Notary News & Notes: Introduction
Are you new to the business? New to Signing Carolina?
Hello:
Greetings! Welcome to the world of mobile loan closings. As a new signing agent to Signing Carolina, Inc (‘SCI’), we wanted to introduce ourselves to you and give you a few pointers to help get your business off to a good start. Hopefully, you have already signed up. If not, click here (hyperlink to: http://www.signingcarolina.com/ncnotaries.php)
It is critical that you understand our expectations and fully grasp what you are being asked to do once we call you for an appointment. If you have any questions, call us. If not, we are going to assume you are ok with everything and will complete the signing appointment as directed.
How work is assigned:
If we have a loan signing in your area, we will call you at one of the numbers you provided when you listed with our company. We will give you the date/time and location of the closing. If you choose to accept the order, you will receive a confirmation and instruction sheet by email that will give you the details of the order you accepted. Any special instructions will also be included. Be sure to read them over and understand the contents.
What we are asking you to do
Essentially, you will be conducting a loan closing appointment for either a lender or a title company thru our company, Signing Carolina (“SCI”). Once you accept the appointment, your job is to contact the borrowers right away, complete the closing and return the documents to the right party. Listed below are some very important points to make sure you do your closing correct the first time. The last thing you want to have to do is go back out (on your dime) to correct an error.
Best practices to ensure a smooth closing
- Call borrower as soon as you receive your order to introduce yourself, get directions and confirm their appointment. The conversation should flow something like this: “Hello, my name is _______. I am a Notary in ____ county and have been asked to close a loan for you on ______. I wanted to confirm that appointment with you and obtain directions.” Once you gather this information, ask the borrower their marital status before you hang up. If the borrower is married, make sure the borrower knows that their spouse must be present to sign a few of the docs. Confirming marital status must be done during each and every time you conduct a closing.
- If you have tried to contact the borrower and have not been able to reach them, you must go to the appointment anyway. If borrower is not there, wait 15 minutes before leaving. You will be paid your full fee.
- Once you accept the order, it’s yours. Backing out of a closing after you’ve accepted an assignment will impact us greatly in a very negative way. If you back out, we are then scrambling to try to get someone else in to pick up the work at the last minute. If this should happen, we will notate your profile of the incident which can cost you future work.
- Appointment dates and times cannot be changed. You cannot reschedule appointments on your own under any circumstance. Most loan docs are date sensitive and only valid on the day they are dated.
- Show up at the appointment on time and nicely dressed in casual business attire. If you are running late, call the borrower and let them know. Remember, you are representing SCI and the Lender and we want a professional image projected.
- You will be setting the tone for the closing so the borrower will follow your lead. Ask to sit at a kitchen or dining room table and start the closing off by asking for ID first. Then, show them the HUD first, then the NOTE, then the payment letter and finally, the Right to Cancel. Every other document can follow in no particular order. There is a very good reason for this order: If there is a problem at closing, it is usually found within the first 3 documents. And the forth document (the Right To Cancel) normally puts the borrower’s mind at ease because they realize they have three days to look over the loan documents in great detail. There is no sense in having a borrower waste your time or theirs by signing other non-critical docs first, only to go over the HUD at the end and find out there is an issue. Trust us, this works!
- If meeting at a public place, pick a library, bookstore or coffee shop. Stay away from fast food joints if at all possible.
- If the borrower has a question about the terms of their loan, they must call their loan officer (LO). They can do this right at the closing table. If they cannot reach the LO, the borrower has 2 options:
- They can continue signing and follow up with their LO the next day knowing they have 3 days to rescind to get an answer.
- They can stop the signing process until they can reach their LO. Their closing can be rescheduled for a later day. Your job is not to sell the loan for the LO nor are you able to answer any questions.
- Take pens with you. Use black ink only unless your package specifically states to use blue.
- As they sign, watch ‘how’ they sign to make sure they are signing in the right place and exactly how their name is printed on each document (they may be listed differently on some documents). Also make sure they initial correctly where applicable. If their name is listed as Frank S Smith they need to initial as FSS, not FS. At the end, thumb back thru the entire package and make sure nothing was missed.
- If you are an experienced loan signer, you may want to notarize the documents as you go along, making sure you sign and include your expiration on every notary acknowledgement section. If you are just starting out, please skip to the next bullet. If you have time before the closing, you may write in the date of the closing and your expiration along with the borrower’s names in each acknowledgement section. This will save time during the closing. Do not sign your name or stamp in this area until you witness the borrowers signing the document. If the closing is a slow one (where the borrower’s read all the documents), double-check the documents they have already signed as they are signing. Save the Deed of Trust to sign last because this one takes a long time to initial and sign. When they are signing this document, thumb through the entire loan package to make sure nothing was missed. Then notarize/sign the DOT when you are done. Don’t stay and talk.
- For newer agents, we suggest you not notarize at the closing table. This could divert your attention away from the signing and could lead to mistakes. Once the closing is done, tell borrowers that you will take the documents back to your office, notarize them and ship them to the lender. Thank them, and then leave. Don’t stay and talk.
- NOTE: The names listed on the first page of the Deed of Trust should match what appears on the acknowledgement page and below the signature line. The name that appears on the first page is how the borrower(s) appear on the title. This is very important.
- When notarizing, go back over the documents to make sure everything is correct. Paperclip the docs together neatly and make sure they are shipped out right away. Do not hold on to them.
- Review the instructions that came with your order and make sure you followed them to the ‘t’.
- Using the FAXBACK sheet that came with your order, fax the required docs back to Signing Carolina and wait for a call from us before you ship the package.
- Log on to www.signingcarolina.com and complete an online invoice. This step is what secures your payment.
Following these basic principles is critical to your success as a signing agent and to our success as a company.
As always, call us if you have any questions. Our number is 336-992-3304
Want to join our Notary Public Network for mobile loan closings in North Carolina? Click here. How to become a North Carolina Notary Public?
Please email us for rate information.
Signing Carolina, Inc.
3220 Rockingham Road, High Point, NC 27265
Phone: 336.992.3304 Fax: 800.930.0554
Member of the National Notary AssociationFor Florida Notaries Public, visit Coastal Closings