At a 9:00 am HELOC, the borrower proudly uncapped a silver-glitter gel pen, and we turned it into a quick lesson on permanent, reproducible ink while I slid a plain black ballpoint across the table and explained why county recorders hate sparkle. What’s your funniest teachable oops, and what simple fix did you add to your kit afterward?
the table and explained why county recorders hate sparkle. What’s your funniest teachable oops, Same, and ugh — the 9:00 am HELOC is when a borrower whipped out a Pilot Frixion erasable; now I do a 10-second pen check and carry two plain black ballpoints clipped to the folder so there’s zero debate. Minor caveat: blue flies in some counties, but I default to black unless the docs insist — anyone else stick a tiny no gel/no erasable sticker on their folder?
Short answer from my side: I’m seeing the same pattern — one concrete thing that helped was writing down the exact handoff and timebox it to 15–20 min. Does that match what you’re running into?
Quick example: after a 9:00 am HELOC where the borrower reached for a silver‑glitter gel pen, I started taping a $0.50 black Bic to each folder and hand it over first with a 5‑second ‘permanent, reproducible ink’ reminder — keeps their fancy pens holstered. Small caveat: I carry one blue Uni‑ball 207 for the rare lender who insists on blue. Anyone else pre‑clip pens to stop the sparkle at the door?
I added a one-liner in my confirmation: I’ll provide a black ballpoint; please avoid gel/erasable, and the glitter attempts pretty much vanished. @clara_r89 I like the 207 too, but I default to oil-based ballpoint since our recorder has bounced pigment gels — do you note pen type in your confirmations?