Posted by JanelWI on 3/27/07 3:31pm
Msg #182239

Major Background Check Question.....

What is going on with the BGC? I have not been asked to prove it. Not one TC I deal with has even broached the subject in any way and I got an email from a Lender that cancelled an appointment due to a baby being born in the borrowers family and the borrowers mentioned they had a friend who could notarize. So, does this mean the Graham Leach Bliley Act does not apply when your friend is a notary and could possibly do it for much less than a Certified BGC Notary Signing Agent? Lenders are allowing borrowers to take their paperwork to just ANY notary to have it notarized? Where is the responsibility on the lenders part? How does the lending industry intend to tackle this? With a big fat disclaimer? Or am I misunderstanding the importance of the BGC, training and certification all together?

Reply by MikeC/NY on 3/27/07 4:00pm
Msg #182242

Not sure I can answer your questions, other than yes, some lenders are allowing borrowers to take the papers to any notary, especially on simple refinance loans. I've had a couple of requests from borrowers looking for a notary, and that's exactly what the lender told them - "find a notary". In those cases, I charged just a travel fee and the per signature fees allowed by NY law.

Those transactions were directly between the lender and the borrower; I wasn't in the chain of possession. I didn't print, present, and return the paperwork - I was there as "just a notary". The borrowers controlled the documents and handed the ones that needed to be notarized to me, not the other way around. So, as long as the lender followed their own internal security guidelines concerning the chain of possession, they were probably compliant with GLB.

Also, the BGC is not required unless the lender or TC say it is; each company gets to set their own rules. It's possible that you may never be asked for it.

Reply by JanelWI on 3/27/07 4:07pm
Msg #182244

Re: Well Thank you!

That sheds light on the situation! I will now file my BGC before it starts to collect dust!:-)

Reply by BetsyMI on 3/27/07 4:13pm
Msg #182246

Re: Well Thank you!

I have found that the only ones who ask me for a BGC are companies that I am applying with.

Anyone I've worked with before has not asked me for one. And companies calling me to do a signing don't ask for one either. It's only when I've approached a new company about doing closings for them that the subject comes up.

So I now have my BGC in case I need it, and I have. PITA

Reply by marlindog on 3/27/07 4:40pm
Msg #182249

at that point u should have charged them for ...............

mobil notary service the word (mobile) in this case allows you to make your price.

Reply by marlindog on 3/27/07 4:43pm
Msg #182250

My response was for mike of ny my former stomping grounds n/m

Reply by MikeC/NY on 3/27/07 5:49pm
Msg #182257

Re: at that point u should have charged them for ...........

That's what I did - I have a minimum travel fee for mobile notary work (they were local). They needed to find someone after business hours because of their schedules, so they had no problem paying that fee or the notarization fees. We only get $2/sig in NY, so it's not like you're going to get rich doing this kind of work here... I was in and out in about 10 minutes.

I envy the notaries in CA who can charge $10 per act - I have a client who does CEMAs (which may be peculiar to NY) with multiple copies of everything, and it's usually at least 20 documents requiring notarization per package. And the docs go to the borrower. At $10 per document, i'd waive the travel fee and ask for notary fees only...

Reply by janCA on 3/27/07 6:17pm
Msg #182263

$10 per signature, not per act. n/m

Reply by MikeC/NY on 3/27/07 10:35pm
Msg #182319

Re: $10 per signature, not per act.

Even better - 20 docs, 2 signatures per doc... That's $80 in notary fees in NY, $400 in CA...

Reply by rengel/CA on 3/27/07 5:53pm
Msg #182258

I have yet to be asked for a background check confirmation. So I have yet to get a background check. I feel that I was checked out by the State of California when I was commissioned and that should be good enough.
My .02

Reply by FWP/WA on 3/27/07 6:42pm
Msg #182269

Same here, I haven't seriously considered getting a background check at all. I just mention in my profile that I was in the Marines, and a had a Top Secret security clearance for a couple years. I think that's good enough. There is no bgc that is going to be as comprehensive as that one was.

Reply by marlindog on 3/28/07 10:31am
Msg #182362

you are right the fact that the state commisioned you should

be enough, i never looked at it that way but did it just to be competitive

Reply by JanetK_CA on 3/29/07 1:15am
Msg #182510

What is going on with the BGC? I'm not sure anything. Maybe it's because I'm from CA where a background check is required to get your commission. But I haven't even considered getting one yet, either. I can only think of one company that has notified me that I needed a background check to stay in their database. I ignored it since I hadn't ever applied to them to begin with and had received very little work from them. However, they called me again this week. (Actually, it was another company they recently acquired, to be fair.)

I suspect the reason we aren't hearing much about this issue is because this "requirement" appears to have been largely manufactured by a large organization that has promoted this as a need and has added a new revenue stream to their business by marketing BGCs. (JMHO)