What to Expect at a Loan Signing (Borrower Guide)

Somebody is coming to your home with a stack of paper and you are not entirely sure who they are or what happens. Here is the whole appointment, start to finish, so nothing about it is a surprise.

The short version: it takes about an hour, you will sign a great deal, and the person at your table cannot answer questions about your loan terms.

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Who is at your table

A notary signing agent, hired by the title company, escrow office, lender or a signing service working for them. Not by you, and not by whoever sold you the loan.

Their job is to confirm you are who you say you are, present the documents, witness your signatures, notarize what needs notarizing, and get the package back on time and correct.

They are not a loan officer, an attorney or a financial adviser, and they have not read your file for content.

Before they arrive

Three things, and they are the entire difference between a smooth appointment and a wasted one.

Valid unexpired photo identification for every signer. Government issued, with a photograph, and unexpired. Expired identification cannot be accepted, however recently it lapsed, and it is the single most common reason a signing does not happen.

Everyone who needs to sign, present. If both spouses are on the loan, both are needed, at the same time. In New York a non borrowing spouse frequently has to sign certain documents too.

Your questions asked in advance. Read the Closing Disclosure your lender sent and raise anything you do not understand with the lender before the appointment. The person at your table genuinely cannot answer it.

Have a table, decent light, and two working pens. Put the dog somewhere else. Turn the television off.

What happens, in order

Introductions and identification. Your identification is examined and recorded, and the details on it should match how your name appears on the documents.

The documents are presented in a sensible order. On a refinance package the money documents usually come first: the note, the mortgage, and the disclosure showing your figures.

You sign, initial and date as directed. Some pages are notarized, which means a certificate is completed and a seal applied. The signing agent watches you sign each of those.

Everything is checked before they leave, page by page. This part is not padding. It is the reason a professional is doing it.

Then the package is scanned back the same day and shipped with tracking, and you keep a full copy.

Sign your name as it is printed

A small thing that causes real delays. Sign the way the document has your name typed, including a middle initial if it is there.

If your name is printed wrongly, say so rather than signing over it. And if your identification and your loan documents show meaningfully different versions of your name, mention it when the appointment is booked rather than at the table. A same person affidavit often solves it, and it is far easier to arrange in advance.

Questions you can and cannot get answered

You can ask: what is this document called, where do I sign, do I date this, is this the page you need notarized, how long will this take.

You cannot get answered: is this a good deal, why is my rate different from what I was quoted, what does this clause mean, should I sign this, what happens if I do not.

That is not the signing agent being unhelpful. In New York, explaining legal documents to you would be the unauthorized practice of law. The right response to any of those questions is to stop the signing and call your lender or your attorney, and a good signing agent will hand you the phone rather than guess.

You are allowed to stop

If the numbers do not match what you were told, if a document names somebody you do not recognize, or if you simply do not feel right about it, you may stop the appointment.

Nobody can require you to sign. A signing agent who pressures you is behaving improperly, and the appointment can be rescheduled once your questions are answered. That is a normal outcome, not a disaster.

After you sign

Keep your copy somewhere you can find it. On many refinances of a primary residence you have a three business day window in which you may cancel, and understanding that window matters. See how the right of rescission works.

If the signing agent notices a problem afterward, expect a call. Curing a page quickly is normal and is better than the alternative.

For a fuller tour of what is in the pile, see the documents in a refinance package.

How long it really takes

Plan for an hour and be pleasantly surprised. A straightforward refinance package with one signer who is prepared can run forty minutes. Two signers, a large package, or a lot of questions can push it past ninety.

The things that stretch an appointment are predictable: a signer arriving late, identification that has to be hunted for, questions that should have gone to the lender days earlier, and interruptions. The things that shorten it are having everyone at the table on time with identification out.

Notarized against merely signed

Only some pages in the package are notarized, and borrowers often assume it is all of them.

A notarized page carries a certificate and a seal, and the signing agent has to witness that signature personally. The rest you sign as an ordinary signature. That is why the agent may watch you closely on a handful of pages and not on others.

It also explains a rule that occasionally frustrates people: you cannot sign the notarized pages in advance to save time. If you have, they have to be signed again.

Signings that are not at your kitchen table

Plenty happen elsewhere and none of it is unusual. An office, a hospital room, a rehabilitation facility, a library, a cafe. What matters is a surface to write on, enough light, and enough privacy that you are not reading your account numbers aloud in a crowd.

If a signer is in a facility, mention it when booking. Visiting hours, staff access and whether the facility will provide a witness are all worth sorting in advance rather than at the door.

If something is wrong on the documents

Wrong middle name, wrong address, a figure that does not match what your lender told you. Say so immediately rather than signing and hoping.

Some corrections are small enough that the lender authorizes a fix at the table. Others require corrected documents. Neither is a catastrophe, and both are far cheaper than a signed package that has to be unwound.

What you should not do is let the signing agent decide. They cannot authorize changes to loan terms, and any correction has to come from the lender or the title company.

What to Expect at a Loan Signing