Posted by pat/WA on 11/13/12 9:19am
Msg #443160

Myth

Notary myth introduced and maintained by title companies and signing services.

Application signings take less time than purchases, refis or any other type of closing. Therefore, they should demand a lower notary fee.

Reply by bfnotary on 11/13/12 9:53am
Msg #443170

ha, surely a myth...They take just as long, and I only do them, when the fee is my normal fee. Some of them aren't even much less printing.

Reply by Teresa/FL on 11/13/12 11:15am
Msg #443189

You are so right...

I had a reverse mortgage closing last night that took one hour. It would have taken just 45 minutes if the woman's son-in-law had not been asking questions just for his personal education.

He told me that his application signing for his recent VA refi had taken almost 3 hours hours. His closing took about an hour.

Glad I didn't have to deal with this guy for his refinance. It was bad enough having him interrupt his mother-in-law's closing with questions. She just wanted to finish quickly so she could watch Dancing With the Stars!

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 11/13/12 11:16am
Msg #443190

Very true.

They will also try to sweeten the "deal" by offering the closing signing * IF * it closes. I had one person at a company admit to me that only 1/3 or less of their applications ever get to the closing table.

Reply by Jessica Ward on 11/13/12 12:49pm
Msg #443208

Another myth

That electronic signings like Flagstar and NYCB take "less time and less paper" than paper closings, so therefore should be less expensive.

HA HA HA HA HA!!! At last count, on an NYCB e-close, there's 12 pages less to print.

Reply by Karla/WA on 11/13/12 3:51pm
Msg #443235

Re: Adjust your billing!

Applications with RV take about 45 minutes and the signing as well. I'm charging much more than for a typical refinance.

E signings take much longer too. I don't care how much paper I need to print out. It's getting onto the portal and going through each doc that takes much longer than me fully explaining the document and having the borrowers sign manually.

Charge them appropriately!

Reply by CJ on 11/13/12 3:51pm
Msg #443236

Re: Another myth

I think applications take WAY longer. The borrowers have so many questions, and then they have to go on a scanvenger hunt for all their documents.

I had one reverse mortgage application take 5 hours. They were so terrified and so suspicous of the whole process. (They were also a different ethnic group than I was, and I think they just didn't trust me either.) Mom, adult son and adult son's wife ALL insisted on reading everything. (But the wife showed up late after everyone else's questions were answered, and we had to answer everything all over again for her, which took another hour.) They needed to get the RM to save the house so that dad (bedridden) could stay at home and not go into a nursing home. Dad also had to sign some papers, (POA to the wife), but he could barely move. One family member (an adult down on his luck and living there also), found out about the RM, and malicoulsy told dad behind our backs that I was from the nursing home and we were all signing docs to put dad away. He told dad "Don't sign anything!" (He did it for revenge because they told him that if he didn't get get all his crap out of the garage, they would going to evict him.) After that, dad didn't trust anything I said or what anyone else said, since we were all obviously lying. What a mess.

After all that drama, they application never did turn into a RM. That was the longest signing that I ever had.

Reply by Karla/WA on 11/13/12 4:04pm
Msg #443243

Re: STOP the application process!

If it took 5 hours then the lender did not do their job in explaining the benefits of a RV.

It also sounds from your post that there were many factions and agendas that you were encountering. Not fair to you at all.

In those cases, you need to feel free to have the LO intervene and then postpone the application process. It was apparent the borrowers were not ready to take that step. I'm a big fan of RV in the cases where it's appropriate.

Don't hesitate to conclude ANY signing and send them back to their LO. It's not your situation and you should not feel bad you didn't complete the assignment. We are not the ones to sell the program....just facilitate it.

I know a refinance like the back of my hand. I've done many RV but will not fully explain any of the figures. That's the LO role. Back out and you'll get the application in a few weeks when it's an appropriate transaction for the borrowers. That's how it should be and that's your role is to gauge the borrower's willingness to go forward.

Reply by HisHughness on 11/13/12 5:55pm
Msg #443257

There was some discussion a while back on NotRot ...

... that it is no longer lawful for a signing agent who is not a loan officer to take an application. At the close of that discussion, I was convinced it was indeed unlawful. Has something changed?

Reply by dgd/CA on 11/13/12 8:56pm
Msg #443293

I think "not!!!" ... n/m