Get on or Get Left Behind

Recently, I attended an e-Closing conference organized by the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office. I had the distinct honor of being placed on a panel of four for the attorney lead breakout session.  There were many Real Estate collaborators in attendance: attorneys, title companies, lenders, representatives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Banks, MERS, document solution providers, e-recording providers, realtors and NC Registers of Deeds.

While a lot of acronyms and catchphrases were thrown around (RON, iPEN, SMART — just to relay a few), what impacted me the most was the quote, “The e-Closing train is coming, get on or get left behind.”

I want to make it clear to my lender colleagues: Like many of my attorney colleagues, we have been aboard the e-Closing train waiting for it to really start moving.  You - the lenders - are the conductors.  I have spoken on multiple occasions about e-Closings with my peers, and many have done hybrid e-Closings where some of the documents are signed electronically and some are printed, signed, and notarized.  Wheels are turning, and we are ready to really get the train moving.    

Recently, I have found the joy of audiobooks, and I listen to them frequently when I drive.  I just finished a great novel by Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain. I enjoyed it so much I downloaded another of his novels. While I was driving home from the conference, I was listening to A Sudden Light, when a character from the novel says, “Sometimes I wonder why that Frisbee is getting bigger, and then it hits me!"  I thought how fitting that quote was in relation to the conference. I don’t want to get left behind or hit by a Frisbee. I want to play!

I plan to impart this token of wisdom on my collaborators, my colleagues, my brethren when the opportunity comes up.  “Don’t just stand there. Catch the Frisbee, or it will hit you!”