Posted by Jose Gutierrez on 8/7/10 10:27am
Msg #348050

I had my first reader last night

One of the 3 loans I had Yesterday one was a reader. He took the time to read every single page, in some other occasions they start to read the first or second page of the DOT and then they quit, but this person read all 15 pages. When it's a refi I just tell them that they have 3 days to read all if they wish but since this was a purchase I sit there till he finished. I don't remember reading anything when I purchased my first property back in the early 80's but that's just me.LOL.

Reply by Grammyzoom on 8/7/10 11:04am
Msg #348054

A little tip. Never give the borrowers anything more than the signature page of the TD unless they have to initial the pages. When we have a reader we hand them the last page and say "this is the signature page of the Deed of Trust which is the document that is recorded and places the public lien on your property." Then add jokingly, "If you can't sleep one night pick this document up and try to read it. You will be asleep within 10 minutes. It is a boiler plate form drawn up by lawyers, cannot be changed and is boooooring!" Never once had anyone ask for the rest of the paperwork to read.

At the beginning of the signing, we go through the "critical documents" carefully and slowly. We ask if they have any questions about the money or the terms of their loan. If they say no, we then say, ok great! I will now be handing you the rest of the documents, show you where to sign and we will be out of your hair in about 30 minutes. If you do see something you want to ask us about, please feel free and I will try to answer your questions. Then had them the signature pages and show them where to sign. Next page, next page....... It seems to work just fine.

If you still have someone who insists on reading let them know you have another appointment but will be happy to leave the paperwork and set up another time for signing. However, they need to check with the lender to make sure the paperwork will still be good in a day or so because a re-draw may cost them as much as $300. Bingo...works everytime!!

I hope this helps a little. Good Luck.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/7/10 11:27am
Msg #348058

"Never give the borrowers anything more than the signature page of the TD unless they have to initial the pages."

I disagree with this...they're signing something that's creating major lien on their property - they have a right to see what they're signing...the entire document, not just the signature page.

I let them know this is the security instrument which will be recorded and secures the note, but I go through it page by page going over paragraph captions - they see each page of the document they're signing...

MHO

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 8/7/10 11:41am
Msg #348061

I'm with Linda on this one... if somebody wants to read... I let them read. If somebody tried to pull that on me while signing loan papers, I'd not be very happy at all just because the signing agent was in some hurry to get in and get out. In fact, if a signing agent pulled that stunt with me, I'd probably toss them out of my house so they could get on with whatever they were in a hurry to get to.

Refis are one thing... but with purchases, I *ALWAYS* pad my appointment schedule to allow for readers. These are huge transactions and I would never want to let the borrower think I was forcing them or hurrying them to sign something if they weren't comfortable doing so. To do otherwise is poor form, IMO.... especially when dealing with the important documents... and especially with first-time buyers.

But then... I charge accordingly for my time...

Reply by Jose Gutierrez on 8/7/10 11:59am
Msg #348069

I agree with Linda/Marian n/m

Reply by HARRY_PA on 8/7/10 11:28am
Msg #348059


"At the beginning of the signing, we go through the "critical documents" carefully and slowly. We ask if they have any questions about the money or the terms of their loan. If they say no, we then say,"

If they have questions, who answers them? Call the lo? Say it would not be you.

Harry

Reply by MichiganAl on 8/7/10 2:20pm
Msg #348092

I would not hold back a document like that

In my opinion, the borrower has the right to see the whole document, not just the signature page. I have a pretty good spiel with the mortgage/DoT for a reader. I give them about a one minute review of some main provisions (I hate giving them a 10 second description of a 15 page document. Then a reader really thinks you're hiding something). On the bottom of the pages, I show them that the document says it is a UNIFORM INSTRUMENT, it's a standard conventional (or FHA) mortgage that can NOT be altered by either the borrower or the lender. That usually helps move it along. If they are still reading, I point out that each section has a general description of what that provision covers. I can only think of one case in 7 years where even the worst reader took more than 5 minutes to read the mortgage.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 8/8/10 7:11am
Msg #348148

Absolutely agree with you, Alex

To hold back any part of the transaction is about as wrong as I can even imagine.

You have to use some basic human skills with these. First, anyone reading a mortgage doesn't know what they're reading, isn't familiar at all with these docs. Those that ARE familiar wouldn't bother. 'Readers' come in two flavors - engineer-types, and those who are intimidated & sometimes have that shoulder-chip of 'everyone's out to get me'. Engineer-types just can't help themselves, I swear - and the intimidated have been advised by their uncles & neighbors to "read EVERYTHING".

Engineers - not to pick on them, we NEED them! - math works for them. Logistics. "There's 132 pages, we only have an hour." Sort of the Cesar Milan approach - snapping their attention off the minutia.

The intimidated/defensive types - need soul balm. They need to feel that it's ok NOT to read every word, that nobody will think them a fool, and that whatever you've described to them IS precisely what they then read. You either invoke this kind of trust - or not. If not ...you'd best schedule yourself appropriately. It's a combination of projecting confidence with an honest, human-to-human connection.

I only had 1 reader that I allowed to run the show, back in '05 - a refi, he was an engineer too, I was far from home on a late winter snow-storming night, I let him hold me hostage for 3 hours. I used that as my own personal 'reader-school' and NEVER let things go that way again. My mistake was that HE had intimidated ME (and that's hard to do - I'm not arrogant (though I must sound it sometimes), just not scared of people). By being intimidated, I was projecting negative things to him - like, maybe I had something to hide, or wasn't to be trusted. I had to really study myself - why did I feel intimidated? Then that was what I had to work on, far more than just handing out an edict about how long they could read.

Reply by James Dawson on 8/8/10 10:43am
Msg #348159

Amen to Engineering type

Friday late evening had a refi with this type, very pleasant. All went well although it was quite obvious he was checking everything I did.

Yesterday (Sat) he text-ed me and said he found an error on one Doc and wanted to know if I had sent them out already. I asked him on what Doc did you discovery the error? He said, on the occupancy affidavit, the "refinance" box wasn't checked. I laughed and thought, how could he know because I had the Docs.

I later found out he took his copy of the Docs and duplicated everything I did on his. Geezish.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 8/10/10 4:48pm
Msg #348400

Love it!!

Great explanation of the two types of readers and so right on target! I can think of two cases of the latter type in the last several months. They were both elderly single ladies, one formerly married to an attorney and the other "had a friend" who warned her (also an attorney, I think.) Whew... There was nothing I could say that was going to change them, so I just decided to dig deep into my well of patience.

What can I say about the engineers... except that we seem to have lots of them around here. I AM thankful for them, however, because they're the types who have the income and have managed their finances in such a way that they are still qualifying for loans!

Reply by desktopfull on 8/7/10 5:42pm
Msg #348112

On purchases they should read what they are signing, there's no recission and they need to make sure that they are getting what the were told if they weren't provided a chance prior to closing. I let my attorney review and advise me when I purchased, it was well worth the cost, he caught several errors and had them fixed before getting to the closing table.

Reply by aanotary on 8/7/10 11:05am
Msg #348056

I find that when there is one reader- there are often 2. The husband will read first and then had it to his wife that also wants to read!!

Reply by Linda Juenger on 8/7/10 12:01pm
Msg #348070

Usually the first 3 pages of the DOT are the critical, meat of the doc. I go over how the title will be held, the loan amt, county of the property, address of the property, legal description (if included) of the property, if any riders are attached. If all critical info is correct, I flip the rest of it and tell them it is standard verbage saying you will maintain the property, pay your taxes, escrow, insurance, can't keep your meth lab. lol Usually gets a laugh.
I do not let them read past the 3rd or 4th page. I let them "skim" the highlights if they have to initial each page, if they don't, I flip them over and hand them the signature page and I fill out my notary stuff. I keep it gently moving along.

Reply by OR on 8/7/10 12:29pm
Msg #348078

I am with most of you one this. I let them read all of the HUD Note Til Escrow RTC and scan the DOT. I have 3 line that I say to move them through the DOT quickly. I too have found that after they have read the most critical docs they never read much more. In all the other docs I just point a few words that let them know what doc the doc is all about and they sign. The most time consuming thing I have found is they want to talk about their lives or what it took to get to the table. The most time consuming thing I have found that they want to talk about their lives that take up time. Another thing that drives me crazy is when they think that it is happy hour and I am their social hour.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 8/10/10 4:43pm
Msg #348399

I do something similar. I tell them I'm going to show them the key variables and proceed to point to pretty much the same items as Linda J. (Their personality type will determine how many - and how fast - I go over it.) Then I tell them that the rest of it is standard, boiler-plate, and I'm sure it's "faaaacinating" reading, guaranteed to put them right to sleep (as I fan the pages) - said with a smile. Usually that gets a little chuckle, and very often relaxes them about reading so much.

The key for me seems to be keeping the document in MY hands, but presenting it in front of the borrowers as I point out the key information there with my pen. Works most of the time.

Reply by MW/VA on 8/7/10 12:34pm
Msg #348082

This is exactly why purchase closings are usually handled by an attorney. I've handled quite a few REO's. If they want to read I wouldn't rush them. It's usually about the #s being right, so we go over the HUD, Note, etc. They can read that DOT, but they probably won't understand it anyway--it's all legal jargon & is written by attorneys to secure the lender's financial interest & remedies in the event the borrower defaults, the property is destroyed, etc.
I've only encountered 2 readers in well over 1,000 loan signings.

Reply by James Dawson on 8/7/10 1:49pm
Msg #348089

I have mentioned this before. I once had a borrower who asked if anybody read the DOT and I replied not often. She she she was going to read her's a hope I didn't mind. I said of course not. She did, in six minutes. Turns out she wrote contracts for the DOD and read at a rate of 800 words a minute, she finished and also pointed out four misspelled words,...what wonderful experience.

Reply by Lavergne Manuel on 8/7/10 2:09pm
Msg #348091

I had a lady who said she was a speed reader and said she read the whole package. I have no idea if she really did or not but she didn't slow me down.

Reply by MonicaFL on 8/8/10 8:27am
Msg #348150

I have only had one reader (knock on wood) and the husband said to her - why are you reading everything? You said you were going to cancel the loan anyway! She came back with - because I can! Don't know of they actually canceled or not but was somewhat set aback when he said this to her (wondering why I was even there if she was going to cancel anyway).

Reply by Baragona/MO on 8/8/10 2:40pm
Msg #348170

Personally, I feel that the best way to work with a reader is to give as detailed an explanation of the document they are about to sign as possible, while at the same time being concise with your explanation. While you want to move the borrower along at a quick pace, you do not want to seem pushy, because that will just be counterproductive and make the person take longer. Being able to confidentally explain what the document is and its purpose can save time while also provide a good customer experience for the borrower.

I agree with others on here that I explain that the Deed of Trust is a uniform instrument and that pages 3-15 consist of verbiage consistent with all security instruments. Therefore, it is not really necessary to read through all of the pages. However, I will not tell them that they cannot read the entire document. You will find if you give the reader this explanation, that the reader will then 'skim' through the document but not give a true in-depth reading.

Reply by James Dawson on 8/8/10 3:17pm
Msg #348173

My solution is I simply ask them if they read their first DOT (If it's a ref) that usually re-focuses the borrower. If the answer is yes, I don't push the issue.

Most of the time I do a signing, everything I do is scrutinized so it's no big deal for me.

BTW if it is a reader...and there is a spouse involved, you will usually have an ally anyway. My .02

Reply by Baragona/MO on 8/8/10 9:04pm
Msg #348180

True! I have seen a reader go through every doc and the spouse will typically tell him/her to just hurry up. I'll typically stay quiet and just let the spouse get the signing moving. The normal statement the spouse says is 'Do you think he wants to sit here for 2 hours watching you read?' :-)