A remote closing is supposed to be a convenience to the borrower. But sometimes the convenience will have to be mixed with a bit of inconvenience.
One of the requirements of the notary signing agent is to properly identify the borrowers. And one of the requests made of the borrower is that they provide a photocopy of their ID.
In a closing I had last Friday, the borrower handed me the photocopy of his and his wife's ID. Nevertheless, I asked to see the original.
What?!
This meant that the borrower had to go outside, in the cold, and get his wife's driver license out of her car. Then he had to go upstairs to get his.
Was all of that really necessary?
I'm afraid so. As much as I would have liked to spare the borrowers the inconvenience of having to go through all of that, I had to. It's not enough to see a photocopy of their ID. I must see the original, and inspect it.
This wasn't the first time that this has happened. On another occasion I did a closing at a hospital. It was for a doctor. The borrower had the photocopy, but she left the original in her purse in her office. She had to go to an adjacent building and take the elevator up several floors.
Perhaps the misunderstanding is because some people have never appeared before a notary. Or they appeared before a notary and were not asked to present any form of identification. Or they showed a photocopy of it and it was accepted.
Unfortunately a photocopy of the ID won't do. Whenever a person appears before a notary, they must present the original.
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