I get paid enough to get something on the Value Menu
His name was Chester. He had been a Notary for years and he had seen it all. People liked hiring Chester, because he was on time, knowledgeable, and had quite a sense of humor. Unfortunately, a good sense of humor can be like a double edged sword. Not everyone will like your jokes. Chester was good at introducing the documents, and answering all questions.
CHESTER: Hi, my name is Chester. I’m going to be your Notary Signing Agent today. I am here to supervise the signing of these documents. If you have general questions about the documents, or what information is in which document, I am happy to answer. However, if you have specific questions pertaining to your loan, I will most likely refer those questions to your Lender.
ELLEN: Got it.
(ring-ring)
ELLEN: Hello? You want to speak to the man of the house? You must have the wrong number!
CHESTER: Let’s open the package here. Okay, this is the Deed of Trust. This document includes a property address, the amount of the loan, and ties your property as collateral for the loan. Additionally, it states the expiration date of the loan in 2045.
ELLEN: Right after the war of 2045. How convenient. I heard the war was going to end in June, and my loan expires right in July! Perfect! We’ll have two things to celibrate.
CHESTER: I didn’t know a war was scheduled.
ELLEN: Oh, that’s the new thing. Instead of going at it right away, people are so busy these days that they don’t have time for wars, unless they are scheduled at least twenty years in advance. I even have an app for that. It’s called — schedule my war. It has a D-day add-on too! Pretty cool. Looking forward to it.
CHESTER: And I thought that I was usually the funny one at signings. Now, this document is The Note. It has your payment amounts, if there is a prepayment penalty it will discuss that, and it has your Rate, and the amount of the loan.
ELLEN: My rate? My rate is by the word. Yeah. I charge by the word when I write material. But, my manager says that I should charge by the laugh. I get one rate for my initial time telling the jokes and then residuals. We do that at clubs too. Instead of a $30 cover charge, we have a laughometer strapped to each person. We charge them based on how many times they laughed and how hard they laughed. One guy had to Mortgage his house to pay his bill the last time I was on stage. Oh! Only 4.5% Cool! I won’t have to Mortgage my house to pay that. Did I say that? Oh — I AM Mortgaging my house and as a result will have to pay that. Got it!
Chester’s signing with Ellen went well. She would have appreciated his jokes if she hadn’t kept him laughing with her own jokes. But, Chester’s next signing didn’t work as well. The problem happened when he got to the HUD.
SAM: And who did you say you worked for again? You’re a subcontractor, right?
CHESTER: I subcontract for H&B Lending, over $40 billion served (lended)
SAM: I’m loving it! Don’t I deserve a break today?
CHESTER: Give ME a break, that ad is 40 years old! And this next document is the HUD. The HUD itemizes all of the expenses related to your loan.
SAM: Let me read that. Hmmm. On this line it says that the Notary fee is $250. How much of that do you get?
CHESTER: Oh, enough to get something on the value menu at McDonalds.
SAM: Okay, that’s not funny. Get out of my house! You damn Notary!
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Point (5) The HUD Settlement Statement
This document is often faxed or emailed at the last minute as Lenders often do not have their act together and need to make last minute changes to documents. Without the HUD, the loan cannot close.
The Settlement Statement or HUD contains information about fees and payoffs. Here, you can check to see what the Notary fee is and compare that to what you are being paid. Do not discuss these numbers with the borrower because it is between them and the Lender, and they are both relying on you for confidentiality. If the borrower already paid an appraisal fee out of their pocket and they are being charged again, for example, have them talk it over with the Lender. Don’t try to answer whether or not they will be reimbursed for certain fees; just have them speak to the Lender. If the Lender is not available, let them know that they have several days to talk to the Lender while they have the right to rescission (the right to cancel). The above situation with appraisal fees happens frequently.
There are several other documents that are similar to the HUD such: as the “Estimated Closing Statement” and the “Good Faith Estimate”. These documents were often drafted earlier in the loan process and don’t always reflect final numbers.
Seasoned Notaries often know what piece of information is on each line of the HUD and have the structure of the document memorized.
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Point (6) The Occupancy Affidavit
There are different variations to this document; sometimes it is called ‘Occupancy Affidavit and Financial Status’. The purpose of this document is for the borrower to state that they live in the subject property (which means the house they are borrowing money on). In addition, it asks the borrower to state that they haven’t had any sudden financial changes — for example, unemployment or bankruptcy. Keep your eyes open; if you don’t check which variation of the Occupancy Affidavit you are dealing with, you might make a fool of yourself (a fool and his money are soon parted.) This document is usually notarized.
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Point (7) Grant & Quitclaim Deeds
There are four major reasons to have a Grant Deed.
(1) To transfer property in a sale of property
(2) To take someone’s name off of a deed so they won’t be liable for a loan when the other owners want to borrow money.
(3) To transfer the property to or from community property in a trust.
(4) To change someone’s name on the deed
The deed could transfer a property from “Jane F. Doe” to “Jane Doe”. This is very common for people with name variations because sometimes a loan can’t fund without the property being recorded as being owned by the owner with a particular name variation.
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Quitclaim Deeds
Quitclaim Deeds are often used to take a person’s name off title. Here is some more information:
A Quitclaim Deed is a legal document which transfers a property to the buyer or owner, whatever interests in the property are held by the maker of the deed. A Quitclaim Deed does not guarantee that those interests are valid. By accepting such a deed, you accept the risk that someone may later appear with a valid claim to your property. A Grant Deed on the other hand guarantees from grantor to grantee that the title is clear. An example of a circumstance where a Quitclaim may be used is where one spouse is disclaiming any interest in property that the other spouse owns. Of the different types of deeds, the Quitclaim has the least assurance that the grantee receiving it will actually get any rights. A Quitclaim deed does not release the party quitting claim to real property from their obligations in any mortgage or other lien secured against the pertaining property.
A Quitclaim Deed is a common, but not standard document in a loan document package. Sometimes, ownership has to be transferred or someone needs to be taken off a Deed before a loan can officially go through. Quitclaim Deeds are always notarized using an Acknowledged signature and the signer must always be positively identified by the notary public for security purposes. Some states also require the notary to take fingerprints in their notary journal for Quitclaim and other deeds affecting real property.
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