of "no funds" is minimal compared to the number of "funds". The no go's are just a part of business.

Reply by John Taylor on 8/19/06 3:23pm
Msg #139559

Re: Closings on call Signing Service-On the other hand

Right, I may not have stuck to my guns if this wasn't a 100 mi., high dollar, rush hour Fri. afternoon closing. I've done them for Closeline too, but always make sure the borrowers are okay with the numbers before going.

Also, it would have helped if it wasn't for late docs, refusal to respond to my question about no-sign policy, getting their 2nd confirmation with the no-close/fund no-pay policy in fine print after we had confirmed on the phone and by e-mail, and finding out at the last minute that they weren't even the ones paying for the closing. Problem was they never responded to me and just expected me to go to the closing anyway. Then it was too late -- closing time and disaster time.

I did one other one for them... it was a late docs cluster-fudge, 10 e-mails with attachments. About 400 pages in all. They didn't send the no-close/fund fine print confirmation that time. They didn't lowball at least, and were nice over the phone. Good riddance though.

Reply by John Taylor on 8/19/06 3:29pm
Msg #139560

COC

After reading the thread on Closeline, a/k/a PES, does anybody else have this problem... I see everybody saying "confirm their no sign/fund policy up front." So I do now with every new client. Problem is they just don't respond.

I sent my policy to Closeline and COC in advance and asked for theirs. No response. Ask again. No response. I later found out on both of these that their policy is in fine print. I guess schedulers can't make exceptions to this, so they don't want to respond? So what do you do? Just state your policy and go anyway and hope for the best?!

Reply by MelissaM_FL on 8/21/06 3:20pm
Msg #139787

Re: COC and Closeline

John, I don't know anything about Closeline since I've never worked for them. I do always ask about the no-sign/no-fund policy up front. Most of the time I won't take calls from companies who do business that way, but I was already working for CoC when that policy was established apparently. Since they've been a steady customer for awhile and send me quite a bit of work a month, I decided to continue working for them.

However, no-sign/no-pay policies have changed one way that I do business. At one time I would have never gone over numbers with a borrower before a signing. Nowadays I offer to give borrowers their cash-out amount and interest rate while I'm confirming the call. I also no longer confirm appointments until I have loan docs in hand. I still do preliminary calls, but now I tell the borrower that "As soon as I have your loan documents I will call you back to set the time". It seems to work better for my business.

Reply by DeliveryBoy on 8/24/06 3:08am
Msg #140481

Re: COC and Closeline

Melissa,

Yep, I do this too... if there's time with late docs and the borrower answers. Try to always do it for long-distance ones. Just doesn't work sometimes though.

I've been reemed by LOs for doing this before... "YOU'RE JUST THE NOTARY RIGHT, JUST POINT AND SIGN!!" They see it as interference with their loan (the "ambush closing" scenario -- a/k/a "bait and switch" raise fees/interest rate and hope they will just sign if you send a notary out).

-John