Coronavirus Truth

Eric Orr painting on lead virus kills

 My daughter is in Southeast Asia and like many of us I'm reading everything about COVID-19

Lookup 冠狀病毒 or guānzhuàng bìngdú and you will find videos and images suppressed by news organizations. If that doesn't take you on a rabbit hole to washing your hands, then you are dulled out. The Chinese spelling and traditional Mandarin on Twitter for example is frightening.

Locals in Orange County California seem to be going about their daily tasks with less attendance than normal. A few have taken to hoarding toilet paper. I myself cancelled trip to San Antonio for #AWP20 and speaking at a Mortgage Banker's National meeting. I don't see the need to get on an airplane and worry.

Worry is bad for your health.

Being ready is how we live.

So from my research of reading thousands of posts the World Health Organization and lessor so

the Centers for Disease Control are the best sources for information on the spread of the disease.

What we know:

Cannot trust numbers from China

Washing your hands, I mean scrubbing like a surgeon

see video here if you are unclear about how much soap scrubs every surface:

Johns Hopkins Teaches you how to wash your hands

It is inconclusive how much sanitary wipes, and hand sanitizer are effective as they

target bacteria not virus. Assume it's better than nothing when there is no soap and water.

The virus lives on surfaces for a long time- desk, doorknob, light switch, and your phone need to

be cleaned. Humans sneezing or coughing can spread air borne droplets. 

Those with health compromises or the elderly are at risk. Those under fifty five years old with

good lungs may get it and not know; but they carry it around,and share viral particles. Assume smokers (yes even vape) and those who live in polluted air are at higher risk of serious illness- not just because they have weakened their lungs BUT they touch their face more often.

That gets us to sit on your hands if you must. don't touch your face. Get a pair of clear glasses, bug ones to remind you not to itch your eyes.

Empty shelves at Wallmart

Now the local concerns:

I went to the Laguna Niguel Wallmart to pick up some items for my Mom who is 88. She buys distilled water for health reasons. There was NO bottled water. I asked a store clerk and he told me

they were cleaned out as if there was a hurricane warning. Also no canned soup, no Clorox wipes.

I went to Costco in San Juan Capistrano and the same thing. Empty shelves.

Now why do normal healthy people have to horde bottled water? 

I live on a ranch where our water is well, or tanked in and I use it for drinking.

Boiling water in a kettle will kill virus and bacterium. There is nothing indicating

our water was poisoned.

I understand that toilet paper is also considered a commodity worth more than gold, as it's

sold out with all the N 95 masks. Toilet paper? Why do you need 400 rolls in your bathroom?

The masks are about 25% effective as they don't fit one's face perfectly and tend to make you adjust with an unwashed hand thus putting viral particles on the outside of the mask near your eyes and nose. For a while don't shake hands, do an elbow bump or just say how grateful you are to meet with arms crossed. 

I called around for distilled water for Mom and eventually found a secret stash. 

Does this seem crazy to you?

So if you need soup, I have an organic vegetable garden and will drop you some fresh starters, outside your doorstep, with washed hands.

Hey and mortgage rates loved the bad news. Time to get your payment down, lower than it was

possible for eleven years. IF you're staying home, spend the time on something good.

Call me (949) 784-9699

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NMLS 324982

No soup for you!

Refinance Now!

The time to refinance is now!

Bad news makes mortgage interest rates go down.
Lower than they have been for eight years today!

Call and let's get you into a 30 year fixed rate safe loan.

Don't wait until everyone is swamped.
 2.75% 30 year fixed conforming loan
FICO middle 721 no points 2.79 APR

NO Cost you get appraisal back at closing,
if needed, about 40% of people don't need
a full new appraisal

(949) 784- 9699

Caroline Gerardo Barbeau
C G

NMLS 32498
Pinnacle Home Loans

Let's talk about what you need

Equal opportunity Lender.
This is not a commitment to lend.
Get ready to save on your monthly payment!

TRID survey

To mortgage originators, loan officers, mortgage bankers please follow the link to the survey. This may have them review possible changes. CFPB is asking for input on how TRID changed the market from 2015 through 2018.

You need information on your own "shop" as to number of loans, total dollar amounts and a few details about your bank, mortgage company, credit union or private money to answer about three of the questions.

The survey takes ten minutes if you aren't long winded, as I was about my experience 

of thirty years as a Mortgage Loan Officer and banker.

Things they forgot to ask:

1. What is the cost increase to the consumer?

2. Is it unfair that under-served communities who don't have a personal computer

 have to wait longer for USPS mailing?

3. Cost increase as to adding employees, buy backs, secondary selling loans 

to scratch and dent loan servicers/entities to hold.

4. Cost increase to Borrowers who lost rate locks, didn't close on time in 2015.

5. What can be done to service more minority and rural borrowers who are

inundated by fifty page long emails that they don't or cannot read?

6. Did the increased turn time harm Borrowers? (extra anxiety and time is money).

1919 M Street, NW, 5th Floor Washington, DC 20036 (800) 793-6222

The CFPB is currently conducting its assessment of the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID). As part of its information gathering efforts, the Bureau has prepared a survey for mortgage lenders. Specifically, the survey is intended for “representatives of mortgage loan origination institutions that provide residential mortgages covered by the TRID Rule.” We encourage you to participate in the Bureau’s TRID survey. While the assessment is unlikely to lead to an immediate rule making, its findings influence the Bureau’s decision on whether future changes are necessary. For this reason, it is important that the Bureau’s TRID assessment accurately reflect the housing finance industry’s experience with TRID rule. The survey is live and may be accessed using the below link or from the Bureau’s website. As the survey instructions indicate, the Bureau requests that each institution submit only one response to the survey. To find the survey click your closest job title and scroll all the way down to the next tiny blue arrow on the bottom right side of the screen. The link brings you to a page that lists three TRID surveys: the Loan originator survey, the Loan officer survey, and the Closing company survey. The survey intended for institutions that are mortgage lenders is the Loan originator survey.  TRID survey here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/trid-assessment-industry-surveys/

online version.

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Student Loan Crisis

Congressional Budget Study on Student Loans

Will they pass a bill to end Income Repayment?

Income Repayment Plans have allowed students to decrease their monthly payment; but like a Negative Amortization Loan before the Crash of 2008 the balances grow and become heavy. This type of loan was outlawed in 2009 for real estate as when trouble hit, and values decreased borrowers found themselves upside down.

Income repayment plans don't pay off the student loan debt in ten years as was planned,
in fact they often burden the student for twenty or more years.
Graduate student borrowers receive eight percent of the federal subsidy through
income driven repayment plans and the cost to taxpayers is rapidly rising.
Congress estimates we lose seventeen cents on every dollar on income repayment loans due
to longer servicing time and defaults vs thirteen cents through standard fixed rate plans

The whole report is here just released February 12th, 2020

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-02/55968-CBO-IDRP.pdf

I have mixed feelings on the whole student loan mess. I view it from my personal
seat having saved a 529 plan, paid for my graduate degree, paid for my children's
undergraduate degrees, and worked three jobs. The money I saved was never enough.
In my youngest son's graduating year 2020 I took on parent loans as everything
costs so much. He wasn't able to get all the Engineering classes in a row (U C system
tends to have less than enough professors for upper division classes). It took an extra year.

I also look at the problem from as a person who graduated with a MFA from a renown,
expensive, private school. I struggled to make a living and came to the realization
I must switch careers in order to support my family.

As a tax payer I feel burdened paying forty percent of my W-2 income to give those who
come after a free graduate education. When my home was upside down I stuck it out and paid the
monthly payment. I don't feel that a graduate degree in Arts, Liberal Arts and Humanities
should be free. It's not that I don't experience the value of poetry, painting, and music -
I am a creative person. I am not certain the academic racket is worth twenty years of
payments and the careers aren't there to support the payoff.

What are we to do?

There are millions of people in America who went to a for profit institution - you know
the ones that advertised on the radio and recruited at High Schools (many
now closed) with the sales pitch that grants and loans would get them a high paying
job. Grants are wonderful. The problem is the school never spelled out what the monthly
payment would be and what the consequences would be of this burden. Also that a degree
from these For Profit schools had no value in the marketplace and cost double or triple what
an accredited university costs ($52000 - $65000 a year for a degree that is good as toilet
paper. See study here : http://www.ntanet.org/NTJ/65/1/ntj-v65n01p153-79-for-profit-higher-education.pdf

Higher education should not be life long pack on your back. I want Congress to allow
individuals to include their Federal student loans in a bankruptcy and wipe them out.
This puts the burden to demonstrate need on the courts and ends the long term pain.
If someone has a heavy weight that keeps them from climbing, this is a good recourse.

What solutions do you have?