In the old days, Notaries did a lot of Refinance signings. Then after the financial crisis of 2008, there were many changes in the Notary world. There was less work at first, and then new types of work sprouted up in the ashes of the lending crash. The new types of work for Notaries included:
Types of financial products
Purchases, Sales, Construction Loans, Annuities, Structured Settlements, Loan Modifications, Debt Consolidations, Reverse Mortgages, and also Applications. Additionally, there have been more VA, FHA, Jumbo, Conventional, Non-Conventional and other types of financial products.
Ignorance can cost you
The problem is that not all Notaries are familiar with all of these financial products, and ignorance can really cost you. The first problem with inexperience is that you might not know how to price particular Notary jobs. If you are doing signings for the elderly, that can take a lot longer. Reverse Mortgages are normally for older folks and it can take up to two or three hours to get in and out. FHA’s involve much longer packages than good old fashioned Refinances. Then there are loan products that I never saw such as Annuities, Structured Settlements, etc.
Loan Modifications
Loan Modifications were a source of legal concern as many of these packages involved suspected fraud. Many states required Attorneys to be present at the signing of Modifications as well. Perhaps the borrowers were getting scammed, but many Notaires were paid on time by Modification companies.
Construction Loans
I remember signing a few construction loans back in the day. There were more packages, but the signer was a saavy business person who had signed these types of packages many times before. He signed so fast I couldn’t believe it. We were done in twenty minutes! Then, there was a signing for a literary type which was a deconstruction loan — just kidding. In Vegas they have demolition loans — anyone seen one of those?
Applications
I cannot comment on whether a Notary can legally assist with applications. That is up to you to research, but many Notaries get large amounts of work in this department and it is good business sense to know how to get this type of package signed!
Your Notes Section
At 123notary, we recommend that you impress the world by telling them not only how many signings you have done, but what types of signings. The longer your list of types of financial products you know how to handle is, the more you will get paid.
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In a perfect world the signing company would let you know what kind of loan you are being asked to complete, but, that never happens. I think they are just looking for the lowest price they can find someone to do it for.
Comment by Terry Heschke — March 24, 2016 @ 10:37 pm
123Notary ought to point their readers in the correct direction about applications. According to the SAFE Act, federal law, it states you must be a direct employee of the lender to accept information related to an application.
Comment by John Axt — May 7, 2016 @ 11:24 am
The application signings I do, I do not take any info, that is already filled out and they just sign docs as with a closing. I have had a reverse app be 163 pages and less that 70. Just depends on the company. you do have to collect copies of there income proof, identity, insurance, etc. , but the client has been instructed to have them ready. Biggest drawback is most don’t want to pay very much. First one offered 70 for application, had no idea what I was getting into. 163 pages, client unprepared with his docs, it was 2.5 hours long. Ask questions before you accept. I thought “application how long can that take?” Ugh
Comment by Karen D — May 8, 2016 @ 2:14 am
What is the difference between getting signatures on an application already filled out for a reverse, or a filled in application that we get signed during a closing?
Comment by Sharon H — May 8, 2016 @ 12:23 pm
All one does on an application is make sure all the documents are signed and sometimes collect the requested documents. How could this be illegal.
Comment by Jet — May 8, 2016 @ 6:16 pm