Posted by snoopdogMs on 1/16/09 10:43am
Msg #274665

Reprimand warranted or unwarranted?

I just received a call from SS that I closed for last evening. The caller said "did you read the instructions?'. Yes. Call SS if there is a problem. OK. The borrower is happy with the rate, the HUD but when they get to the payment letter, it is too high. Lender lied. Knee jerk reaction. Husband jumps up and goes to the back. Wife calls LO and leaves message and then goes back to talk to hubby. All this within about 3 minutes. I look at notes and am about ready to call SS, but they come back happy as they realize that the taxes did not reflect their Homestead Exemption and this could be handled in the 3-day RTC. This company asks for comments in the closing update which I stated they had an issue but they realized this was a tax issue not a interest rate or Hud disagreement. I got the royal chew over for not calling SS but I did not see the need to call as they were happy and it resolved itself within a couple of mnutes. I had no control over her knee jerk reaction to call the LO. She was mad as heck.

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/16/09 11:10am
Msg #274674

I'd have done what you did.

Why would they want a call when the problem resolved itself? They want you to waste everyone's time calling to say "Oh, we had a problem, but they're happy now". Just doesn't make common sense to do that.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/16/09 11:23am
Msg #274677

I suppose it depends on the signing service. Some of them are pretty insistent that the LO not be contacted until the SS has been contacted, too.

So, from the SS perspective, all they know is that the LO was contacted... and they weren't. No matter the resolution of it all. I agree that it seems overly nitpicky, but it is what it is.

I'm not defending the SS or anything, but if they give you instructions, they want you to follow them... not interpret them, no matter how ridiculous or unnecessary it may seem. It probably would have been best to just call the SS once it was done and say, "Hey they had a knee-jerk reaction, called the LO... but all is well and I'm just calling you to tell you it happened. There is no problem and they're satisfied.

I don't think a "royal chew out" was warranted, no... but she probably could have called and said, "Even though it turned out okay this time, you still need to call us to let us know what happened. Please remember that the next time."

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/16/09 11:36am
Msg #274683

I'm not sure why you added the comments in the first place. If it was something that could have caused problems later I could see it, but it doesn't sound like it was, so why mention it?

Having said that, you're not the one who called the LO anyway, so you didn't "disobey" their instructions. The borrower is an adult, they're free to make whatever phone calls they want. And it would be stupid to call the signing service with a question about the payment anyway, they wouldn't know anything more than you know.

Reply by BrendaTx on 1/16/09 11:48am
Msg #274690

**I got the royal chew over for not calling SS **

Why would they call and chew? If I *truly* thought you screwed something up I'd just not call you again for work.

Chewing wouldn't fix it. Why do it?

When people start "chewing" knowing there's no way to resolve an issue by chewing they are just pumping up their egos and showing how stupid and dysfunctional they are.

Ignore them and move on. Little bitty people with little bitty thought processes and little hurty feelings.

Address an issue with objective information, not a bunch of subjective, abusive spewing.

Sounds like they probably belong to the whiney threads here.

Reply by Ronnie_WA on 1/16/09 11:49am
Msg #274692

SS is way out of line. Borrowers have free access to their LO's and they were happy to sign, so no need to contact the SS. If LO's can't handle a call from thier BWRs, and take it out on the SS, the SS should be professional enough to know they're dealing with an LO that doesn't belong in this business. SS company gets an "F".

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/16/09 12:26pm
Msg #274702

I actually agree with what everyone said, btw... it's ridiculous that you got in trouble for something the borrower's did. They had every right to call their LO if they wanted to.

I was just pointing out that some signing services are incredibly anal retentive about stuff like that and if they can't micro-manage the entire process or have full documentation about everything, they freak out. If you take work from the, though... then you should follow their rules. I'm sure this SS just wanted a call to know that it happened in case it ever came back that something happened.

I'm helping a client screen applicants for a job right now, and he said that he wanted his job ad to be the first test to screen them out. He was very specific to tell people that the resumes needed to be sent in the body of the email in plain text or attached as a PDF document only. You'd be amazed at how few people actually bothered to follow such a simple direction. I've even had several people email asking, "How do I create PDF file?"

We figure... if they don't know how do do that, they aren't even qualified for the job, since it's one of the skills involved in the job requirements. Out of 159 responses I've received so far from the ad, I've only been able to forward 14 of them to my client. The biggest offender? People sending their resume in WORD format.

At any rate, my point is that my client has a reason for what he's requesting people to do, and it's not up to the applicants to interpret what he means or do something different. Oh, sure, my client can open a Word file just fine... and he can read HTML emails just fine, too. But it's what he wants.

Same goes for these signing services. It may not make a lick of sense why they do what they do... but if they have a reason, they have a reason.

Reply by cdoty_IL on 1/16/09 12:49pm
Msg #274710

I guess my response to this SS would be, "what instructions are you referring to that I did not follow"? If the SS is referring to the (be alerted of any issues) instructions, I would of just told them that "I felt there was no issue as they signed the papers and contacted the LO themselves". What one company may think is an issue.....another may not.........If you continue to work with this company I would just keep this instance in mind for future signings and update them on anything going forward.

However, I have to say that the SS was probably out of line with the "chewing". As someone said above, it does not solve anything. A simple "kind" heads up from them on how to handle this going forward was all that is needed., IMO

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/16/09 12:53pm
Msg #274711

OT...FWIW...

While a pdf 'reader' is free software, the pdf 'writer' is not. It's an expensive program tho' there are 'generic' ones out there. I tried one of 'em & it really didn't work well and I had a hard time completely uninstalling it. Frankly, as an NSA, we have no reason to create a pdf document, so maybe the 'criteria' is a bit...well, unneeded.

Reply by BrendaTx on 1/16/09 12:56pm
Msg #274712

Re: OT...FWIW...Lee...

I think since Marian is also a virtual assistant she's not doing this for an NSA related type of applicant.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/16/09 1:06pm
Msg #274713

Re: OT...FWIW...Lee...

Thanks, Brenda. You're right... this is for a VA client. I was just using that as an example of how some people just want what they want, no matter how unreasonable it may seem to others. A good friend of mine insists that her pantry have all of the items stored in alphabetical order. I snicker at it... and she knows it... but if I help her unpack her groceries, I put them where she wants them.

As for PDF writers, there are actually some very good, free ones out there. CutePDF is one of them. It's not full featured, no... but if all you need to do is take a word file and create a PDF from it with no frills, then the basic version of the software will do that, no problem.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/16/09 1:13pm
Msg #274714

Re: OT...FWIW...Lee...

Whoops, I meant to give a link. Lee, if you're interested in a good writer try this one:

http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp


It works like a printer. If you have a Word file, for example, that you want to convert to PDF. You just got to "Print..." and select CutePDF from the printer list, and print it as if you were printing a hard copy. Only, it's not really printing a hard copy, it's creating a new file on your computer. So, when you click OK or PRINT, it will ask you to name the new file.

I have several clients who use this software and they love it. I happen to have the full version of Acrobat myself, but it's because I use more advanced PDF features than most people would ever dream of needing.

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/16/09 1:17pm
Msg #274716

Oh, sorry. Guess it wasn't worth the post. Thanks all! n/m