A Little Housekeeping

There are several articles I've meant to post over the last few weeks.  They're late, but they're still relevant:

Bank of America is eliminating 30,000 jobs, the largest single cut by a U.S. company this year.  The cuts equal about 10% of their workforce. 


Our U.S. Government (Fannie, Freddie, & FHA) is currently sitting on 248,000 foreclosed homes, equal to almost a third of all repossessed homes.  And they have no idea what to do with them. 


Speaking of our U.S. Government, regulators for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are planning to sue more than a dozen banks for misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities created and sold during the height of the housing bubble.  Those banks include Chase and Bank of America among others.  If you're keeping score, yes, these are the same banks that received billions of dollars from Uncle Sam.

And starting October 1st, FHA will require mortgage servicers to place certain borrowers into trial modifications before collecting a fee for the loan modification. The trial modification will be required for borrowers who miss one mortgage payment twice in the last year, fell 90-days delinquent in the past three years, defaulted within 90 days of the last foreclosure prevention workout, or spend more than 80% of their income on debt repayments.

Short Sale & Foreclosure Prevention Seminar

The city of Southfield will sponsor a Short Sale and Foreclosure Prevention Seminar from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, in the Southfield Public Library meeting room, 26300 Evergreen Road...continued

Explaining Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

From The Detroit Free Press:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are publicly traded companies that guarantee the majority of new mortgages in the U.S.  Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.) were taken over by the government in 2008 after billions of dollars in losses and years of mismanagement at a cost to taxpayers of $141 billion.
Fannie and Freddie operate in the U.S. secondary mortgage market. They don't sell mortgages directly to homeowners; they buy mortgages from banks and other lenders, which can use the money to issue new home mortgages.

Continued...

Best Places To Live In America

Money Magazine's yearly list of the top 100 places to live in America is out.  My hometown of Plymouth, Michigan has placed in the top 50 year after year.  This year?  Not one single Michigan city made the top 100.  Another sign of the beating Michigan has taken in recent years. 

Satellite View Of Homes in Foreclosure

Fascinating and Frightening (Thanks to Sue W. for posting this on Notary Rotary).

Notary Bond Requirements

Thank You To 123 Notary

Thank you to Jeremy and 123 Notary for mentioning my blog on their forum. A little love is always appreciated.  And they think I'm cool (which I totally am).  No, really I am.  123 Notary is listed on my resource page under Notary Signing Agent Forums as well as Mobile Notary Public Locator Services (I love the zip code search right on the front page), and I consider my 123 listing as an absolutely essential part of my online presence.  If you want to be found, you've got to be on 123.   

123's notary blog can be found here.

Online Notarizations Take Another Hit

The State of New Jersey just released a statement regarding the practice of notarizing signatures online via a webcam.  Though many states (not Michigan) have issued statements prohibiting the use of webcams as a means of identifying a signer and notarizing a signature, the New Jersey statement is significant since the one company that claims to offer this service, Notary Now, is based in New Jersey.  Due to concerns over security and fraud issues, the notary community has been singularly united against the use of webcams for the purpose of notarizations.

The statement reads as follows:

The Division of Revenue requested legal guidance concerning the practice of online notarization services utilizing a webcam or other video in lieu of a personal appearance in front of a valid New Jersey Notary. It has been determined that New Jersey’s statutes do not allow for this type of notarization.



 

Prices Up, Sales Down

New home sales fall as home values begin to rise. 

A Devestating Day For All Of Us

Late yesterday evening the notary community lost one of its finest members.  Paul Williamson of PAW Notary Services in Florida passed away.  The news comes as a shock to so many of us.  Paul was a leader in the industry and an absolute gentleman.  He was as knowledgeable as anyone in the industry and was always willing and eager to offer his assistance to those who needed it.  As with so many others, I find it hard to express the sadness and devastation I feel over this immense loss.  Paul will be greatly missed.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Today I did a purchase signing for an out of state property with a title company that I've never dealt with before.  In their package is an I.D. form to fill out the borrower's information.  Under that, the title company wants me to notarize the form.  There is no place for the borrower to sign and the notary wording is improper as well.  So of course, since the borrower isn't signing it it shouldn't be notarized.  We notarize SIGNATURES, not DOCUMENTS.  So without the borrower signing anything, you can't notarize it.

But the best part of this form is that underneath the place where they want me to improperly notarize a document, in big bold letters, it states: IMPROPERLY NOTARIZING A DOCUMENT IS A VIOLATION OF STATE LAW.  ANY OCCURRENCE WILL BE REPORTED TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES.  Oh the irony!  I'm not sure whether to laugh or drop my head in embarrassment. 

Lenders Continue Practice Of Robo-Signings

Anyone surprised?  Anyone?

You Really Should Refinance

The average 15 year rate is at a 2011 low (3.65%) while the 30 year rate average dropped to 4.51%.  What could you possibly be waiting for?  Other than for your credit score to improve...or for your house value to come back up...or for this MERS thing to be resolved...or for you to find employment again...

Where To Buy Paper

It's always a challenge trying to find the best bargain on bulk paper.  Right now Office Depot and Reliable Office Supplies are the best best prices I can find.  They seem to have specials almost every week.  Any other suggestions are welcome. 

Your Online Reputation

From the Kudzu Business Center: 10 tactics that could save your online business reputation:

1. Know your achilles heel
2. Assume everything will make it’s way to the web
3. Create a great online impression; dress to impress!
4. Choose your blog voice carefully
5. Hangout at the right social network
6. Send blogger’s love letters, not PR pitches
7. Build your Google reputation now, not later
8. Monitor your online reputation as often as your email
9. Ostriches are not great role-models
10. Three words to remember(sincerity, transparency, and consistency)

Are We There yet?

Have we REALLY hit the bottom of home prices?  Are we SURE this time?  HUD secretary Shaun Donovan says yes. 

OK Kids, Let's Review

The absolute essence of a notarization includes identifying the signer and verifying their signature.  So if you're at an attorney's office signing an important document (like I was this week) and no one asks for your I.D. and the person who's notarizing your signature is no where in the room, THAT'S ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!  Which is why I asked their notary to come out from her back cubicle, handed her my I.D., asked her to copy it for their file, and made her witness my signature.  And I might have given her a gentle lecture as well.

Dear Title Companies...

If you're going to require the ENTIRE loan package, all 110 pages, faxed back after the closing, please take the time to mention this to your friendly neighborhood closer when you schedule the appointment with them.  Otherwise, we may no longer be so friendly.  Thank you.   

Drastic Change In Domain Names Coming

Internet domain names are about to get crazy.  Starting January 12th, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will begin accepting applications for domains with new suffixes.  The new suffixes will be limited only by your imagination.  You can bank on lenders creating their own domains like .chase, .wellsfargo, .citibank, etc., but before you get any ideas about registering .notary, .closer, .signingagent, or any other such name, consider the cost.  The application fee for a new domain is $185,000.  

Currently, there are only 22 generic top level domain names (such as .com, .net, .org) and approximately 250 country level names (.us, .uk, etc.).

Listing Your Notary Service on Craigslist

I recently added a listing for my notary signing service on a free site called Thumbtack.  One of the things that Thumbtack offers is that they'll post your listing on Craigslist with a few clicks of your mouse, then send you a reminder every six weeks or so to re-post.

Here's what I've found: I haven't gotten any leads or any business from Craigslist for mortgage closings, but I've gotten several jobs and inquiries for general notary work.  The down side: despite the fact that I specifically state that I do NOT wish to be solicited by other businesses, I receive several emails a week to visit this site, or join this service, or list your business here.  You know the ones.  Emails that try to sound like they're from someone that knows you, "Hey friend, you should check this out!" and written by someone who's first language is clearly not English, "It is of this offer I am to share with you something important."  Ugh.

So if you want more general notary work, Craigslist may work for you.  If you don't mind the spam.  Me?  I'm going to pass from now on.