When I was new, a loan officer, being there (or an attorney, or dad, or whomever) used to make me very nervous. Borrowers are afraid they were being lied to, no one has seen the papers and everyone is on edge and people are polarized.
I want it to go smoothly and quickly, so I try to unite us as a team. I say, "I am SO GLAD that this other person is here! I am not allowed to give opinions, but now, this person you trust is here, and they can help! "
I find that all these other people are so much more familiar with the loan docs than the paranoid borrower, and when I explain the figures, I make sure that the extra person sees them too. Then this extra person calms down, and they see that everything is okay, and they tell the borrower to go ahead and sign. It really can speed things up.
One time, the LO was there. I showed the borrower the Note and I said, ". . . And your interest rate is 8%"
Borrower said, "It's supposed to be 4%."
We looked at the LO and he said, "It really is 4%" I was MORTIFIED! The LO just LIED to the borrower!
They started arguing in Spanish. I thought, "It's a good thing I don't understand Spanish because I don't want to be held accountable for this conversation. They argued for 45 minutes. I could see that the Loan Officer was loosing because he was getting angrier and angier and leaning across the table wagging his finger at the borrower. Finally the LO said, "I'm going to step outside for a minute to make a phone call".
I said to the borrower, "I don't know what he told you, but the contract says your interest rate is 8%." He said, "I'm not signing". I said, "I'm leaving", and I grabbed the documents and left. |