HarryTheSpider

Hi All

We're refinancing our US mortgage - the house is our only property & we live in it etc. We're doing it to get a better rate now we have reasonable credit history, and to get out from under the higher FHA PMI payments etc.

My wife is in the UK until after Xmas having had that mad dash after the 3am call you don't want - both parents quite poorly but mending OK, but she has her hands full right now.

The mortgage company (QuickenLoans) called this morning to set up the closing meeting & siigning etc. They've know for sometime that Her In Doors is in the UK for the next few months. They said this would be fine.

They now say that the wife has to travel to the US embassy to sign the papers there. This is really not possible for quite a while, in the circumstances - London is 200 miles away, and we all know what it takes to get something set up at the US Embassy - it's a busy place etc etc...

So, any words of wisdom/advice/alternatives ? We still need to refi with an FHA approved lender.

Cheers!

Harry

DMDA

I had to do this a few years ago. Unfortunately the bank in question would ONLY accept notarized paperwork from the Embassy. It cost me a day off work and $450. Depending on where you are and the air fares is it worth your wife flying over for a few days for a short visit and to sign?

lansbury

+1 Harry. When we purchased our house in the US we were in the UK when the paperwork was done. The mortgage bank (Wells Fargo) and the title company would only accept a notary public at the US Embassy. No amount of talking to them could persuade them a UK notary was just the same.

Not sure if this might help your case at the US end but the Citizen Services have this on their Embassy web page.

petitefrancaise

Docu-sign? We used that for our mortgage paperwork last year.
Your wife is sent an email with a link to the document and clicks where she would sign.

Otherwise, a notary public in the UK should do the trick.
The Notaries Society | Information & Find A Notary Public

HarryTheSpider

Thanks everybody - looks like a bummer!!!

It's $1500 and a 3 day round trip all in... not sure that she can leave her folks for that long...

So never mind about the 1961 Hague Convention then that is supposed to provide the legal framework for avoiding this sort of BS... (assuming I understand it's intent properly!)

MsElui

i second docusign. our realtor used that and we did everything electronically and quicken were okay with that

Pulaski

Call their bluff. Tell 'em British notarizations are legally acceptable in the US, and that you're going somewhere else. They make good money off of re-fi's and won't want to lose your business. The worst that could happen is that you start over with another lender.

RICH

Get her to give you (limited to the transaction) power of attorney. I don't see why a UK POA would not be acceptable, and allow you to sign the mortgage docs on her behalf.

LonelyCloud

As much as I hate agreeing with Pulaski Call their bluff, you'll probably find that you're only told this because that's what he/she/they have been told to say by the person before them who was told to say it by the person before them and so on and they have no idea what they are actually saying. 1961 Hague Convention? Is that like comic con?

petitefrancaise

+1
Either docu-sign or a Notary in the UK. Show them the website that I gave you where it says quite specifically what they do - which is exactly what they want from you.

thinbrit

You could try running some ads on Craigslist to see if any notaries are traveling to Blighty and can help you out whilst they are over there. Any idiot can become a notary, and this idiot did.... States have laws on where and what you can notarize, so you'd have to check that too.

Last time I checked, QuickenLoans didn't offer the best rates, by far. They were a few points above the deal we ended up signing. We used LenderFi.com to find us a deal. They found us a deal at 2.875% in 2012. I don't expect to be able to get a better deal than that, at least I hope not as the economy would be in a real hole. Might be worth a quick look at their rates.