[$20.00] I would like specific information from the state of
california on how mortgage documents can print and cannot be printed.
My intent is to prove that PDF cannot be used as a file format because
the free Acrobat cannot print to both letter and legal paper trays
[whereas the PCL file format CAN print to both letter and legal paper
trays].

---

Clarification of Question by jonnyboston-ga on 06 Oct 2003 16:41 PDT

[$20.00] I would like specific information from the state of 
california or other governing bodies on how mortgage documents can
print and cannot be printed [for instance, are converted file formats
such as PDF allowed or do the strictures state the only original
documents are allowed]?
My intent is to prove that PDF cannot be used as a file format because
the free Acrobat cannot print to both letter and legal paper trays 
[whereas the PCL file format CAN print to both letter and legal paper
trays] and squishing a legal-length document onto a letter-size page
is mediocrity that should not be acceptable.

Freddie Mac doesn't care about the printed output, as long as the
full, original text is present, subject to local recording
requirements. (See California's type size requirement.)


Uniform Mortgage Instruments
http://www.freddiemac.com/uniform/

"Freddie Mac's Single-Family Uniform Mortgage Instruments, as
referenced in Exhibit 4 of the Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide
(Guide), are now available to you electronically. You may reproduce
copies of the forms from the electronic version. In addition, you may
adjust the format of the forms (font, type size, page size and
margins) as appropriate to reduce the number of pages, so long as the
unaltered text is used and such adjustments meet all applicable
regulations and local recording requirements.

For all forms available on this site, we will no longer produce stocks
of printed versions. The forms posted on this site represent all of
the Single-Family Uniform Mortgage Instrument forms currently
acceptable on a standard basis by Freddie Mac."



California's only restriction on printed forms is to place a lower
limit on type font size, i.e., nothing smaller than 10 points. (No
'fine print', in other words.)


REGULATIONS OF THE REAL ESTATE COMMISSIONER
Article 16. Mortgage Loan Brokerage
http://www.dre.ca.gov/relaw_pdf/Regs.pdf


"(b) The type size used in reproducing the statement shown above shall
not be smaller than 10-point type. The notice to the borrower
contained in section II.A. of the statement shall be in capitalized
10-point bold typeface."


California Department of Real Estate:  Mortgage Lending Brokers Forms
http://www.dre.ca.gov/mlbforms.htm

"About Our Forms

*Q*. - What file format are the forms in?

*A*. - The Department's downloadable forms are in Portable Document
Format (PDF).  Some have been updated to allow you to fill them in,
then print them out, while others only allow you to print, then fill
them in manually.  To use our PDF forms, you will need one of the
following:

* *Adobe Reader*, version 6.0 or better, which allows you to fill and
print them *or*,

* *Adobe Acrobat Approval*, version 5.0 or better, which allows you to
fill, spell check, print, and save them *or*,

* *Adobe Acrobat*, version 5.0 or better, which allows you to fill,
print, and save them.

To obtain copies of the DRE forms listed as hard copy only, submit a
request to DRE via mail, fax, or phone."


Using Adobe Reader
http://www.dre.ca.gov/acrordr.htm



Scaling of forms is permissible.


Download Loan Application@ All California Mortgage
http://www.allcalifornia.com/download.htm

"The Adobe PDF </download/1003.pdf> version retains the standard
formatting of the 1003 form. However, viewing the PDF document will
require the use of a special viewer. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat
Reader, you may download it here - Get Adobe Acrobat
<http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/readstep.html>.

Please note: the Uniform Residential Loan Application Form 1003 is a
legal size document. Please print on legal size paper or shrink to
letter size."


SEARCH TERMS

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=California+mortgage+document


hlabadie-ga

thank you. so aside from reducing down to 10-point, there's no
stricture i can point to that sez the use of pdf is actually illegal
[even though the process of CREATING a pdf changes the original
document by re-writing the original postscript printfile].

Any Answer is likely to prove the contrary of your thesis, for a
number of reasons.

One, Freddie Mac distributes its Uniform Documents in Portable
Document Format.
Two, California distributes its forms as .pdf.
Three, there is no inherent limitation on the document size to which
Acrobat Redaer can print.
Four, if legal size paper is not available, the document can be scaled
to fit on a letter size page, which is acceptable.

The inability to print to a legal size paper is likely due to a
failure to properly set up the printer's driver. Alternatively, the
printer could require that the paper tray be manually selected at the
printer.


Resolving Windows printing problems
*Resolving problems printing any PDF file from Acrobat Reader*
http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/acrobat/rdrwinprnt/page3.html

hlabadie-ga

thanks, hlabadie-ga. i appreciate it. please accept the proffered $20
for your research. i must respond though: Adobe's getting away with a
mediocrity for which some mortgage banks will not suffice. All free
Acrobats except for the newest 6.0.x.x cannot print to more than one
paper tray. A mixed set of letter/legal will only go to one tray.
Squishing a legal page onto a letter size page should not be allowed,
but as you say, it is allowable. we have sold our viewer [called
SwiftView which supports the PCL file format and CAN print to more
than one paper tray] to bank personnel who have told us that sending
documents out to recipients in PDF would be illegal because the free
Acrobat cannot print their letter/legal document sets the way they're
supposed to print. Prior to 6.0.x.x., Adobe deliberately held back the
ability to print to more than one paper tray, inducing those that
needed to print to more than one paper tray to BUY the Acrobat tool
suite. Adobe's withholding of this feature gave our company a
lucrative opening which we have exploited and hope to continue to
exploit inasmuch as 99.99999% of the half billion free Acrobats out
there are hard-wired not to print to more than one paper tray. So, can
you cite the locations of Freddie Mac and California or other states'
official dictates on how mortgage documents should look when printed
[even if the official language sez that corners and shortcuts like
squinching a legal page onto a letter size page are allowed]? Thanks,
and my compliments.

The type size limitation appears to be the only restriction imposed by
California regulations upon the printed version of approved forms.
Since Freddie Mac specifically permits the reformatting of Universal
Instruments for page length, this restriction seems ineffectual.

You have identified an inconvenience, or omission in the feature set,
of Adobe Reader, which your product addresses, but it seems that this
is only an inconvenience, and one that can be worked around.

I'm sorry that the Answer couldn't be more supportive.

Thanks for the rating and the tip.

hlabadie-ga