When The Name on the Doc doesn't match the name on the ID

ID problems

More closings get pushed over a driver's license than over any other single problem I see. Almost every one of them was fixable two days earlier.

The usual suspects, roughly in the order I run into them:

Expired license. Kentucky renewals lag, people don't notice, and a license that expired three weeks ago is still expired.

The name doesn't match. Docs say Robert J. Whitfield. The ID says Bob Whitfield. Missing middle initial, dropped hyphen, suffix left off the vesting. Tiny on paper. Fatal at the table.

Recently married or divorced. The name changed in one place and not the other, and it goes both directions.

Then there's my personal favorite: the nickname that made it onto the deed. Chip is on the deed. Nothing in Chip's wallet says Chip.

The fix takes about ninety seconds: one line in the confirmation email asking the signer to text a photo of the front of the ID they plan to bring, and one person comparing that name to the docs before the appointment is ever set.

I run a short pre-signing check for exactly this reason. Catching it Tuesday is a text message. Catching it Thursday at 5:30 is a funding date you get to explain.

What's the strangest ID problem you've hit at the table? I collect these.

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