In order to refinance your home, after the application process which probably took place via phone and online, your lender will notify you when it’s time to close. It is up to you to choose a time and location for the closing. Once that happens, a Notary Public will contact you to verify the time and location. The Notary Public will probably also give you a heads up that you will need a photo ID and possibly a second form of identification, see California Acceptable Form of ID. The secondary form does not have to have a photo but must contain your name, i.e. Social Security Card, voter registration card, or utility bill.
On the appointment day, when the Notary Public shows up, they will introduce themselves and because of Covid-19, will be wearing a mask. I don’t require the signers to wear one, however, suggest that you have enough room for us to spread out. I have done signings outside on a patio table and at a table in the signer’s garage. We are very accommodating to sign wherever you feel most comfortable. I also carry clipboards if you don’t have a large table.
Sometimes a copy of your photo ID will be required to return with your closing package. I usually ask on our confirmation call for you to provide this, but state that I can upload it from my cellphone if you do not have the option of making a copy. The ID will not be saved to my phone but to the vendor’s portal, however, if you’re more comfortable it’s a good idea to just have a copy of each signer’s ID.
Once we have established a good location to sign. I take out my notary journal and stamp. I will also offer each signer a sanitized pen. I have both black and blue, however, most Title companies request we use blue. So if you prefer to use your own pen, have both available. I will have 2 exact copies of the package. One for you and one to sign. I keep the packages in a manila folder and write what we call the cheat sheet on it. It will have your name as it appears on the documents, the initials you should use, and the date of the signing. From the package that we will be signing, I will pull the ALTA Settlement Statement and Closing Disclosure for you to review first while I fill in my journal with your ID information. Once you have verified all of the numbers are what you were expecting, the document can be signed and if there is a date field, it should be dated. If there are any questions about the loan, we can contact your lender for an explanation. The Notary Public will only be able to show you where something is on the document or what a specific document is, but cannot answer your why or how questions about the loan.
The next most important documents that I present are the Note, Deed of Trust, and the Notice of Right to Cancel. The Note, of course, is your promise to pay the loan. It will contain the amount of the loan, the interest rate, the date and amount of the first and last payments, the right to prepay, loan charges, and other obligations of the note. You should verify all amounts are as stated in the previous two documents and then sign without a date. The Deed of Trust is the security instrument that is recorded in the real estate public records. It puts the property in your name and lists the lender as the first lien holder. Sometimes these pages will need initials at the bottom of each page and your signature on the last page, without a date. And the final critical document is the Notice of Right to Cancel. For refinances of your primary residence, you will have 3 business days to cancel the loan. This does not include Sundays or holidays. If the dates are incorrect, the Notary Public will ask you to make the corrections on each one and initial it. There will be several of these exact pages that you will need to sign and date. You will only sign the bottom acknowledging your receipt of the documents, not where it says you wish to cancel. I will leave half of the pages with you and send the others back with your other signed documents.
Now the rest of the documents are preliminary documents that require your signature before the loan can be funded. This is where I will explain that the package contains some affidavits that require an oath. The Notary Public should administer an oath for these forms because you must swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the contents of the document are true to the best of your belief if you sign them.
Some of those preliminary documents are compliance agreement, correction agreement, and/or Errors and Omissions Agreement. These are similar and there may be multiple copies, but they all state that you will comply and allow clerical errors to be corrected. These corrections will not change the terms of your loan or any of the amounts. There will also be documents about your escrow account or your choice to waive it, hazard insurance requirements, request for your tax return to verify your income, request for your social security number to verify your identity, and a W-9 to report your mortgage interest to the IRS so that you can claim this on your taxes.
There is a Signature/Name Affidavit, that will list all of your aliases that you must confirm and acknowledge that you have been known as the names listed. The loan application is already filled in but will require your wet signatures and initials if it is a joint loan. There may be duplicates of similar or the same documents, but they will all need to be signed. This is a general idea of some to the other documents, depending on the Title/Escrow/Lender, they may vary.
There will be a Disbursement of Proceeds form for any funds that are due to you. Usually, I will have the signer fill this out or any other forms that require completion at the end while I’m rechecking the package for any missed signatures or initials. If funds are owed normally, checks will be accepted if the amount is under $1000. Cashier’s check or a wire is required for amounts over $1000.
At the end of the closing the Notary Public will have you sign their journal and get your initials for the oath (if applicable), and your right thumbprint. Then the notary will mail the package to the Title company via UPS or FedEx for next-day delivery.