Resources > Glossary > Signing Agent

Glossary of Notary Public, Mortgage, Signing Agent, and Loan Signing Terms.

0-9  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  [S]  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  
Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Signing Agent

Phonetics: sign·ing a·gent

Function: noun

Before the 1990's, Signing Agents were virtually unknown. Borrowers were expected to travel to the office of a lender, escrow agent or title firm to complete a loan. However, during the past decade, increasing competition in the lending market, a massive volume of refinancing and home-equity loans and demand for faster, more customer-friendly services changed how loan transactions are conducted. Lenders now strive to make transactions as simple as possible and reduce a borrower's travel time during the work week. Therefore, the Mobile Notary came into existence. Another motivating factor for the lenders is that the Notary can eliminate the necessity for the borrower to take up the lender's time during the signing, hence freeing up the lender's schedule for focusing more on creating more loans. A Signing Agent can point out which page certain pieces of information are on. However, the Signing Agent or "Signer" can not explain the terms of the loan or explain documents since that could be considered giving legal advice which is not legal unless you are an attorney of law. A Signing Agent is not a real agent as they are almost always an independent contractor who is self-employed. It is prudent to inform the borrowers that you work for yourself and have no involvement with the lender outside of assisting signing the documents.