Posted by Eileen Rubinstein on 8/17/11 8:43pm
Msg #394031

liberty title

Has anyone performed closings involving Liberty Title? I have been given two refi assignments with Liberty Title involved. Each of these assignments had problems with the numbers, unavailable loan officer, etc which caused the borrower not to sign the docs. The title company is blaming me, the notary. If anyone else has had a situation with Lilberty Title I would appreciate your input.
thanks, eileen

Reply by ME/NJ on 8/17/11 9:11pm
Msg #394037

Cleaned up two loans last month Notary messed up

paid within 21 days.

Reply by LKT/CA on 8/17/11 9:33pm
Msg #394042

Re: Cleaned up two loans last month Notary messed up

And what's even more pathetic is that hiring entities will continue to call the lowball notaries and shell out additional monies in cleanup fees.

Reply by ME/NJ on 8/17/11 9:40pm
Msg #394043

One clean up was 10 pages paid my full fee

Notary left without HUD and other docs. Now Liberty calls me directly.

Reply by Buddy Young on 8/17/11 10:38pm
Msg #394062

Re: One clean up was 10 pages paid my full fee

I cleaned up one where the Notary didn't get initials on some of the pages of the grant deed. Got $65 for that one.

Reply by LynnNC on 8/17/11 10:45pm
Msg #394063

I handled my 1st closing for Liberty Title tonight

I couldn't find anything on them in Signing Central or using the orange search button, but took a chance. Other than getting the call to handle the closing one hour before, everything went smoothly. On such short notice, and it was a large laon package, I arranged with the borrower that I would call after I printed and was on my way. Fee was very generous and I am gald to read that they paid in 21 days.

Reply by Eileen Rubinstein on 8/18/11 5:49am
Msg #394087

Re: I handled my 1st closing for Liberty Title tonight

On both my previous signings with Liberty the borrowers' were unhappy with the numbers and refused to sign. At signing tonight the non-borrowing spouse's name was not printed on legal docs and Liberty told me to write it in and they would fix it. I have never had this type of situation before and have completed 1000 signings since becoming a signing agent. Were all your paperwork printed correctly. I know I will not get paid for this assignment. The borrower asked me if there was a survey included with the docs and I responded no, as there was not one. But when borrower spoke with Liberty he told them he is unhappy and disappointed with the way they prepared the paperwork. I guess they wont call me again. What do you all think

eileen r

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 8/18/11 6:05am
Msg #394088

Why would you not be paid?

Did they sign? If they signed, your job is done and you're entitled to payment. I'm not sure why you're assuming you're not going to be paid because the title company made errors in the paperwork.

Also, IME, NOBS's names, many times, are left off the paperwork and I've had to print their names under the signature lines on the docs that required their signature. That's not all that unusual, nor is it a dealbreaker. If the borrowers feel it is, then IMO they're just looking for something....ANYTHING....to hang their hat on and be justified in getting out of the loan.

JMO

Reply by CopperheadVA on 8/18/11 6:08am
Msg #394089

Re: I handled my 1st closing for Liberty Title tonight

I used to run into it years ago quite a bit where non-borrowing spouse did not have a signature line on the lender docs, but did have one on the title docs. It does look unprofessional and is a PITA. Haven't had that in quite a while though, thankfully.

Regarding the survey, my experience is that there is never a survey in the package, unless it's a purchase and sometimes not even then. A survey will only be in the package if one was charged on the HUD (normally listed in section 1300 on page 2). If the borrower was not charged for a survey, there will not be one in the package.

The notary is not responsible for the way the lender or TC prepares the paperwork. But unfortunately, we are the only face that the borrower sees.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 8/18/11 6:39am
Msg #394091

Re: I handled my 1st closing for Liberty Title tonight

Every once in a while I'll have a package without the non obligor printed on docs. It's no biggie and I would've played it down and had both sign docs.

Reply by MichiganAl on 8/18/11 10:51am
Msg #394102

My thoughts and my experience with Liberty...

You had to print the non-borrowing spouse's name on some docs. That's so not a big deal. It happens all the time. Takes two minutes to correct. If that was the reason for the no sign, then I think the title company might be justified. That's just my opinion. Sure, someone else missed it, but if they instructed you to add it and you didn't, I think that's on you. And I've got to wonder (just wondering, not at all accusing) if you may have contributed to getting the borrowers worked up about their paperwork not being correct because of the missed non-borrower. If we act like it's a big issue, it becomes a big issue for the borrower. If we act like it's no big thing and easy to correct, then it's usually no big thing for the borrower.

I probably haven't had someone refuse to sign since we started using the new settlement statements a year and a half ago. In 7000 to 8000 signings it's probably happen 5 or 6 times. If I worked for the title company and it happened twice in a row with the same signing agent, I would be concerned with how the signings were being handled. We lead the way with our attitude and our demeanor. We control the closings. I've been involved with so many closings that could have gone either way. When an issue arises, it would be so easy to let a borrower get worked up, or steer them towards not signing. But I think a great signing agent manages that, keeps things under control, and finds a resolution.

Just as an example, there are things that can affect the bottom line numbers of the HUD that have nothing to do with fees. I've seen many situations where the borrower gets immediately upset because, as you said, there are problems with the numbers. It's easy to just flip out or walk away. But most times if you take a moment to say "okay, let's go through this and see what's affecting this or what has changed," it's not really an issue at all. Maybe their taxes were coming up due and had to be paid out of the closing (something they were getting ready to pay themselves anyway). Maybe their insurance was due. Maybe they're skipping two months of payments instead of one so another month of interest had to be added. Once you get to the heart of that, it's not really a numbers problem at all. Again, I'm not there, I don't know what you are or aren't doing. You asked what we thought. These are my thoughts.

My experience with my local Liberty Title office has been outstanding. I do reverse mortgages for them. I did a few closings for them, and their office manager called me and said "Alex, you're not charging enough for these closings." What, what? OK. So I raised my fee by $25 (And I am not a signing agent that works for cheap. I turn down lowballers every single day). A month later, she called me again. "You're still not charging enough." So I raised it by another $50. She said I could go higher, but any higher and it would start to feel like highway robbery. I submit an invoice after the closing, and I get paid in two to three weeks. Love them.

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 8/18/11 11:11am
Msg #394108

Re: My thoughts and my experience with Liberty...what a

thorough response...
Alex - thank you.