Posted by ToniK on 1/24/13 8:39pm
Msg #451976

Enter the lions den

I arrive at my 330 appt. The Bo is in his Pj's and acts like he is surprised Im there (even though I confirmed with him 24 hours prior). He said that his loan officer sent him an email and left a message saying the appt was cancelled due to no docs. Umm I got the docs in hand. He said since LO said no go he told his wife dont worry about coming home. But he said he can call her and she can be there at 415pm. Can I come back? Yea sure. So I head down to Chipotle to get some lunch.

At 3:55pm I get call from Title saying the appt is cancelled cuz they just realized that Trust docs arent completed. She said she got the email and seen that Im already in closing. I told her what BO said of what his LO told him. She apologizes for someone not notifying me in time. It may get rescheduled, not sure. So I head to my 5pm appt (which was another reschedule). At 430p I get another call from Title saying its back on can I do after 6pm. Yea sure but do I use same docs or different? They said different and will call when they send them. Ok

At 5:16 LO calls and asked if there is anything he needs to provide to me before the closung and what time is the signing. I say 630pm. He said ok Ill inform BO.

Show up at BO house and its like walking in the lions den. Son answers the door. Father yells "WTF tell her leave, Im going to bed." I hear wife say "Why is she here." Son looks at me and says "Uh, Ill get them" He goes up stairs and here comes husband and wife angry coming down the steps saying "Does this look like 415pm? Where the hell were you? I got to be at work at 4am." And from there it got worse. Husband is on phone with LO. LO is saying I had docs earlier and it shouldve been done earlier. BO hangs up and goes into the kitchen. His wife starts yelling at me about how the wasted a whole day to do this.

Once they finish their yelling spasms, I say wel there can only be two things that can happen from this point on either you calm down and speak to me like a human being and we can get to the bottom of this or I can leave and you'll have to reschedule your loan closing. Husband says no, we wanna sign . How long will this take? I have to get up early. I say "I can be done in 20 mins." He seem to be happy about that.

So then they start asking about why Im so late. What happen. So I explained how I was called after I left and told this was cancelled by Lender due to missing trust docs. He says his LO was saying the TC sucks and they always screwing something up and he hates this TC I tell BO, I do alot of work for this TC and that this has never happened. They are always on time with docs and if there are any issues they usually tell you well in advance. " Sidenote this was a BofA LO.

So to cut this a bit short (I think its too late for that), LO was ignoring alot of calls from BO. Ignored emails. Told them notary screwed up and TC is crappy. So BO came at me full blaze. But after calming down and talking, their frustration was really with the LO but I happen to be the scapegoat. Wife apologized for her behavior, husband ditto'ed her sentiment and at the end we were laughing. As I finished up and was packing, BO asked if I wanted to talk to Brett, the LO. We laughed and Bo said "I'll take care of him."

Reply by BrendaTx on 1/24/13 8:47pm
Msg #451979

Beautiful, Toni. You are a great example for us all. n/m

Reply by CarolF/NC on 1/24/13 8:47pm
Msg #451980

Ugg Nice story and you saved the signing n/m

Reply by Malbrough_LA on 1/24/13 8:54pm
Msg #451983

I'm glad your story had a good ending to it, but the stress factor here sounds intense! Good job of handling it so professionally. I've also been on the "blame" side of a LO that had slipped on his end a couple of times. Usually the difference, and benefit, for me is that he slips on an aspect of a civil statute which he's not aware of the existence of. That makes it pretty easy to point and go "uh uh, you're doing it wrong."

Either way, awesome job!

Reply by Shan/CA on 1/24/13 9:05pm
Msg #451989

"their frustration was really with the LO but I happen to be the scapegoat"

I for one totally applaud your professionalism! I don't think, no, I know I would have left. I am too old to deal with that type of behavior. Way back in 1998 when I was still a manager at Motel 6, I had a guy get angry at me because the property only had two rooms with two beds, and they were both occupied. I offered him a second room for a discounted rate, and he was still PISSED! He told me f you, n word, b word!
Then he had the nerve to call corporate on me after I responded with a cigarette lighter and a can of lysol, you get the picture... I said that to say this, corporate tried to tell me that the man wasn't upset with me, he was upset with who I was representing (Motel 6). I feel this way, if I go to McD's and the clerk mess up my food, I'm ticked at that person, not the entire corporation.
Maybe it's just me, but "all money ain't good money."

Reply by HSH/WA on 1/24/13 9:37pm
Msg #452011

Re: Good you hung in there, hearing all that I would

have walked - your outcome is better.

Reply by ikando on 1/24/13 9:34pm
Msg #452006

And the LO STILL gets full commission

It really bothers me that as the only live contact with the BO, we get to take the brunt of whatever gets sent our way. Toni, I applaud you and your patience, but it gets my goat that the lakidasical (sp) Loan Officer who only wants to get the process finished so he can get paid his commission (which is probably in addition to his regular paycheck), blames you and title for his shortcomings. And I'll bet you don't even get a that-a-girl pat on the back, either, for saving the situation.

Reply by MW/VA on 1/24/13 10:08pm
Msg #452027

Good story, Toni, and a great example of how we need

to be able to stay cool in difficult situations. I'm glad it worked out in the end. I've only had to remind borrowers a few times "not to shoot the messenger". ;-) LOL

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/24/13 10:22pm
Msg #452033

When they think this business is easy...

This is a great message to refer people to when they think all we do is turn pages and watch people sign - and when they think we make $1XX/hr!

But being able to deal with the situation as capably as Toni did certainly makes us well worth whatever we can manage to get paid, imo!

Reply by Treasure Valley Notary - Tina on 1/24/13 10:35pm
Msg #452035

Full Moon for Last 6 Months

As many know I have been in this biz for 9 years now. The last 6 months have been crazy. Had one again today. Borrower is livid and I'm the boxing bag. I'll put up with it for a bit, because signers sometimes just need to get it out of their system and we can move on. Today I had to stop everything and address the anger issues. The wife was livid at him. And told him so. Thank goodness he apologized and we were able to continue on. The rest of the signing went without any problem.

But two months ago it got so bad that I should have packed up and left. It is a hard judgement call. And every assignment has to be handled individually. This time the hostile signer was a "lady." Three different times I was ready to pack everything up and leave. The only reason I did not was because it was for a really good title company. By the time I got out of there I was ready to toss the docs into the river (they did get returned without a problem). I called the title company and let them know. Explained that she did not sign as instructed (trust docs included) and that if they needed a resign they would have to call someone else. They couldn't pay me enough to put up with the signer again; not enough hazardous pay for the abuse.

Just one more reason not to accept low paying jobs. There is so much more to the signing than just signatures and notarizations. Sometimes you are in and out, but other days . . . well, let's just say that this is when you really earn your fees. Kind of like a pilot of an airplane. Almost anyone can learn how to take off and land, but the pilots really earn their pay when there is an inflight emergency.

I feel that we will continue to see more of this treatment. Borrowers are tired of bad treatment from the businesses they use. They feel the lack of customer service and are frustrated. This is when we need to do our very best and try to fill in that gap. Sometimes it works and sometimes . . . well that is when we just smile and try to get the job completed as quickly as possible.

Reply by leeinla on 1/24/13 11:25pm
Msg #452049

Enter the Lion's Den

I have been a signing agent for ten years now. Most of the people I meet are super nice to me, probably 98% of them. I was sent to do a refi at a very expensive neighborhood in L.A. Multi-million dollar homes. BO opens the door and gets irate with me. This lender sucks, I knew this is going to be a fun afternoon. The house was part of a trust. He wanted me to explain every paragraph in the D.O.T. Gee, I am not a real estate attorney. After yelling and screaming, signing was canceled. LO told him that I suppose to know all the legal documents he had questions about. These people can probably afford a real estate attorney to review the loan docs with them. I just refuse to give legal or financial advise to people. They wanted the LO to come the house and explain every paragraph to them. I don't think loan officers can do that anyway. Lenders, Title Co's, and SS don't event know what we have to deal with on certain days. Another little story, I refused to notarize a refi for $X million because the borrower did not have her i.d. The words that came out of her mouth. Again, when it comes to a lot of money on the table, some people go stir crazy.

Reply by Pam/NM on 1/25/13 9:14am
Msg #452092

Instead of road or air rage...

it's signing rage. I get that it's frustrating and some of these have been in process for months, but the culture we are living in seems to feel entitled and almost celebrate behaving badly if they are inconvenienced. Whether a flight is late, you get cut off in traffic or you had to wait a couple of hours to make sure the paperwork is in order for a large financial transaction, I believe that as a functional adult in a supposedly civilized society we owe (not so very) common courtesy to one another. Where's the grace?

Reply by jba/fl on 1/25/13 12:41pm
Msg #452182

Agree, Pam, where is the grace. And patience. n/m

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/26/13 8:16pm
Msg #452451

And courtesy, consideration & respect for other human beings n/m