Posted by TamaraCA on 4/23/13 8:55pm
Msg #466868

Does this sound shady to anyone else?

Not sure if this has happened to anyone else?... I received an assignment this afternoon that met my fee. All was well, I just had to call tonight to schedule the time for tomorrow with the BO. I then received a weird call from the Loan Officer asking for the borrower by her name. I said 'no this is the notary for that signing'. He said he needed the second contact phone number from me because the other was not going through. He said that he wanted to make sure she was comfortable with the docs. (weird comment - red flag!) I called the BO later on to schedule the appointment and she told me that the bank had jumped the gun on this loan. Apparently they had already sent someone to their house to sign docs without letting them know ahead of time a few days ago. I called the Signing agency and explained that I would not be doing the signing at that time because I did not feel comfortable and that the borrower was not willing to proceed. Sure am glad I didn't print any docs yet! Does this sound a little shady or is this a case of a pushy lender??

Reply by JanetK_CA on 4/23/13 11:22pm
Msg #466886

Reminds me of the bad old days, where two different types of things were occasionally going on: 1) LOs/lenders trying to rush a signing through before the borrowers are fully on board, and/or 2) borrowers stringing along two different lenders trying to work a deal on fees and/or interest rates. I was hoping those players had been weeded out of the industry or that new regulations and more stringent standards would make that stuff go away. Guess you can never eliminate it all...

As interest rates go up and the pool of potential refinancers dries up, I think we can expect lenders to either get desperate or more clever about coming up with new ways to provide incentives for people to refinance. Might not be pretty.

Reply by Buddy Young on 4/23/13 11:33pm
Msg #466888

I would never give out someones phone # over the phone. You don't know who you are talking too and can't verify that.

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/24/13 6:46am
Msg #466904

I would give the phone # in this instance.

Who else but a party to the loan would know of the borrower and notary connection?

Reply by sueharke on 4/24/13 10:57am
Msg #466921

Re: I would give the phone # in this instance.

Anyone tapping the cell phone or an insecure wi-fi connection with a FM radio. Tapping the phone line by various means. Inside information from an employee who is working with a third party to steal from the company or customer. The FBI or police watching the customer for some reason. There are more, but yes I am paranoid about private information.

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/24/13 8:10pm
Msg #467025

Yes, you are.

**There are more, but yes I am paranoid about private information.**

You are not alone, Sue. The tide has turned to a lot of paranoia on NR. I sometimes think that the fear factor of notaries is on overdrive...I like to use the term of another long-timer here, "the Chicken Little" syndrome. I am not the only one who raises eyebrows at the imagined scenarios, but I am the only one to be dumb enough to say anything about it outside of a PM.

This is not to mock or make light of anyone's concerns, I get it! But, it is hard for me to relate to imaginary court rooms and imaginary situations where the FBI or the police want a borrower's phone number and zero in on a notary. I am careful and I am prudent, but in this scenario, I don't see it.

In my real life, I have complained for years about a situation in which I felt that SS#s were exposed in a certain situation. That's all that I will say about it because I *am* aware that giving out more info would be a good way to bring criminals into that arena. It was recently fixed, but not to my complete satisfaction. Folks, I know the danger of ID theft. I respect it!

Based on how free WE (notaries) are with our notary profiles and how much info is listed on the 'net about every one of us at the state office that commissions us, I cannot imagine being afraid of giving a phone number of a borrower to a person who called the notary and claimed he/she was the lender during a transaction.

If a lender calls me and says he/she needs a borrower's PHONE NUMBER because the other one is not working, then yes, I'm going to give it out. If it's that secret, I don't have any business having that phone number.

IF crooks (or the FBI/police) are bugging my cell phone and using a wifi and an FM radio to penetrate my phone line, I think that they could just as easily do likewise with a borrower and wouldn't need to call me. If they are that good, they have better ways of infiltrating the borrower's life and telephone. I didn't say I would give out their birth dates, SS#, or their DLs...I said the phone number.

I would rather take my chances and help the transaction go forward based on a call to get a phone number from a purported lender party than to be suspicious of a high tech surveillance team of FBI or criminal third parties surreptitiously using me, the notary, to find a phone number.

Speaking of NR profiles, several years ago a detective from up north called me and said that my name, picture, phone number, and address had been found in a known ID thief's lair. Seems that there was a woman attached to the thief that had my same name. The detective told me to watch my credit profile...because the criminal was trying to use my ***NotaryRotary profile*** and another woman's website (with my same name) to create a new credit line.

Yes, they are out there...but, I am more afraid of my name being plastered all over the 'net than high tech surveillance.

Reply by Reggie007 on 4/24/13 5:13am
Msg #466901

Sounds like the ole LO push to close end of month. Walk.