Signature Block Loan Consent Agreement Made Easy

Signature block loan consent agreement

welcome a little bit about myself just so you know my name is Angie Speer I work with Stewart title I've been there going on 15 years now most of what I've done there is vendor management I have managed our notary base for the last five years or so I may have worked with some of you before I'm if not I'm looking forward to working with you guys in the future the point of the class is so I can work with you guys in the future sign up with our providers that's that's how you're going to get the job unless we have signings in your area we're gonna reach out so I'm having all your credentials is it's key to get that and then as we get the work we will reach out and advertise it or however our signing providers do it but with the closing exchange and snap Doc's are our two self-serve platforms that we utilize if you're out there in an area that we're looking and we send you the order just respond and and we'll select you if you're the best option but it's having your credentials is top high I can't stress that enough I have emailed more notaries than the last couple of weeks hey your background checks expired it needs to be uploaded so you you can request that and have it uploaded to your profile if you pull up your background check report there's actually a date listed and it's the date that was pulled we can only accept orders for you up until that date so you can't have a signing scheduled after falling after that date because you're out of compliance per our lenders we do check signing agent calm before we reach out because I can see if you've got a background check that's been redone through them or not but it's it's gonna be whatever the date listed on that background check is but yes to get it you just have to sign up with our providers and we have to have orders in your area so today we're gonna learn some common issues to avoid at the signing table we're gonna go over typical docs that you see at the signing table and their docs that week on we see errors on so I want to make sure we can go over that with you and then I'm going to give you some tips on how to WoW the borrower which in turn is going to wow us so you make that bar where experience great and it's going to come back to us and that's exactly what we want to do so I wanted to talk to you about errors it's something that that we see a lot of and it's something that happens everybody's human it happens but it's something I want to make sure we can focus on so you know where we see errors at where you can kind of work to avoid those so compared to 2017 to 2018 we're pretty much the same in terms of what we're seeing as the top errors the borrower's signature issue is always our biggest one followed by fax backs the notary acknowledgment issues and then printing issues those are our top four categories 13% of all our files in 2018 had an error on it so you got a figure that's we had about 2,000 errors last year from our notaries and so all those errors then impact funding delaying a lot of things which then could in turn cost the title company or even coming back to the signing agent to recoup some of those costs so break down those categories so you kind of know what Poland to them the borrower's signature issue sounds like what you think it would would be something about the borrower's signature but it's also dating so if the date is wrong and we know the beginning of the year is always a big one we're 2018 is 2019 so we see that for the first couple of months also within this is if a check box isn't mark so there's a few documents that the check box is probably this big and it's easy to miss and we do see that a lot I will point out those documents so you see those then the next one is the fax back issues so what falls into that category is documents that aren't fax back in that are critical I'm so Stewart we provide a addendum that comes out with the closing Docs that list specifically what we're looking for page one page four we list it out now you can provide more but the minimum is we want those documents fax back in those are critical documents for funding the loan and it lets us kind of get a heads-up if there is an error we can get it corrected the other issue on tax packs is if pages are overlapping so maybe you scanned in a copy of the check and it's covering a signature so just be mindful of that when you're sending the fax back or scan back in that you're allowing one page at a time and and and following exactly what we need the acknowledgement issue we see a lot of in California if it doesn't say notary public you have to write in notary public so we do see a lot of those in California and we also see missing stamps or if you have a raised seal those we review off of a scanned copy so not off the the true paper and so we can't see that there's a raised seal on it and so we have suggested to our notary panel to lightly shade over that so that it will show up in a scan so that there's no confusion we don't have to go back to you or go back to the docs to verify that information and then the final one is printing issues so we see that it's printed on legal should be on letter should be on and vice versa so make sure you guys are printing as they should be printed a dual printer works well on that some counties also have specific margins on documents so if you adjust the printing to a different page it'll mess up the margins and it won't fit to what the county's requirements are um so that will reject it and require a resign of that document so a dual print tray is is obviously a good option for that so based on the errors that we seem I want to focus on kind of best practices set some best practices are your borrower interaction there are times that your face will probably be the only face that the borrower sees in their loan transaction and we're an Internet world now and so your face is going to be what they remember and the experience that you give them is going to be what they remember for their loan so any interaction that you have with the borrower make sure you are professional make sure you are letting them know who you are who you work for what you're there to represent when we send out an order assignment we ask that you confirm the appointment with the borrower so that's your first interaction with them you confirm the appointment time the signing location and let them know who you are and then also make sure you're not changing the appointment at that time I know there could be some pushback maybe the borrower didn't like that time if there is pushback from the bar they want to change it and it's it fits your schedule you can do that but you need to communicate it back to the person that's hired you so whether it be directly from a title company or a signing provider a lot of metrics are based on that date so we want to make sure we're getting documents in in a timely fashion we're gonna go based on that date so if it's changed um it may show that you're late but it's you're really not so first impressions are big not just on your phone conversation but also when you meet the borrower shake their hand introduce yourself dress professionally we have some lenders that we work with that require business professional dress or business casual dress so just make sure exactly who you're working with the instructions should clearly indicate what the expectation is for your dress attire so how many people in here have a business card okay how many present your business card to the borrower at the signing okay not as many that's something that our borrowers do look for and have asked for well they didn't present anything it's not required but it is something that goes that extra step and some companies that say not to hand them out obviously whatever company you're working with follow what their instructions are so if they say no business cards don't do that but presenting your ID to them so that they can see your face matches that always is helpful but it's just based on whoever's hired you to do that so be prepared that's a big one you got to be prepared for your signing appointment make sure the documents are the correct documents everybody makes mistakes even the title company but don't tell them I was gonna say no laughs so make sure that the documents that you got are for the borrower that you're going to that signing appointment um print the docs off in a timely manner before the appointment know where you're going it's always good to pull up directions beforehand another thing to be aware of is that if we have find the order to you make sure you don't give that order to anyone else and that's a big no-no we do not want to have you guys subcontracting and the reason for that is we have assigned you our lender knows that you're the one going the borrower knows that you're going because we've provided that information also we have your credentials so your background checking all that and you pass what what we need that's why you've gotten the order if you give it to someone else I can't guarantee that they pass what we need them to pass within the documents that you get you get lenders instructions also you get the titles closing instructions review those they're gonna tell you everything you need to know the documents that you need to fax back in that'll be on there also we'll list if you need to obtain anything at the closing so do you need to get an original death cert our funds do that you need to get so those are going to be our in our closing instructions and it would be great if you read those beforehand so you knew what to do in terms of all the moving pieces and a loan the loan officer versus the notary and who should have more working knowledge of the documents obviously the loan officer if it's a loan document Stewart does include title documents that they may not be aware of we we do hope that the loan officer goes over the documents with their borrower beforehand hope being the operative word there I can't say that they do that all that but it's something that obviously would make a lot of people's lives a little easier if if they did but just in case they don't that's why it's key to kind of get some knowledge of what those stocks are during the appointment no interruptions so don't bring someone along with you to the signing even if you leave them in the car we ask that you don't bring anyone along no interruptions with your cell phones so turn it on silent make the borrower feel like they're your only priority for that hour or however long you're at the appointment so no texts no phone calls during the appointment unless it's something that you're reaching out to the title company or the lender to get some questions answered obviously that we would expect you to have your phone for have patience with the borrower you probably have seen the documents more than they have so you are probably more familiar with them and could easily go to the next page and rush through it the borrower may want to read through the documents I know that takes time and adds to your day but it's something that they're signing their name to something so allow them that during the appointment make sure you go page by page and that is the easiest way to make sure you're not missing a checkbox a signature line or anything like that privacy and security of the documents is key make sure they remain in your possession at all times unless you're dropping it off at a FedEx or UPS location but we want to make sure that that they're secure with you so don't leave them in your car when you go to lunch or something when you fax them back or scan them back to the the title company make sure you've double-checked the email address or telephone number we have seen where they've gone to somebody by one number off there's a lot of sensitive information on those documents so if that gets into the wrong hands that's obviously a big deal and then email we ask that you never email the docs to the customer we will do so you just alert us hey the customer wants a copy of their signed loan Docs and we will once we get those back we will send them to them we ask that you not do it because of the security reasons just because if you type something in incorrectly then that would definitely be a privacy event that we would see so some common issues and errors that we run into that I want to provide you with so never provide your opinion at the appointment not about the lender their rates nothing even if the borrower asks your opinion politely decline and we don't want to give them any false information or make them feel like you're trying to push something on them fax backs we do ask that those be sent back within a certain amount of time after the appointment so that allows us to review them in our system so make sure you know does the file require fax fax and if it does how quickly do I need to get those back the borrower's ID so I don't know how many of you work with lenders that say none we don't want a copy of any borrower's ID but most of our lenders have actually implemented that in the last year so that they for security reasons don't want a copy of the ID obtained during the signing appointment so just read your instructions and know the company are working with to know if that's feasible or if that's a no for them I can tell you that that's one of our big metrics with our lenders that we get scored on if we provide them an ID so we look for you guys to not do that so that we don't get in trouble as well so it's kind of twofold they're raised seals I just mentioned about lightly shading over them so that we can see them in correct dates written so 2018 or they've got the numbers switched or just a wrong date make sure that the date is today's date but that you're writing so don't date it in the past or in the the future we want it on the day of the signing make sure any Corrections that are made on the documents you initial so that everybody knows but that both parties were aware and a proving of that the readability of the borrower's signature and if they write with a scribble but the docs say Bob M Smith the the lender the title company is going to ask that the signature match what is written underneath the signature line so we do ask that you politely nudge them never ever ask them to change their signature we have had instances like that where we've had to go back to the borrower to have something resign but it's on a case-by-case whether the lender would accept it or not trustee verbage is a big one as well I can't tell you what to write when it comes to trustee verbage because it ranges based on kind of what our lender is looking for but that's where your closing instructions are going to come in handy just go through and read those and it should clearly state there how it should be signed and if ever you're unsure call the title company we will gladly answer any questions you have before the appointment so that it would be a successful appointment and and everything would go off without a hitch and then the last one is funds from the borrower our closing instructions list who they should be made out to and the amount so we just ask that you double check that and make sure it's been written out to the right person and in the right amount if either of those are incorrect just call us let us know hey this is incorrect and we can either advise you what to do with that or have you just send it the check in anyway that way we know that you caught it so that's not an error that you guys just picked it up and put it in in the envelope but that you caught it and are aware of it so some problem Docs that we run into are these on on the screen these are the top ones that I see errors on so the for 506 T the closing disclosure the 1003 the right to cancel I'm proof of identity the Hearn the assumptions agreement and the pay plan so the next few slides I am going to show you kind of where we see most of the errors on those documents and the right to cancel so the top line says I wish to cancel so we see a lot of that meeting sign where they really don't wish to cancel but at the bottom is where the bar should sign acknowledging that they've received it the pay plan and you can see that the box is this big it's teeny to check whether they accept it or decline it so we do see that that checkbox is missed often then the CD at the bottom typically this is on like the fifth page and if you could get scrolling through the CD and the first couple of pages are just a bunch of words and just scrolling through you could miss it so make sure that last page is signed the next one is the Hearn so on here there are again those wonderful tiny check boxes that you guys just need to be mindful and pay attention to so the borrower is checking appropriately in signing the assumptions agreement we see that it's not notarized correctly and that the stamps not provided so that's why we have included that in this as well the for 506 T this one again has a wonderful tiny little check box for you the check boxes are our big thing that we see that they just weren't sent back in so be aware of that when you're going through the signing appointment and like I mentioned earlier it is super easy just to go page by page and take your time and review every single page with the borrower that way you don't miss something they don't miss something and what you're providing is is accurate information to us so favorite notaries so this is something as we've been working with our notaries that we have started implementing 2017 we had a very minimal amount of only thirty favorite notaries that we worked with after the conference last year and talking with notaries and actually getting with the teams that I work with to highlight those wow moments that we have we've increased our favorite notaries up to two hundred and fifty by the end of 2018 so that's a great jump and I love that we have favorite notaries that we're familiar with working with we're familiar with their business and we send them the work when we get it in their area so that's a number I want to continue to grow so that we have our own favorites that we continue to work with and that's one of the reasons why I'm here I'm here to kind of talk to you about how did how to get there and I can tell you that most of our signing providers or most of our signings are done through either a provider I'm so a large signing company that we work with that has their own panel of notaries or we work with a company similar to snap Doc's so where we direct engage notaries we call that kind of our self-serve platform where we have more say-so and the notary selected we have more say-so in the communication that is sent out and we can track it easier without using a middle person snap Docs is one of them the closing exchange is another one and they said if you are in an ace-certified but they already have a profile for you in there their system so it's easy all you have to do is go talk to them about how to get your your sign on if you want to sign up with them so these are my WoW stories of all the escalations that I got or that my team received in 2018 these are the only files I got a positive feedback on that's it out of almost 2,500 problem files I got 10 good ones so that's what I want to increase this year I've gotten zero so far and it's April yeah so people are quick to say when things are bad and horrible but not quick to say when things are good so if we can wow the borrower that's when things are going to come back to me that's how we get you as a favorite that's how we continue the cycle of making things better so what I wanted to do is kind of highlight some sections on here to let you know what it's either the borrower the came back to us with I'm so that you know we had a notary during a hurricane that went above and beyond it was one of the bad ones that came and like knocked out power for days on end the notary had an appointment with the borrower at 7 p.m. well that was a little late because the hurricane was set to hit land so they were able to work with the borrower to move it to a one o'clock appointment the notary made sure that they got it in before anything hit the notary constant communication with the borrower on kind of where things were after the signing appointment had trouble locating an open FedEx office so drove around until he found a FedEx facility that was still open I'm to drop the package so that's definitely key um one thing that what's presented as a positive thing that I'm going to say don't do was that he offered to take pictures with his wife cell phone to send the docs back to us and so a it wasn't his own phone it was someone else's phone so that's a privacy issue for me we we never want photos taken of the documents just because they do contain sensitive information account numbers social security numbers all of that other than that going out of his way to make sure they got the appointment in trying around to the FedEx offices to make sure the docks were were sent back in amazing and obviously I have three paragraphs so our bar was super impressed with that some other feedback that we got was the notary was helpful and informative took the time to answer the questions so knowing what you do and having the patience she had a lot of experience and the signing went easily she made it convenient by working around my schedule so making the appointment adjustment based on the borrower's schedule extremely personable and polite good attitude and enjoyable and the last one I have here is the borrower called the lettuce know that the notary was very professional and kind she said it made her experience much better and thought someone should know his worth that's amazing like the WoW moments are definitely something I wanted to pass on so I would picked through some of our not so well so this way you guys hear the good the bad and maybe some of the ugliest well if if we get negative feedback a hundred percent I reach out because there's always a he-said she-said side of the story and I want to know from both perspectives we've gotten an escalation just last week or the week before an email that said the notary was rushing the borrower because she had to get to her son Michael's softball game we called the the notary and the notary said my son is 23 years old and doesn't play baseball so so we could we we look at both sides of the story I don't want to ding a notary for anything if it's non factual yep customer feels that the notary was unprofessional in their departure because they just got up and left no thank you no nothing just leaving the notary seemed to know nothing about the requirements of the loan we may not expect you guys to know about the requirements of the loan but she didn't seem to think we needed a second form of ID so make sure you guys know what on your verification form when it lists they that you guys are pulling what is required notary requested a fee increase after the signing appointment but before she would ship the documents so the notary held our documents hostage which doesn't put a good taste in my mouth I'm to work with a notary like that obviously if there is a reason for a fee increase you took a trip and the borrower didn't show and then you went back a second time those are feasible but this was definitely not one of those requests the borrower stated that the notaries phone rang constantly and she took several calls while doing the signing so that borrower definitely didn't feel like they were important during that appointment notary refused to accept a check and advise the customer just to mail it to the lender so we do ask I believe with the exception of Virginia that you do obtain and ship back funds typically for Virginia will provide you with a second label to provide to the barber so they can ship it we never just say ship it to the lender or anything like that notary called the borrower and told them that the FedEx package may have been mailed to the wrong address so yeah that took us several days to figure out if it was or was not it wasn't thankfully but put a borrower and panic that the docks may have been shipped to the wrong place tax pack sent to the wrong number so obviously that's a privacy concern because now someone else has their social security number and all of their personal information this one was my favorite because I worked with US notary directly notary shredded the documents after the closing because of a fee dispute with the signing company that they were working with didn't ship them back to us was upset and just shredded the documents yeah that notary didn't get another order after that from us obviously if you're not getting paid by your provider that is a big concern but don't hold the documents hostage don't shred the documents don't don't do anything like that but provide communication to us that you're not getting paid by whomever you're working with if it's been a reasonable at a time and we will definitely help you to get paid if you're doing the work for us I want you guys to get paid obviously someone is getting paid so you guys should get paid there are many instances where a second set of documents wasn't printed and provided to the customer so this is where it'll be key to review the documents beforehand there are some instances where we'll provide both sets of documents so you just print one one time and you get all of them sometimes you'll have to print two so we do ask that you take a second set of documents to the the closing so the borrower has an unsigned package and then we can send them a copy of a sign package if they want to see that when they arrived at the closing the notary had another person with him and to his surprise the notary was training come so the notary brought someone to train they're their business the bar stated that when they were signing the notary did not know where to sign his own name and was unfamiliar with the entire package not not really good to train somebody if that's the experience they're having due to the notaries insufficiencies the actual signing took two hours and 15 minutes so that's definitely a lot of time um once the bar was completed the signing now this is a good thing I like this the notary advice that they could not leave until he reviewed for accuracy so he wanted to go through the the docs and double-check things which is good that he did because there were 17 pages that he missed them signing on so that review took an additional 30 minutes and he left the appointment only to call them 15 minutes later that there were more pages that they did not sign it's good to go through the document page by page but I don't know how he missed 17 pages missed some dates on the docs the borrower's are now on vacation so we can't Reax akyuu the notary said she would be there between 1:00 and 2:00 and didn't show up until 3:45 and then received a phone call from her uncle about her sick dog which she took during the signing then when backing out of the driveway knocked over two of the neighbor's lights so we kindly ask you not to park in the barbers driveway Park on the street of their street parking um that way there's no risk of actually hitting anything not that I think any of you would do that but that way we don't run into the risk and now the last not so Wow is the notary showed up with pink paint all over her said that she was painting her kitchen she had a hard time going over the documents and failed to obtain a check from the borrower so your appearance is key we indicate that we'd like you to be business professional don't show up in flip-flops this is a business transaction for the borrower so you showing up in business as hire lets them know that there's a professional setting that they're gonna sit through it also lets them know you're setting the precedents out they gate with them but just to recap and kind of go through some things and be prompt and organized when you go to the signing appointment have all of the information that you need did you grab your journal did you grab your stamp I have gotten those escalations that the notary showed up and all of that was in her husband's car and not with her so make sure you have all that before you leave have extra pens you never know when your ink pen is going to run out during the signing and they have to sign a lot double check all the pages before leaving so make sure you have gone through and checked for signatures those wonderful check boxes that I'm hoping you guys will never forget after today make sure the dates are right so we've seen some packages that page one shows the right date but page two is a different date so go through page by page line by line just to make sure you captured everything you need to capture when in doubt call the title company our closing instructions clearly lists a phone number that you can reach us and we're there late later business hours so after standard business hours we still have folks in the office that can answer your your questions if you're hired by a signing company you can also call them or the nna offers a number if there's something that that you're unsure of in terms of maybe a state law for you you can reach out to them also this is a hundred percent key stay up-to-date on your credentials so I can't tell you how many times that I have a notary I want to work with that their background checks expired or they're in an a cert was expired or they don't have the proper stuff uploaded so we work with companies that have to go through the docs and review those so they're going to be reviewing it and letting you know but a system like snap Docs that we work out of your stuff could expire and no one I don't know if they reach out to you but if it's expired that's we can't use you because that's a concern if if something was to happen in the last year and your background check has expired we can't run the risk of utilizing your services unless we're clear that that everything is good to go with you okay that's all I got today all right thanks guys [Music] you you