(Originally published in the February 2016 issue of The National Notary magazine.)
For more than a year, lenders and title companies have been scrambling to implement the new Closing Disclosure, mandated by the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule, or TRID. After several months, here’s what Signing Agents have to say about whether the rule has hurt or helped their work.
The Bright Spots
Many Signing Agents said the new Closing Disclosure rule has made the loan-signing process smoother. Richard Acker, a Signing Agent in Denver, Colorado, said that providing borrowers with loan information well in advance of the signing appointment has had a positive effect on his work, with assignments being completed faster and more efficiently.
TRID requires lenders to get the Closing Disclosure to the borrower at least three days before the signing, and that has helped tremendously, Acker said. Now that borrowers have more time to review loan information, there are fewer delays during actual signings. Because they have more time to review their loan ahead of a closing, they also tend to be less stressed during the process, which also helps with signing assignments.
The Frustrations
However, the rollout of the new Closing Disclosure rule and forms hasn’t gone smoothly for everyone. John Axt, a Signing Agent from Melbourne, Florida, and the owner of the East Coast Signings signing agency, reported he’s had several signings canceled by lenders or title companies due to issues getting documents to borrowers by the new deadline. “I had one signing which had been scheduled for over a week,” Axt said. “As we got to within an hour of the signing time and no documents had arrived, I contacted the borrower to see if I could reschedule for later in the day.”
The borrower told Axt that the lender had canceled the signing two days earlier because the required closing forms could not be delivered three days before the signing. “The lender never informed the title company about the change in plans either,” he said.
Axt said these last-minute cancellations are frustrating because they disrupt his schedule and prevent him from taking other assignments, which affects his ability to earn income.
The Future
Another challenge NSAs faced immediately following the rollout was that many closings were still using older-format documents because the applications were submitted prior to the TRID rule taking effect in October. This meant a confusing process for many signing professionals because some signings used the new forms while others still included older closing documentation.
Acker estimated that around 20 percent of the closings he’s dealt with since October 2015 included forms using the old format. However, he expects that number to drop significantly as time passes.
That will largely depend on how quickly the lenders can fully implement TRID. Moody’s Investor Service in December reported that as many as 90 percent of the loans originated under TRID were out of compliance with the rule. While many of the violations were technical, the fact that there were so many is “significant,” the report noted. “The number of technical violations should decline over the next several months as lenders adjust their loan origination systems to comply with the rule’s nuances,” the report noted.
Rochester, New York, NSA Marcy Tiberio, who owns a national signing service, also sees things getting much better for Signing Agents. Because of the three-day rule, loan packages should be prepared well in advance of signing appointments and sent to NSAs.
“How many more signings can you complete in a day if you get all your packages the day before?” Tiberio said. “Think of how much better prepared you would be.”
Even though the TRID rule is going through its growing pains, Tiberio said there is light at the end of the tunnel. “We just have to wait a tiny bit longer.”
David Thun is an Associate Editor at the National Notary Association.