Lenders ...Do you Know WHO your Clients Are ? We Do !

Good evening Sally and David - I have heard so many stories of very sloppy lenders.  No surprise here.

Sally and David this is the first I have heard of this being a requirement.  It is not unusual for example a buyer to not use a middle initial on a sales contract, but to have a middle initial on my application.  Or a buyer to use an initial for their first name and spell out their middle name on the sales contract, but for me to have their first name spelled out and an initial for their middle name.  Another variation would be a buyer does not like their first name so they never use it, so on the sales contract they sign it with the middle and last name, but on my application I use their first name.  Yet another would be the buyer is a Junior or Senior, but does not use Jr. or Sr when the sign their name.

Why the difference.  It is because when I pull their credit report I want to use the name that is on their Social Security card so I can pull credit as accurately as posible, and the credit report is pulled from the name on the application.  Also that is the way I have them sign it.

However, we have never asked a Realtor to amend the sales contract to match the name on the application as long as we can determine that it is the same person.  Also I always inform the buyer/borrower that if they prefer to have their name on the Closing Document be the name they are accustom to signing to just let our Closing Department and the Closing Attorney know that and the Closing Document will have the name the prefer to sign as.

Never have I asked the Realtor to produce an amendment with a change of name, so like you I don't understand why the lender or Title Company would be requesting you to do this.

Sally and David here in California something like this would not come from anyone but the Escrow Officer who tries to match up the Title Co's report so it is imperative the that the seller's names and the property address are matching Title.... but no one seems to care about the buyers... so I am with our friend George Souto  on this one, Endre

Morning Sally.

Hasn't happened to me "yet".  While some of our title companies make errors from time to time, they have never asked us to change our contract

I have found at times that even when I ask my buyers or sellers for the name that they prefer, the title company still has to do an amendment, but they take care of it at signing and it really never affects me at all.

Thankfully I have not run across this with my business.  But, you never know, there's always a first time.

Hi Sally K. & David L. Hanson - For some reason, I feel the lending company won't be contacting you again on something like this!

Good morning Sally K. & David L. Hanson ,

I have had this happen. Most lenders tell me to have their first, middle initial and last name on the contract. I always try and do this but a few times especially with long names in the Indian culture they shorten their names and this can be a problem for the lender who wants their full name to match their social security. Both the lender and the title company want either an Amendment or the name changed on the contract so the title commitment and deed match the contract. With Docusign it takes 2 minutes so never gave it a thought and just tried to facilitate the transaction.

Thanks for sharing this story.

I like the response by George Souto. 

Hi there, I also appreciate George Souto 's comment. We are fortunate to work with a couple of good lenders. However, as you know, we're not always in control of the situation. A sloppy lender creates a lot of unnecessary busy work - not to mention stress. Always fearful they won't get it closed due to some mistep. D