Posted by SusanJ_CA on 5/12/06 5:11pm
Msg #119525
Closing Agent
Hi everyone,
Thanks for doing what you do on this list. I've been lurking awhile and have read many posts.
I did my second signing today. It went well. Such nice folks.
My question is this: There were documents in the file that asked for the closing agents signature. I assumed that this meant someone from the excrow company. Is this right? Am I the closing agent?
Susan
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Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/12/06 5:17pm
Msg #119529
You are correct. You are not the Closing Agent
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Reply by MichiganAl on 5/12/06 5:30pm
Msg #119532
Good for you
Glad it went well. You meet a lot of nice people doing this job. You assumed correctly, you are not a closing agent. But that said, there are a few instances where companies want you to sign something like a checklist or i.d. verification, and they incorrectly label the signature line for a closing agent (or sometimes closer). I'd still read the doc just to make sure it's not for you. In that case, many people will cross out "closing agent" and write "notary public" before signing it.
What were the documents?
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Reply by Calnotary on 5/12/06 6:13pm
Msg #119542
Re: Good for you
I think you are only a notary public when you sign a ack, or a jurat. In the rest of docs you should
write "signing agent"
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Reply by MichiganAl on 5/12/06 8:56pm
Msg #119587
Re: Good for you
It really doesn't matter what you put on those silly checklists. Cross it out and put King of Siam. Signing Agent is just a made up title anyway. And the I.D. verifications usually do get notarized. Either way, I personally think it's just overly paranoid. If a checklist calls me a closing agent, I'm not worried that if I sign it I'm now somehow liable for something other than what the document says. Like I've said before, sometimes I think we over think things.
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Reply by JanetK_CA on 5/13/06 1:56am
Msg #119622
Re: Good for you
Sorry, Al, but this is another one of those state-specific things. The CA state handbook says "A NOTARY PUBLIC SHALL NOT USE THE OFFICIAL SEAL OR THE TITLE OF NOTARY PUBLIC FOR ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN THE RENDERING OF NOTARIAL SERVICE." That may be nitpicking, but apparently they consider it important enough to put all in caps (theirs, not mine). I generally strike out "closing" and change to "signing" agent, except for those that list several titles to cover all the possibilities. Most of the ID verifications I see don't get notarized - although I've seen some written so that they want me to notarize my own signature. I just sign it without stamping or completing the cert. in those cases.
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Reply by MichiganAl on 5/13/06 3:16am
Msg #119628
Good old Cal., always more difficult than it needs to be. n/m
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Reply by SusanJ_CA on 5/12/06 6:24pm
Msg #119551
Re: Good for you
I don't remember but it seemed like I was going to be promising that certain things had happened or were going to happen. It seemed safer for me to make the error of not signing the document.
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Reply by whitesatin on 5/13/06 5:34pm
Msg #119705
That's funny. I just had this same situation come up today. I had an I.D. verification document that asked for "Closing Agent Name" and "Closing Agent Signature". Knowing that I am NOT a Closing Agent, I called the LO. He said, "You ARE the Closing Agent." I wasn't going to argue with him about it, so I just completed the form and wrote, "Miss Jones, Notary Public" and signed my name and wrote "Notary Public" beneath my signature.
I had one of these a few months ago that I didn't sign because it said "Closing Agent." I got called back on it because I didn't sign. So now, I just call and ask to be sure. It seems like different companies do it differently. They should learn the difference between a Closing Agent and a Notary Public/Signing Agent. If in doubt, call and ask.
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