Posted by emilysigns on 12/22/12 6:17am
Msg #447477

Losing my mind

Have you ever found yourself having one of those twilight zone moments where you used to be SO certain, but then you find yourself wondering if you really have slipped.

ok, so...sent a reminder for my am appt. on Thursday night (yes, I do send a reminder. I know how most of you feel about this. That's ok.)

I received a response that we should have docs in the am. Great. Docs come appropriately labled with the borrowers name on the file. I do the whole mad dash print and run without reviewing the package. I generally like to, but sometimes I just gotta go.

So, I knock out my previous appointments and make it to the subject appointment with a little time to spare. I am greeted at the door by a bewildered BO. She tells me that the appt was cancelled due to no docs. I tell her that I have docs, so let's confirm with the escrow company.

We call and I speak to Mr. E.O., he apologizes and says that I was sent the wrong docs, don't worry, I'll be taken care of. Great. I thank BO for her time and head home.

That's when it all went haywire..... I sent my standard "did not close" email to the scheduler and the team and the team responds... No docs were sent. Notary did not attend closing, and did not print docs.

huh? I reply and explain..spoke to EO. They reply....EO has been out for a week. Notary did not receive docs, did not attend closing, and did not speak to EO.

Long story longer, this goes back and forth, but I am starting to question my own sanity here. I DID receive docs. I DID speak to the EO. I DID!

LOL

Reply by ToniK on 12/22/12 7:27am
Msg #447478

Something similiar happened to me yesterday. First appt of the day, 8am. I drop my daughter off at school 730a. Get to BO house at 755am. Knock on door and lil old man answers. He doesnt know what Im talking about. A young woman comes to door and said yes we are closing, come in but my husband left for work already. Ill call him.

I find that strange he already left for work when I was called about a 9am time but I told them I had a 9am and could do 8am. And I was told that was fine. So anywho she calls husband, he is already in DC. Which is about a 30-40 min drive without traffic so I believe he left around 6-7am. So they want to reschedule for 8pm that night.

I called the hiring company immediately but they were on PST time and not open. No option to leave a message. So I went on about my other appts. Got back to office around noon and went on website to do a update status. I called the company but the scheduler was on another line. SO I left a message. Throughout the day I kept calling to get the message to them and also to get a new confirmation for a 2nd trip. Left a couple messages, tried to talk with someone else but they kept saying I need to talk to the one who scheduled me. She was not returning calls. So I got her email and sent her a message. She called me within 30 mins and stated that the Title company does not want to pay the additional fee because I never confirmed the appt AND I showed up at 830am. I was livid. I told her I that was incorrect. She was adamant about me being late. So I told her find someone else to do the appt. By that time it was 430-5pm friday night.

Reply by 101livescan on 12/22/12 8:15am
Msg #447483

Been there, done that! Emily, I had a borrower yesterday try to tell me where he lives, his address is out of sequence on his street, which turns and twists. For the life of me, I could not find his home. I kept asking, what does your house look like, he kept saying he's second house on the left. Left of what...there were three parts of his street. I asked him if he could come outside so I'd know where he lived. No, I'm the second house on the left. Just listen to me and I'll get you here. Can't you describe your house, the color, car outside? Just listen to me, I'm the second house on the left. WTF. I was losing my mind. Okay, well what about meeting me at the escrow company. Nope, he has a drs appt. I thought I was going to wig out. His docs were 30 minutes late getting to me in the first place. I was up against getting to 11 on time. That lady has been waiting three weeks to sign. You know the domino effect of late appts. I finally called the scheduler and gave it back to them. Too busy to be able to accommodate "the second house on the left".

I think people are losing it! Wackos. Pretty soon you start thinking it's you! NOT!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 12/22/12 8:30am
Msg #447485

Am I reading this right? You were already on his

street with his docs and you turned the signing back in??

Reply by 101livescan on 12/22/12 8:35am
Msg #447487

Re: Am I reading this right? You were already on his

Yep, guy was not able to tell me which part of his street he lived on, a description of his house, I was in dialog with him for 10 minutes, docs 30 minutes late. I had no other choice. I had an 11 at the Title/Escrow company. Could not be late for that one and next 8. I had aleady done two signings, those docs were also received late. Made for a crazy morning.

Vendor paid me doc/trip fee for NO FIND! Guy told me his house address was out of sequence, but could not tell me where his house was. Go figure.. Wonder how he got all his docs together to get this loan done in the first place.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/22/12 8:42am
Msg #447488

I would have to wonder if he was being a jerk.

After ten minutes on the phone, refusal to come outside or say what house looked like, won't say left of what, says his number is out of sequence, etc., seriously...what else can you do?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 12/22/12 8:48am
Msg #447490

Agoraphobic maybe? In which case he wouldn't know

how to describe the outside - along with other issues possibly.

Honestly, and JMHO, sounds like you were a bit overbooked for the day - wondering what the hiring party will think.

In my area I HAVE to allow extra time to locate properties - we're so rural they're way out and not always well marked.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/22/12 10:11am
Msg #447499

Another way to look at it...

Like you have said, if a notary needs to take a lower paying job to pay bills, buy milk/bread or pay a light bill, then he or she should and no one should criticize them.

By the same token, how about if a notary who is paying his or her bills runs his or her business by staying on schedule to continue to pay their bills and save for retirement? Shouldn't they make his or her schedule profitable as they see fit?

If a borrower cannot say, "I am agoraphobic (or have other issues); I need extra help." then, how is that the notary's fault for not scheduling properly? Especially after 30 minutes delay on docs, another 10 driving aimlessly with no guarantee of finding an appointment.

I am thinking of a full-time signing agent in a large urban area in the Midwest who used to call me between appointments to chat...agent was in/out/driving for a few minutes, then in/out/driving and repeat. They don't operate with the extra time and considerations that you describe. They are closing (to this day) from 7 am until 7 pm or later.

I guarantee readers of this post that full-time NSAs who are supporting their entire households on NSA income, cannot and do not build in an hour ramble around neighborhoods looking for locations, plus 30 minutes for late docs. That is an entire appointment slot. You either get docs, find the spot, get in/get out/ get moving, or you put them into another slot.

However, I do believe that it is praiseworthy to be a notary who is able to have time to be altruistic, to understand that borrowers might have agoraphobia, to make everything work perfectly by the highest standards possible at all times for the good of all borrowers. But, time is money; and, to some, this is primary income; a business, a job, and altruism is not a factor.

JMHO

Reply by ToniK on 12/22/12 10:29am
Msg #447506

I agree n/m

Reply by emilysigns on 12/22/12 10:54am
Msg #447510

Re: Another way to look at it...

You know, I have come across people who really do need some serious hand holding and the question of how much responsibility a NSA has to get people through the process has come up between myself and others.

I recently had an older gentleman signing a reverse. Don't get the issue confused, this man was sharp as a tack. No questions on competency here. However, he was having a hard time interpreting the verbiage between several documents.

He talked it out, I told him that I really could not interpret it for him, but, I do see exactly what his point was. He made several calls to his LO, he pulled out paperwork. At the 2 hour mark we had signed THREE documents.

the borrower expressed several times how important it was for him to sign, he intended to sign. The documents were going to expire and needed to sign on that day.

I had to leave for some other assignments but promised to come back and I advised that he call his LO and discuss issues in my absence. All in, I spent 4 hours getting the borrower through it.

At what point do you tell a willing and capable person that they are simply out of time? I feel like lenders should take some responsibility for these folks and make arrangements to have them sign in the office so they can get the support they need.

Reply by ToniK on 12/22/12 11:13am
Msg #447511

Re: Another way to look at it...

That is ridiculous. Id left 3 hours ago. Its not my responsibility to babysit a BO. Id have him call his LO and his LO can sit on the phone for 4 hours and sift through docs.

I had one guy last week do that. Soon as I walked in he said "Im going to read EVERY page before I sign anything" I said ok. So it took him 30 mins to review the HUD. He would not sign till he read every word. So since I had other appts, I told him call his LO, read the docs and call me when you are ready to sign. He said ok. This was 10am. He called me around 230p saying he was ready to sign. When I got back there around 330, he informed me his LO sat on the phone with him the whole time while he went through it.

I dont get paid by the hour to cover things like this. Its the LO job if he/she wants that loan. Im there to witness them sign, nothing more. Im not a saleperson, Im not an attorney, Im not your mother. Im a notary mobile closer and Im there to witness you sign and get the docs back to title. I do nothing more.

Reply by emilysigns on 12/22/12 11:18am
Msg #447512

Re: Another way to look at it...

Well, there really wasn't anything I could "do" for him, he just needed time to get right with it.

You're right. I should have left his copy with him and told him to call me when he is ready, he was just so desperate for me to stay because he felt like he was going to work it out and get it signed.

I guess that's when I have to put my big girl pants on and assert myself. Luckily, the company was very grateful and compensated me well for my time, but UGH.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 12/22/12 11:28am
Msg #447515

Re: Another way to look at it...

For the newbies: Get approval from hiring party before leaving docs with borrower(s).

Reply by emilysigns on 12/22/12 11:31am
Msg #447516

Re: Another way to look at it...

Good point. Yes, at this stage we had discussed several issues with the LO and he had been advised that I needed to leave, would leave a copy with the BO, and would return as my schedule allowed.

Reply by BrendaTx on 12/22/12 11:28am
Msg #447514

When I was signing "full-time" but never

as much volume as CA notaries, or in other states who could do HELOCs in homes (unlike Texas), I focused on RMs because at the time they paid more, and I had two RM LOs who wanted me to close all of their loans in the area. So, that was my niche for awhile. It was my bread/butter.

I was very patient, and I booked extra time, etc. But, I HAD the time to do it like that. There's nothing wrong with spending that extra time, if you have it, but when you need to move on, you have to move on.

Some will not take RMs for that very reason. And, that, too, is a notary's prerogative.