Posted by CentralNY on 11/26/12 7:32pm
Msg #444668

Notary Fee on HUD $400

very embarrassing and just not right. does anyone ever audit the banks? don't want to bite the hand.... but I wonder.

Reply by dgd/CA on 11/26/12 7:50pm
Msg #444673

Signing Service or Title? n/m

Reply by CentralNY on 11/27/12 4:29am
Msg #444694

Title n/m

Reply by CentralNY on 11/27/12 10:05am
Msg #444733

Re: Title

just finished the closing. he did not bring it up so of course i did not, we walk such a fine line. but they asked me a lot about what i do and how many i do a day. he was not happy at all with the lender and said no one knew what they were doing and so many different people contacted him and he had all the names and documentation and was going to do something about it, so i guess my $400 fee just added fuel to his fire. but he had a great rate and did sign, so...........what can ya do.

Reply by FormerEO on 11/27/12 2:22pm
Msg #444753

It is fairly obvious you don’t understand who does what in a transaction. Then again, you really have no need to know the various functions within an escrow and a transaction.

The banks do not set the fees for notary service. The banks send the closing figures to the escrow officer or settlement agent. The EO will put in the fees for notaries, not the banks, and prepare the HUD-1 and send it to the bank or lender for their approval. I am sure you have all had to deal with delays in getting the docs for signing because the lender was slow in approving the HUD-1 and most escrow officers will not release the docs to the signing agent until the lender gives their approval.

Beyond that, you can’t seriously believe that they are going to charge the borrower the $400 for notary fees. When the docs are prepared for signing the fees on the HUD-1 are extraordinarily difficult to change. If you try, there is an automatic one week waiting period that comes into play where docs cannot be signed for a full week after the change to the HUD-1. This is not a state rule, but the guidelines established by RESPA.

This seems to be a big hang-up for signing agents. They see a notary fee on the HUD-1 and automatically think this is what the signing service or escrow is billing the borrower and pocketing the huge difference in what they are being paid for the signing what appears on the HUD-1. I have seen countless posts accusing signing services of being greedy because of this very issue, when it just is not the case.

Escrow officers “pad” certain areas within the HUD-1 figures “just in case” they are short funds elsewhere to close. Some EOs have the courage to add a line called closing cushion, but most are not brave enough, so they add extra money to things like notary fees and other fees to make sure they can close the transaction.

When I was an EO I would often add $100 to some fee for a cushion, but the final figures were what was really being billed to me as an EO (on the final closing statement, which you never get to see) and what the borrower actually pays.

Reply by CentralNY on 11/27/12 2:44pm
Msg #444757

WOW who's this dude!!!!!!!!! a signing service maybe, lol

i don't understand, my, my. my guess is at closing that is was for a deed prepared by another attorney not at the tc, but my point is show fees exactly as incurred and don't let me be the sitting duck for the bo's wrath. you seem to be a huge pompous ass and I don't agree with your convenient "cushion" theory.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/27/12 3:12pm
Msg #444763

"When the docs are prepared for signing the fees on the HUD-1 are extraordinarily difficult to change. If you try, there is an automatic one week waiting period that comes into play where docs cannot be signed for a full week after the change to the HUD-1. This is not a state rule, but the guidelines established by RESPA."


Do you have a citation for this? Because I thought that only came into play if it impacted the APR an eighth of a point or more either way. Then it's only 3 days for redisclosure - not a week.

Reply by CentralNY on 11/27/12 5:08pm
Msg #444791

not now, but i have prepared huds for years and i think his suggestions are weird. in NEW YORK we really try to get it right the 1st time and I am not currently up on respa law at this moment so i don't dare speculate regarding his comments. how hard is it to list fees correctly, come on this is not rocket science and we have all seen dishonestly on the HUD. in the day i do recall banks auditing random loans and this would not fly. my original comment was only that we get ragged on about excessive notary fees and Mr. KNOW IT ALL from Bullwinkle and friends has be to be well a know it all.... me thinks he like to incite.

Reply by Teresa/FL on 11/27/12 9:11pm
Msg #444829

It's fairly obvious your answer is from a CA viewpoint

In my experience, CA and AZ prepare an "Estimated Settlement Statement" which is used to close the transaction. A revision is made to this statement when certain fees are finalized (notary fee, lien payoffs, updated mortgage payoff).

Florida, and many other states, normally use final figures and do not use and "Estimated" statement. There are some exceptions when a mortgage payoff is updated or a borrower shows proof of taxes or HOI being paid so holdbacks for these items are removed and a revised statement is issued during the recission period of a PR refi.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 11/28/12 2:44am
Msg #444857

Re: It's fairly obvious your answer is from a CA viewpoint

I think you're right. And I had one EO recently tell me that there's even a difference between how things are done in NoCal vs. SoCal.

In my neck of the woods, it's very common to have a "refundable pad" on an Estimated Settlement Statement, sometimes worded in other, slightly more elegant language, but it can range from $100 to $500. Average I've seen is probably about $150, but I'm sure there are lots of variables that impact it. This would cover things like recording fees for extra pages, last minute courier fees, possibly for getting docs back to lender, etc.

Reply by Lisa Cirillo on 11/30/12 1:07pm
Msg #445171

Re: It's fairly obvious your answer is from a CA viewpoint

HUD.gov is the web-site you can go to for answers. I can't find where its a RESPA rule that you change the HUD you have to wait a week. Maybe someone else will have better luck in finding it.