Posted by Yowheelz on 6/28/09 10:41am
Msg #293860

Really stupid "Do Not Call" requirement

Did a closing Sat. night for a mortgage company. The instructions say:"There are to be NO calls made to the borrower(s) in advance. The Closing Date and Time have already been confirmed with the borrower(s) by ........ "The borrower(s) are expecting you to arrive at the closing."

"In the event that you are unable to locate the addresss for the closing please contact (mortgage Co.) directly and ask for the closing assistance department @000-000-0000 if you cannot get a hold of someone then call [e-mail address] 000-000-0000."

I have purposely left out names and phone numbers.

I get to location and cannot find house number 798. I can find 789 and 800 but no 798 and there are not enough houses along the road to account for 798. I call the first number supplied by mortgage co. and there of course is no answer on a Sat night. I call the second number and it is a non working number. Finally I see a lady watering her plants and she suggests I go up the landfill entrance road that there is a house behind a church. Sure enough it is 798, you can't see it from the road, his land borders the road but his house is up a hill in the woods. Now I introduce myself and borrower says, we were not sure if anyone was coming tonight, no one called to confirm the appointment. My wife isn't here and won't be back for an hour. She tried all day to contact some at mortgage co. but no one answered phone.

End of story, my first and last non confirmed appointment and I don't care what the instructions say. If I can find the phone number on the 1003 or use anywho.com then I am calling in advance of my arrival. Do Not Call ahead of time is really, really stupid.

Reply by Gary Boehm on 6/28/09 10:59am
Msg #293862

Really stupid "Do Not Call" requirement

I have only had a few of those and I do not like them either. I also had difficulty finding one that was at the end of a long dirt lane that started between two other houses. Had no idea where I was going but they were in a log cabin at the end.

Yesterday I had a simple loan mod that I accepted while I was on the road on Friday. I was so slammed on Friday that I did not realize that I had not called and confirmed with the borrowers until Saturday morning. I printed out the docs (just a dozen pages) but only his name was on them and - NO phone number! Not in the phone book either. Went to the county auditor's site and got her first name and checked the phone book again to see if listed under her name (neat trick that works sometimes). But still no phone number. Oh well, but it was about 15 miles away at the eastern edge of the county. Bit my lip and headed out. Fortunately they were there and ready and willing to sign. I was there on time and back on my way home within 10 minutes! Well, I did stop at Chic-Fil-Lay on the way - courtesy of the loan mod fee

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/28/09 11:14am
Msg #293863

I won't do that here..

I, too, don't care what the instructions say - in addition to the situation you were in, we are far too rural here - dark roads, lack of signs....I NEED to speak with the borrowers for a pinpoint location.

Not to mention I can't tell you how many times I've had assignments and called the borrowers only to be told - "do you know we're in <<insert any state except mine>>"....nope..
not gonna do it..

Reply by A S Johnson on 6/28/09 11:45am
Msg #293866

Was this a B of A Home Loan.
The only reason I ask is CountryWide use these instructions with the "sub, sub primes" that were for Br's who really did not understand what was in the loan. My times another thing with these Brs was to collect X post dated checks for equal amounts of what $$$ was due at the siging (I collected as amany as 12 post dated check for $50 each over the following 12 months to collect the $600 due for the funding).

Reply by Yowheelz on 6/28/09 1:34pm
Msg #293871

Not a BofA but it did say if funds were due at table they would accept a post dated check. Fortunately funds were not due. I found this very curious as all the other companies I work for funds must be certified if over a certain amount and if sent after the closing would not fund until recieved. How can they fund a loan on a post dated check?

Reply by Tess on 6/28/09 12:12pm
Msg #293867

Re: A call to the hiring entity stating,

a confirmation of full fee paid if a no sign, or phone number, usually results in a phone number to confirm.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 6/28/09 2:41pm
Msg #293877

I agree this is stupid. I just did one for the same company. I keep these very close to home. Fortunately, everything went fine for mine. Well, except the borrower did not have a doorbell and I had to knock probably four separate times before he answered. I also forgot to take my phone since it was on the charger, and I would not have been able to make any calls had he not finally answered the door!

The email that contained the docs stated:

If the closing does not take place you will be compensated 1/2 of the agreed upon fee for your time.

If you print the docs out and we call you prior to you leaving for the closing, because revised docs are required or the lender notifies us of cancellation, you will be compensated 1/4 of the agreed upon fee.

That's why I keep these very close to home. The one I just did was 4 miles away. This package had a ridiculous amount of title doc notarizations, and this company also lists all sorts of penalization fees if the notary fails to notarize this or that:

$10 penalty if the Compliance Agreement and both Occupancy and Financial Status Aff's are not signed and notarized.

Contradictorily, there is also a $25 penalty per document that the notary fails to make sure is properly signed, dated and/or notarized properly.

$25 penalty if the package is not shipped within 24 hours

Another $25 penalty if the docs are shipped back in a pak instead of a cardboard envelope

Reply by MW/VA on 6/28/09 5:15pm
Msg #293889

That issue really irritates me. If they can't trust me to call the borrower how can they trust me to get the docs signed? I've only run into it a few times, and it makes me suspicious that they don't want someone to blow the loan. I don't go out on appointments I haven't confirmed.

Reply by 2SA4NC on 6/28/09 5:58pm
Msg #293896

National Vendor Solutions, ack w/out a oath, Do Not Call BO!

To Robert/FL, I did cross out the "NOT" in the oath. I called the SS and told them my dilema and that it would be crossed out, they were fine with that. The BO was a Vet. & could not understand why the docs with that wording.

This was a National Vendor Solutions signing requesting for me not to call the BO to confirm, though all went well and it was only about 6 miles from me. Like everyone else, I still perfer to call to confirm myself. I can only think that the signing service wants to look like they are doing something important with each loan they "vaguely" participate in.

When I saw that I was not to use the Sturdy Pak for my FedEx shipping, I just called them and said that I was out of the little then paks and I am not going out to find the envelope that they would rather I use. I was told that it was fine to use the thin large flimsy pack to ship with. (I did have a few of them) I told him that using the small envelopes for a 130 pages of docs, was not the best idea in my book because of crunching pages and sems splitting.

But overall, if they pay within 3 weeks, then I will do it again.

Reply by doglover/CA on 6/28/09 6:11pm
Msg #293897

I find it useful to call the borrower(s) beforehand because sometimes they will say that they need to make a change in scheduled date/time. After having a hard time finding the borrower address a few times because of typos on the confirmation sheet, it also helps to confirm the address, too. also, the borrowers may have special instructions for you on how to gain access to their property, such as the fact that they are in a secured building, the signing will take place in the guest house in the back, etc.

Reply by Frenchie/TN on 6/28/09 9:13pm
Msg #293909

The only time I was ever asked not to confirm with the BO's was for a time share. I set out for a rather rural area and guess what? were the house was supposed to be, per my GPS, there was a cow field. Fortunately, I had the BO's phone #. Called them and they got me back on track. I wouldn't go to a non-confirmed appointment without a contact phone # for the BO's and of course the assurance that I will get my full fee if no one is home!

Reply by CopperheadVA on 6/29/09 8:24am
Msg #293921

Please add comments & reviews to Signing Central! n/m

Reply by Karen/OK on 6/29/09 11:49am
Msg #293948

I've done four signings with those instructions and I ignore them. I call!!!

Reply by PJM/MI on 6/29/09 1:23pm
Msg #293961

I think it makes "good sense" to call ahead & at least introduce yourself! And who knows? Maybe the borrower DOES want to change time or location

Reply by John/CT on 6/29/09 8:04pm
Msg #293999

In addition to all the good reasons to ignore instructions

is that in Connecticut (and some other states), a witness to the signature(s) on the mortgage ... in addition to or instead of the notary ... is required. Too often, the borrowers are not aware of this, and to expect them to trot in the witness(es) on a moment's notice is simply not reasonable, or even feasible.

Reply by HrdwrkrVA on 7/1/09 11:55am
Msg #294185

Mon: Docs sent to Bo's home in FL! (we're in VA)
Thurs: BO's spouse (who had to sign) was out of town
Other times:
- I've been on my way , called to say I'm running 5-10 min. late, only to find out BO's are in PA (we're in VA)
- The property was a rental (with RENTERS in it), but signing was to take place at the BO's house NOT the rental!!!

These people have no professional respect for notaries - we are a business just like the phone co, cable co, etc., who... OMG... call to CONFIRM!!!

I've even had one co keep sending me a confirm w/ docs to be printed, and the POTENTIAL BO kept telling me "we have changed our minds!" (I didn't remember their names from the 1st confim - thought it LOOKED familiar.)

I am waiting on a phone # right now, or get it off the 1003 BEFORE I print docs (the signing is at 8PM, no less).

No phone #, no print, no signing!

If they can't trust us to mumble our confirm over the phone, why on earth would they trust us with the BO's FINANCIAL info & God forbid ... mumble through a complete signing!!!! Scratching & shaking my head on this one!!

Reply by Pautauros - Anthony on 7/14/09 5:01pm
Msg #295851

I am the Owner and Operator of National Vendor Solutions. I just wanted to address the issue of this topic. We are here to service the client and all of their needs and requirements. The lender has specific rules and guidelines that they expect their vendors to follow as well as the title company. Our job is to follow the directions of the lender and title company and provide the best customer service that we can, because without the lenders and the title companies there is no reason for us notaries. The instructions are clear when we send the closing confirmation over that there is no call to be made to the borrower, if at that time our signing agents wish not to proceed they should contact us immediately.

We perform over 1200 closings per month with various title companies and lenders, there are many rules in our instructions stating that we will deduct for this and we will deduct for that. I will tell you now I have not deducted payment from a notary just for missing one document or for simple mistakes especially if it is the first closing that is being handled by this notary. There are few documents that we actually deduct for and these documents hold up the funding of the loan so the title companies hold us responsible and deduct payment from us for these specific pages.

Our instructions are clear on the documents that are commonly missed in the signings for my company. If these are missed than it just shows me that the signing agent is not reading the instructions. Again if it is the first transaction being handled for our company we are very lenient.

If you have any questions regarding payment you can look at the previous blogs and even though our policy states that we pay in 30 days i feel that if you performed you job successfully we will pay you within 2 weeks of the closing date. Not the funding date.

Sincerely,

Anthony Pautauros
National Vendor Solutions