Mortgage Closings for the Notary Public
- Thread starter HarleyDavid
- Start date
Is there any reason that the only notaries I know are secretaries. Do you have to be a secretary to be a notary or is that just a coincidence?
BobbyBlueChip said:
Not a requirement what so ever. Nor is typing a requirement in becoming a Notary Public. Actually, in performing my duties as Notary Public, very little writing is required other than signing, dating and stamping documents.
It's not always easy ... actually most times it's a pain in the ass. But once you get a handle on it, you begin to take control over the situation. When I first started, Closings took me almost two hours or more to do because the Borrower would sit and read each and every paper and ask questions. But then I remembered what I was there for. The Notary's responsibilty is to get the Documents (Docs) signed and NOT act as an Attorney for the Borrower. Since I've been doing it for so long, I know the Docs and can (Simply) explain what certain forms are but I DO NOT give advice on whether they should or should not sign them. When the Docs are sent to me, I call the Borrower with their HUD & NOTE in my hand. The HUD tells them the closing cost and what's being paid off. The NOTE tells them what the terms of the loan is. Stuff like percentage rate, length of loan and pre-payment clause. I give them this information before I even go out my door because more than you would imagine, these Loan Agents tell the Borrower one thing and when the Docs show up, their something different. Sometimes the difference makes the Borrower cancel the loan or not sign any Docs until it is corrected or explained. well, if you've driven 2 hrs to get to their house and they don't sign, you don't get paid. Also, another big problem is the last minute stuff. Some agencies will call you with a schedule like we have a Closing for next Monday, do you want it? So that's cool because if you have a few days, you can plan your life. But many agencies will call and say we have a Closing tonight. I hate these becasue you might already have plans and if you tell them no thanks too many times, them don't call you anymore. Another BIG problem is, the agency will promise that you have all the Docs by (say) 5pm in your email which you will have to download and print out. So you're thinking that's the deal and call the Borrower and the two of you will set a time to get together around say 7pm giving driving time and the time you need to set up the Documents. So the Borrower says ok but I have a this or that at 9pm tonight so don't be late.
Well 5:00 rolls around and no docs. Then 5:30 no docs and 6:00 no docs. And you're calling the agency asking what's up? And they tell you they're still working on them. And you finally get them ready to go at 7:00pm. Now you have to drive and let's say it's a 1 1/2 hr drive to the house, that doesn't give you enough time to do your job if he has to leave promptly at 9:00. These kind of things happen more than not.
There are many BS things that happen and you'll find NONE of them will be your fault. I took a year off once because I needed a break from the BS.
But the money is great and the job is extremely easy to do unless you're an idiot.
Well 5:00 rolls around and no docs. Then 5:30 no docs and 6:00 no docs. And you're calling the agency asking what's up? And they tell you they're still working on them. And you finally get them ready to go at 7:00pm. Now you have to drive and let's say it's a 1 1/2 hr drive to the house, that doesn't give you enough time to do your job if he has to leave promptly at 9:00. These kind of things happen more than not.
There are many BS things that happen and you'll find NONE of them will be your fault. I took a year off once because I needed a break from the BS.
But the money is great and the job is extremely easy to do unless you're an idiot.
YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO DRIVE 2 HOURS? DO YOU GET EXTRA FOR THAT OR IS IT THE USUAL $150 -$200 THAT YOU SAID? IS IT WORTH THE WEAR AND TEAR ON YOUR RIDE? JUST WONDERING.
There is certainly wear & tear for sure and you hope that you don't have to drive long distnces. For instance .. in my State, the Agencies will ask you want Counties you cover. Now if you live say in Conn. Rhode Island or some small State like that, you would probably cover the whole State. But if you live in say Texas or Calif. you would certainly not cover the whole State. So let's say I live in Connecticut. That's a small enough State to cover all Counties but if you live say in New Haven, CT. and the Closing is near the Mass. border, that's better than a 2 hour drive one direction. You make up for it when you do your taxes because you can write off milage and stuff like that. You can tell the agencies that you will only cover the County that you live in when you first start, just to get your feet wet. I got assigned a Closing that was 10 mins from my house. The Agency didn't know that because this Agency was calling from Virginia and has no knowledge of where things are in my State. But when they called me and told me the town the Borrower was in, it happen to be 10 mins from my house.
BobbyBlueChip said:
The main responsibility of a Notary Public is to ensure that the person signing a Legal Document is in fact the person directed to sign. You do this by requiring forms of identification such as driver's license, passport, or other. This is a great question because if you are confident that the person being asked to sign the documents is the person that has presented the forms of ID to you and you allow that person to sign, if it turns out that this was actually NOT the true person and the forms of ID were fake, you could be held responsible by law.
In terms of Mortgage Closings, you will not normally run into this situation because not to many people are going to sign their names to something that is charging them thousands of dollars. HOWEVER, there may be times that you have a parent who doesn't speak or read English and a son or daughter will try to sign in their behalf. UNLESS they present a Legal Document that gives them Power of Attorney, do not allow them to sign.
I've financed and refinanced my houses about 6 times. Never had a notary. A lawyer has always done the work. I wonder if the laws are different in different states. Nevertheless, good info that will help somebody.
SixFive said:
The only difference between a Lawyer doing the Closing is that a Lawyer's responsibility is to explain and advise. Whereas a Notary can not by law advise what you should do, however having said that, since I know the documents from doing them so long, there are ways to explain a document where you're not advising but once they understand what's going on, it's easier to decide what to do.
Also, typically a Lawyer will get in the neighborhood of $500 to do a Closing which is passed on the Borrower in terms of Closing Cost. As for what States the Law allows, all States have Notaries doing Closings including Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico.
If you ever have the situation to do another refinance, you can request a Notary instead of an Attorney.
Agent 0659 said:
Good Question regarding Indian Law .. I suppose they are simular to yours & mine since Indians are Americans like the rest of us. I don't suppose any special consideration needs to take place even if what you are Witnessing is a Government Grant.
As for paying for leads ??? What do you mean by that?
Agent 0659 said:
That's what I get for trying to answer questions while 'West Wing' is on .... :142lmao:
The referrals come from Signing Agencies, which get calls from either Title Companies or directly from the Lender, that need a Notary. The Signing Company has a list of Notaries in every State and they simply pick up the phone and make a call to you and ask if you're available. In this Industry, if you don't answer the phone, pager or cell, they usually go to the next person on their list. Where you fall on their list has everything to do with how you perform your duties. If they deem you as a good Closer (reliable, financially reasonable, on time, good attitude) they generally call you first. It doesn't hurt to smooze a little with the person calling so they get to like you and keep you working.
Signing Companies - are getting a fee for finding a Closer and they offer you a fee for doing the Closing. I, personally try to cut them out of the equation because they are the un-needed middleman.
Title Companies - Are who you would most likely be working with. They do very much the same thing as the Signing Company. They have you on their list and pick up the phone once they get a Closing date from the Lender. They pay more because you're not sharing the fee with a Signing Company. If a Lender is paying say $200 for a Closing, the Title Company is getting a percentage for working up the HUD and other Legals and they are also getting a small fee from the Lender in finding a Closer (You).
Lending Company - This is where you want to get your feet in the door. even though they still need the Title Company to do stuff like title searches and working the HUD, etc. If they already have your name as someone they've worked with and gets the job done the way they like, they'll call you and set up the Closing Info directly with you. with this, you will pocket the most money because they will pay up to $400 per Closing, which is still a deal considering what they pay an attorney to do the same thing.
That was funny Harley. So where can I find out if people are doing it in my area and what the INDIANA laws are. LOL
Agent 0659 said:
As for the Laws of Indiana or any other State for that matter, click on this link and pick the State you are in.
State Laws Regarding Notaries
As for whether Notaries are performing Closing in Indiana, I believe you don't have a problem but you can simply call any Lender in your area and ask if they use Notaries for their Closings. Don't call an Attorney because you are in direct competition to them and they might lie to you.
Agent 0659 said:
Do a Closing and sell a policy at the same time .. doesn't get better. Since they are unrelated businesses, you would not have any problems.
Only if you were a Mortgage Broker would that
cause a rif. Sounds like a plan my friend. Let me know how it's going. There are many things you'll be asking once you get started and you'll have a place to ask unlike when I got started because you'll find other Notaries DO NOT share this information.
