Posted by nunu on 2/25/11 4:15pm
Msg #374226
Was I rude?
Closing company called to say a complaint of rudness was filed with Wells Fargo on a closing I did last week. Here's the situation. An hour before the closing, I rushed my 93 year old mother to the emergency room. I actually left her alone there, yes, I was that stupid, while I ran to this closing. The borrowers started to examine each document slowly and I stated several times they had a 3 day right to cancel and during that period they could review the documents and address their questions. They did not even look up. After 20 minutes of this, I explained my situation because I was getting very anxious about getting back to the hospital. They did not say gee, so sorry, voice any concern, offer any sympathy, just slowly read the docs. They continued to ask questions and i continuted to decline with any response. Anyway, I can't believe I did not just cancel the closing and leave them stranded. Okay, I just had to vent on this. My question now is, I would love to write them a letter and tell them what I think?
| Reply by SharonMN on 2/25/11 4:27pm
Msg #374229
I do think the borrowers have a right to sit there, read, and ask questions. However, I can't imagine actually complaining unless you were truly awful. How long did the closing take? If you were merely nudging them along because they were on track to take 3 hours, that's pretty normal, but if you were rushing them out of there after 20 minutes, I'd say that was a little over the top (my signings normally take 45 min-1 hour).
I'd probably apologize to the company that hired you and got the complaint, explaining that you were in the middle of a personal emergency, tried to be professional and fulfill your obligations, but were perhaps not your normal helpful self.
| Reply by nunu on 2/25/11 4:40pm
Msg #374232
the closing took 90 minutes of nudging, pushing and begging. i really should have bowed out. i did explain to the closing company and doubt i will suffer from the complaint but it really did hurt my feelings.
| Reply by docs2go/ca on 2/26/11 2:53pm
Msg #374349
Yes, I agree with Sharon. In an ideal world, it might work to explain what happened. However, by explaining yourself again, you run the risk of setting up a fighting match of "he did this... I did that..." I think it's best to deflect the situation with an apology explaining that you went to the signing during a personal emergency. I'd also express that this was an unusual circumstance... you have an excellent record (if you do)... and you hope to work with them another time.
(if you do)  I wish you well.
| Reply by Lee/AR on 2/25/11 4:39pm
Msg #374231
Sharon is right.
But to answer your question: Sure, write the letter--just don't mail it.
| Reply by James Dawson on 2/25/11 4:41pm
Msg #374233
Family comes first, I would have canceled and realized the hiring party probably would never call me again. As far as rude, you cannot expect people to be sympathetic you concerns nor should you ever disclose them. Professional growth is what I would call it, not rude. My .02
| Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 2/25/11 6:22pm
Msg #374253
I agree with James
I would have turned back the assignment.
What I have done in the past is to line up a possible replacement. Then I call the hiring party, explain the situation and ask if my very experienced colleague could take my place. I did that one morning when I woke up with pain from a kidney stone. They were appreciative. Of course, NEVER EVER assign somebody else to do it for you unless you have asked the hiring party.
| Reply by Robert Williams on 2/25/11 5:10pm
Msg #374243
Just my two cents, but when I get a reader on a refinance I just tell them I have a maximum of an hour (or 45 minutes depending on the package) and that they have the recision period to review the docs. At the fifteen minute mark I look at my watch and ask if they want to wind it up or reschedule... seems to work in those rare situtaions.
Never had a complaint about it.
I don't think you needed to "Explain" anything. My fee covers travel to and from a closing and a period of time not to exceed and hour. I do occassionally go over that, but not often.
I don't think you were rude, I think your borrowers were.
| Reply by Dorothy_MI on 2/25/11 7:34pm
Msg #374266
Yes they were rude and especially after you explained about the family emergency. It was a power trip for them and nothing more. BUT, there is nothing you can do about it now. I do like the suggestion for readers that you've allotted 1 hour for their closing and remind them at about the 40 minute mark.
| Reply by Victoria_NJ on 2/26/11 11:30am
Msg #374305
Business is business Personal is personal
I hope your mom is ok.
However, you chose to do the assignment and you have to leave the personal at the door. You should have devoted your time and attention to the client, as you were getting paid for your services, and the service at a level the signing company expects when they hire you.
I know that sounds harsh, but this is a business matter.
If you were unable to perform to the highest of your standards because of personal emotional stress, then you should have turned down the closing. Even if you could not find someone to replace you, it's the responsibility of the signing co to find someone else to attend the closing.
Our wonderful closers have lives too. We acknowledge that, and when personal issues or unforseen circumstances arise, where they are unable to make a closing for whatever reason, as a business owner, we just find the replacement and chalk it up to life.
I have had closers unable to print docs b/c of power outages, cancel closings due to parent, spousal and child sicknesses, etc. Life happens.
However, I'd much rather have one of my closers call in to cancel, than to attend a closing and give it 50% vs 100%.
You may have appeared rude to the borrowers. They expected someone to show up at their house who was attentative, undistracted and focused on closing their loan. From what you said that wasn't exactly you that day.
Forgive and forget - simply tell the signing co you apologize if you appeared rude, as you were a little stressed about your mother and ask them, if this situation arises again, would you rather me call in so you can reschedule a closer?
Some of us are very good at keeping a poker face even in the most stressful times, others are not. Just always give your customers 100% and they keep calling you for repeat business.
| Reply by docs2go/ca on 2/26/11 2:56pm
Msg #374350
Re: Business is business Personal is personal
Great information! Thank you for posting.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/26/11 3:30pm
Msg #374353
I agree with Victoria..
I also hope your Mom is okay but IMO there's no contest - you should have been with her.
You may not have meant to be rude - we have no way of knowing how you conducted yourself with those people - were you a bit short? Possibly - and understandably so. Did you give them the impression you didn't have the time for them? Maybe. We weren't there so hindsight is impossible - you're the only one who can tell if you were rude or not. By explaining what was going on and stressing the 3 days, IMO they got the message that yes, you were in a rush and you didn't have time or patience for this.
In all honesty you should have turned the signing back for all the reasons Victoria stated. I had one about 3 years ago - as I'm leaving my mother had a seizure - like your mom, rushed to the hospital - I *almost* went to the signing...until I realized I was the ONLY one who could make health decisions for her - I called the company, explained what happened, suggested a substitute notary, they accepted my proposal, I passed off the package and went on my way - everyone happy and my mother taken care of.
I know my mind would not have been on that signing had I gone...which is a disservice to the borrowers and to the company that hired us. You cannot predict what a borrower will do - but you DO know if you can give it the better part of 100% of yourself - and it's your duty to do so.
Again, I hope she's okay ... and this will pass.
| Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/27/11 12:21am
Msg #374416
A bit of Monday morning quarterbacking going on here?
I think it's real easy for the rest of us to state what should have been done from a safe, uninvolved distance. The fact is that, as Linda indicated, none of us really has any idea what caused that situation to occur. I'd bet most of us have had a situation with borrowers like that without having had a family emergency. And when you DO find yourself in a situation like that where you're distracted, your best judgment is easily impaired.
The OP stated that the incident with her mother happened an hour before the signing. (S)he might have figured it was too late to find someone else who could be there on time and may not have known of someone else she could have handed off the documents to. I'm not saying this was right or wrong, just that everyone reacts differently to these kinds of situations.
I just feel bad for the original poster. It's bad enough having to rush your mother to a hospital. But after trying to do what this person apparently felt at the time was the responsible thing, to make sure the borrowers' loan got signed on time, (s)he gets complained about. Isn't it possible that these people would have also written a letter of complaint if they had received a call that the notary who was scheduled to meet with them wouldn't be coming and a substitute would be showing up at a later time than they expected? Sometimes it's a no-win situation.
Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to this issue because this past December I received the call that my mother had just passed away as I was parking my car to go into a signing. It wasn't a big surprise, as she'd been very ill, but naturally, I wasn't my usual ebullient self during the signing... The big difference was that there was nothing I could do at that point (although I was eager to get home to start making travel arrangements) and there was no point in turning it back. (It was already after business hours anyway - and I was THERE, with the documents.) FWIW, they had seen me on the phone as I was coming up to their front door, so at the end of the signing, I just mentioned that the call I received had not been good news and I apologized and let them know that I was usually a bit more upbeat -- or something to that affect. I honestly couldn't tell you exactly what I said, but I didn't get into any detail and they didn't seem to notice anything was wrong. Thank goodness.
I do think there were some good points posted here for future reference and hopefully this will be a learning experience for us all. Bottom line, though, I think it's just as possible that the borrowers were rude in the scenario described by the OP. They didn't even look up?? I've been across the table from those same kind of borrowers. They don't get that we're not paid by the hour and they don't care. I'd bet that a good number of you would have walked out and/or told them you would come back later when they're ready to sign, with or without a mother in the hospital.
Just my 2 cents.
| Reply by Stamper_WI on 2/25/11 8:31pm
Msg #374271
I was lucky last night
I had a signing with a man that I had been to before. Shortly before leaving for the appt, I had to call in a welfare check on my 89 yr old aunt across the state. She had been released from the nursing home into the care of her mentally challenged and acloholic son. The neighbors called me when they heard him shouting at her and banging. The neighbors are elderly and admitted they were afraid of him.
When I got there, I gave the signer a brief explaination of what was going on and said that while I don't normally answer the phone, I would be if it was from the police or neighbor.
It was a fast signing.
| Reply by BrendaTx on 2/25/11 8:33pm
Msg #374273
I have been through a similar situation.
My mother called as I was driving to a RM closing. An accident with serious head injury issues involved.
I told Mother I would get through with my work and get to her home asap (3.5 hours away) to take her to a bedside in Houston where her sig. other had been rushed by lifeflight to a trauma injury hosptial.
I did not tell the RM LO, or the client, about my predicament until the signing was over and the "visiting" started...I asked LO to please go over the docs with me to make sure we had not missed anything because I was distracted by an emergency...that's all. I left and hour and a half after the closing had started.
I made a judgment call to go on through the signing, but to do it with an iron resolve to do it and then leave. I should have probably cancelled, but I knew it would leave them high and dry with no other notary. The LO was a delightful, fantastic client.
Sometimes we make these decisions while in shock a little bit. But, I don't think that the clients should have been made aware of your dilema...that's the place the problem came. Had they not known, they might not have noticed the nudging.
My rule is that there shall be no personal info give to LOs or clients.
You'll know next time, if there is a next time (may God forbid).
| Reply by Blueink_TN on 2/25/11 9:38pm
Msg #374276
There comes a time when you need to call the hiring entity and tell them you are unable to make the appointment due to personal reasons. They can find someone else. When you commit to a closing, your mind and attention needs to be at least 75 % there.
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 2/26/11 12:23am
Msg #374285
Nope. Not in the slightest. It's a form of bullying -
trying to "get their money's worth," as it were.
Ignoring an obvious accomodation, rather than dealing with a re-scheduled signing, or acknowledging a time-constraint, is selfish and an inexcusable non-common courtesty extended to a fellow family member. At least in a civil society...
I say write the letter. Outline the difference between accomodation within the industry norm, and taking advantage of a fellow-citizen's personal life's obligations. Stress the importance of the concept of "accomodations" to the borrower's needs that we bend over backwards to address. Stress that we are only messengers, not the ones responsible for the fees imposed, we are ~included~ in the accomodation of Remote Signings.
Let the letter rest for a day or two. Then decide if there is a valid point to your response. Edit. Think. Extrapolate. Analyze. What EXACTLY is that we do out here?
Ask yourself if, in the whole scheme of things, what purpose does your letter serve?
My vote is for a rebuttal, without the personal details, rather, the whole concept of Remote Closures - are we being made the scapegoats of poor Loan-sellers who don't bother to explain our function? Availabiltiy is dependent on all things being equal, which, of course, they never are...
jmho.
| Reply by Cheryl Meril on 2/26/11 11:12am
Msg #374300
Isn't it interesting how you did your job well and you still couldn't please? I've found extra effort doesn't always pay off with a reward. I noted at law firms the more I tried with certain types of attorneys to please them, the more they made it impossible to do so. These people may have already had an issue with the bank and wanted to take it out on you by giving you a hard time.
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 2/27/11 12:52am
Msg #374418
Cheryl, the older I get, the more I understand there is
no actual "pleasing" in dealing with the Public. It is what it is. All we can do is our best, using the best judgment we can.
I take care of my Dad, and juggle the work/family obligations best I can. Those who don't choose to understand, well, we just hope they're few and far-between.
jmho.
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