Subprimes -- And The Know-Nothing "Signing Agent"

F. Bruce Abel
copyright 2007



Remember when attorneys handled closings, and did such things as actually explain what the documents meant?



Now there's a new category of employment -- Know-Nothing Notary Signing Agents who do the subtle dirty-work of the lender.



They go to the homes of the borrower ostensibly to verify John Smith is John Smith. Ah, but of course there's much more! And all for the Notary Fee of $125.



Hilarious Example by Attorney Covering for His Daughter Who Took the Notary Signing Agent Course But Was Out of the Country:



August 6, 2007: Telephone call 3:30 pm from Countrywide: "Can you be in Mxxx (11 miles away) in an hour to close a mortgage?"



[negotiation of fee of $125: see below]



$21,000 15-year loan. (To consolidate his cars on the borrowing so he can deduct the interest on the mortgage). Borrower makes $60,000 a year. Wife makes -- guessing -- $20,000. Own a new 2600 sq ft home in Mxxx. (1300 plus just finished out the basement for a second 1300). All houses on very long and winding street backing up to nice woods. All the same.
The borrower, Jxxx (or Jxxxx) xxxxxx, a young (maybe 40) IT guy with Txxxxxxxx, was very smart and helped me through the process because he had taken his 1st mortgage through Countrywide and had gone through the drill. He had a Korean wife, having met her in the Army.



$1,000 closing fee deducted by Countrywide! Net to client.


Fears (of the first-time "Notary Signing Agent") along the way to Mxxxx and how they were handled:


The fear that the forms would not be fully filled out.


Borrower: "I signed a lot of empty forms before."


Lesson: Just have them sign where indicated, whether it makes sense or not. You don't -- or do you? -- have to sit and wait while they understand what they are signing before filling things out. You don't -- or do you? -- yourself have to understand the myriad of papers being signed.



[Upon reflection, all of the above is pretty easy after one does the first closing.]



However, where they have to identify themselves, and the notary has to verify that, that has to be done right.


Borrower: "When more is needed after the closing they call the borrower and he then faxes the relevant page."

The "first" closing:
So I get to the borrower's house in Mxxxx.



Borrower: "where are the papers?"



Call to "home office." "Where are the papers?"



"Oh, you didn't download them?"


Home office tries to put the blame (for no papers) on the notary.



Borrower: "same thing happened before. Exactly." "Earlier Today!"



"And at the First Mortgage Closing Last November too."



"The last notary showed up and said 'Where are the papers?'"


Me: THEY E-MAIL ALL PAPERS TO THE NOTARY. 110 pages! So Countrywide, not even having the overhead of an Ohio office, doesn't even pay for the paper or printing ink!



Called my home/office. Mxx downloaded the 110 pages on my printer.



The wife worked as a waitress at Bxxxxxxhanas near Gxxxxxxx and so we had the closing at xxx xxxxxxx at 9:30 p.m. (They had suggested TGIF)


No copies go to the borrower -- I'm not paying for them! -- even the form which (on reflection) they should keep as it is the one where they can rescind within 3 days. Copies are sent to the borrower from the lender later.


Back to the early part of the story: So at the borrowers, with no papers, I call the lender on the cell phone. You know my temper. An argument ensued. The woman at the other end, "counseling" me: "Now we don't air our dirty linen in front of the client!"

(On Wall Street they are talking this week about when the borrower cannot pay he doesn't have anyone to call to renogotiate. His paper may be held by a Japanese bank.)


I probably spent 3 hours in all. But I enjoyed it! Met new people.
But, oh how the "law" or "non-law" has changed. Gone are the days of the lawyer's $500-1000 fee for "getting everything right because it is 'real estate.'"

Oh and I almost killed myself making a U-turn on Butler-Hamilton Road during rush hour when I missed my turn getting to the strange location.

Titles all across the country must be screwed up!


I had negotiated the $125 this way.

"Genny is not here. I'm a lawyer. All lawyers in Ohio are Notaries. I'll do it."
"We pay $90."
"I'll do it for $100 plus mileage."
"How much then?"
"$125."
phony pause (to get "permission")
"OK."

-----Original Message-----
From: Genevieve
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 10:16 PM
To: Eunice Abel
Subject: Re: this notary business

The notary signing agent book is in my room if dad wants to brush up on it.
Good for him for giving it a go: it's more than I ever did!