Twisted Here and There

I'm sure all of us can relate to this feeling of being pulled in multiple directions at once. That is how Friday was for me. I had a huge signing/closing on Thursday evening (more than 300 total pages to print, check for errors, make note of where and how the signer should sign, etc. After the signing I had to scan and send back all of those pages to the escrow company before FedExing the originals. I thought everything had gone well. The signer was a sweet single mother who was buying her first home ever. It was also a loan assumption with an add-loan in order to cover the full cost of the house. Anyway, I went to bed feeling pretty good about everything and planning my Friday to get ready for my older son's annual tax week-end visit. While I was eating breakfast I got an email from the Closing Specialist saying that she had found multiple missing signatures and initials. Without finishing my breakfast I contacted the signer and told her what had happened and could I meet her at work to get the needed signatures. Sure. At this point I am dealing with the Closing Specialist to see what pages, what signatures or initials, etc, etc. She sent scans of my scans which were attached all over the place on her email to me. Some of the missing signatures were from witnesses that neither the signer nor I had been told were needed, and usually they aren't if the deed is signed and notarized by me, the notary. Then there were places that she said should have been signed on several of the bottoms of the copies of the signer's income tax records. That instruction had not been included in my instructions either. Suffice it to say this did not start my day off well. Off I went to meet my signer at noon to get what I believed was needed signed. I came home, scanned back the pages that had missing signatures and waited for thirty minutes to see if anything else was missing. Did not hear anything back. So off I went with the "completed," I thought, documents to drop them for FedEx pick up. Several hours after my return home, I get another email from the Closing Specialist. She had found other missing signatures! At this point I am trying to make bread and prepare for my son's arrival. I offered to contact the signer again and take her fresh copies of the missing signature pages. What did the Specialist want me to do? At this point I am ready to plan for a take out dinner, tell my son if I am not here when he arrives, to let himself in, and not sure how the rest of my evening will go with having to get newly signed docs back. After some time the Specialist gets back to me and says "Don't worry. We are going to scan and send over to her for signature. That is the easiest route this late in the day. Thank you for your assistance and willingness to correct!" It really bothers me to not get all of these things done correctly. But in my defense I have to say that more than half of the missing signatures were missing because of faulty directions sent to both me and my signer. In fact, my signer had been told she only needed one ID to complete the signing when two are always required. Thankfully, she did have her SS card with her last night, or everything would have come to a halt right then and there. I also learned from the signer that the closing had been rescheduled several times before last evening because the closing people did not have all the documents in place. This new occupation of mine is proving to be very interesting as well as frustrating. I know I am pretty good at following directions and trying to cover all the details. But the escrow, closing, and title people often seem to be less than organized, which makes life difficult for us signing agents. So, yesterday at nearly 5:00 PM I was finally able to focus on getting the bread made, dinner preparations started, cleaning the guest bathroom, etc. I am still feeling like I was yanked around all day. Hopefully, my tax preparation will go smoothly. And, hopefully, the sun is going to shine!