While Oct. 3 came and went without any particular fanfare, it did mark the start of a new era in residential mortgage lending. That was the effective date for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new combined Truth in Lending – Real Estate Settlement Procedures Integrated Disclosure (a/k/a “TRID”). For all residential mortgage-loan applications taken on or after Oct. 3, the lenders are obligated to utilize the “TRID” disclosure in connection with closing. The familiar Truth in Lending (T-I-L)Disclosure form and HUD-1 Uniform Settlement Statement — mainstays in the residential-mortgage closing world for over 30 years — will be replaced with the TRID.

Given the length of time between submitting a mortgage application and actually getting to your mortgage closing (6-8 weeks), I am not surprised there has not been any real chaos and confusion yet regarding the utilization of the new TRID disclosure. But as we proceed through November, I expect there will be some angst in the residential-mortgage industry as it works to implement the new disclosure.

The two major concerns with getting a handle on the new TRID disclosure appear to be:

1. The document format is entirely different than the T-I-L disclosure and the HUD-1 Uniform Settlement Statement. Rather than two separate documents, each a few pages long, the TRID disclosure combines the two documents into one document that is five pages long. The signature requirements for the TRID are also unlike any previously used for the HUD-1 Settlement Statement or Truth in Lending Disclosure. So, mortgage lenders, mortgage closers, buyers, and sellers are all going to need to retrain their brains in order to process the TRID disclosure form.

2. Under the new regulations, the TRID disclosure needs to be prepared in final form and presented to the buyer/borrower three days prior to closing. This is a major game changer to a mortgage industry that has become accustomed to generating final closing figures, in fire-drill fashion, hours or minutes prior to closing. The never-ending requests to schedule a closing for tomorrow won’t be happening under the new rule.

If you are a potential homebuyer or interested in refinancing your existing mortgage loan, be prepared for an experience unlike any you have had before. The CFPB’s new disclosure requirements are going to affect the scheduling of closings in a substantial way. It will be important to be flexible as you work your way through the closing process.

So, if you thought the residential mortgage-loan closing process has been frustrating, brace yourself for at least a temporary escalation in that frustration.  

Edward (Ted) J. Spencer, III is a partner with the Syracuse–based law firm of Mackenzie Hughes LLP. His primary area of expertise is real estate, which includes residential, commercial, land use, and zoning. This viewpoint article is drawn from the firm’s Plain Talk blog. Contact Spencer at tspencer@mackenziehughes.com

If you have a heart problem would you to to a foot doctor?

That was my thought recently after the latest yuck report on the economy. Last quarter, it grew at half the speed needed to employ all the people who want to work. 

Here is what led to the foot doctor thought.

Yes, the economy is incredibly complicated. But it is also simple. To understand it, imagine a town, called “Yourtown.” It has a big bank and a big manufacturing company. And several big-box retail stores. 

These employ half the people in town. They create no net new jobs. About the time the bank adds staff, the manufacturer cuts jobs.

Yourtown also has a bunch of small businesses — restaurants and stores, consultants and engineering shops, small manufacturers, accountants and tech-geek upstarts, etc. Oh, and a small community bank. 

These businesses employ half the people in town. They normally add a lot of jobs. Some of these enterprises die. But more new ones start up than die. So, these small businesses usually generate growth.

Now, let us inflict new burdens and costs upon all these businesses. In the form of Obamacare, higher taxes, and the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, which does a kneecap job on small banks. Oh, throw in a raft of punitive regulations from EPA and other agencies on top of that.

How do you suppose the businesses of Yourtown react to these new burdens? Basically, the big guys shrug. And, the small guys get stuffed. Our economy is no more complicated than that.

All these burdens have been heaped upon American businesses. Big companies have adapted. They don’t like the new costs and red tape. But their lobbyists worked closely with politicians to write the new rules. And, they have huge staffs to handle this stuff. 

Small companies have suffered. The new costs are too much for them, and the new regulations too onerous.

Thousands of small banks have disappeared. Yes, thousands. Only three new banks have been chartered since Dodd-Frank was unleashed. That’s right, three. Small banks used to lend to small businesses, with more understanding and sympathy than big banks possess. Dodd-Frank has smothered them. The people who wrote it should be in jail.

Bottom line is we have fewer jobs than we should have. Fewer jobs than small businesses used to create. Less investment and expansion by small business. More small businesses dying than being born — for several years now. An ominous sign. 

How could our politicians and bureaucrats be so stupid to do this to our new-jobs machine? The answer is full of complications. The answer is also simple.

Suppose we gather all of Congress and its staff — the folks who write these laws. And all the White House crew — the people who propose the grand ideas that end up in laws. And all the top bureaucrats — the people who create the red tape and write and enforce the regulations.

Tell them, “All of you who have owned a business, raise your hand. All of you who have worked as adults in small business, raise your hand. All of you who prepare your own tax returns, raise your hand. Now, anyone who does NOT have a hand in the air, please clap.”

The applause would be thunderous. The guys who create and inflict these burdens on our jobs machine don’t know squat about that machine. Or about its working parts. From the president on down, they are ignorant about the small businesses of this country. And their ignorance shows.

When they try to fix the problems in the economy, they are like foot doctors working on a heart problem. It is an appropriate analogy, because small enterprises are the very heart of our economy. 

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan: Government is the problem, not the solution. 

From Tom…as in Morgan.          

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com

The Donald Trump phenomenon brings to mind many unpopular entrepreneurs.

Maybe you like The Donald. Maybe you don’t like him but you like his proposals. Or, maybe you don’t like either. No matter. You have to admit that he rubs a lot of people the wrong way. And that is my point. To many folks, Trump is rude, brash, and coarse. 

Welcome to Entrepreneur Land.

Do you know some genuine entrepreneurs? Maybe yours are different from those I know. Among mine are a bunch of pains-in-the-arses.

I love them — well, some of them. But with all of them, I love what they do. However, collectively they would not win popularity contests.

Why not? Because many entrepreneurs are brash, full of themselves, and in your face bold. They make others look and feel like quislings. Because they take risks when others tremble. They charge off on white steeds, while others wet their pants. 

Entrepreneurs are stubborn. Their motto should be “I’m right. I’m right. I’m right.” They see rules as targets for breaking. And they damned well don’t care what others think of them.

Doesn’t that remind you of The Donald?

Also reminds me of Ted Turner — Mister in-your-face brashness itself. 

Reminds me of Richard Branson — the guy who stamps his “Virgin” brand on everything from spacecraft to condoms.

Reminds me of Steve Jobs of Apple. And, Michael Dell of Dell Computers. Even Michael Bloomberg. Any number of inventors and innovators also fit this category.

Henry Ford was brilliant. He was the Bill Gates/Steve Jobs, etc., of his era. He was a crank. He was rude, nasty, impatient, and stubborn. That was on his good days. On his worst days, he proclaimed he knew how to run the entire world better than anybody alive.

There is a prime reason why entrepreneurs often annoy the rest of us. They think differently than we do. If there is a hall of fame for them, those six words should be chiseled above the entry: “They think differently than we do.”

When we walk a street, we admire the buildings, the trees. We sniff the roses. They tromp on the forbidden grass. And crane their necks to see what is around corners. They are addicted to figuring out a future we don’t conceive. We paddle our kayaks merrily down the stream. They whirl theirs about and battle against the current.

We obey rules and customs. We wear the right clothing and use the correct knives and forks. We obey social graces and protocol and seek the proper education. They plonk their elbows onto the table of life, pick their teeth, and wipe their mouth on their sleeve. They just don’t care what others think of their behavior. 

Many entrepreneurs drop out of universities. They tend to be “C” students, rarely “A.” Many shun higher education altogether. They are bored, or figure they know more than their professors.

Consider Michael Bloomberg. Consider how utterly massive is the empire he created. He must have thought a thousand thoughts nobody else did.

One of my entrepreneur friends created a fortune of probably $400 million — from scratch. His conversations reveal one of his secrets. He never utters a cliché. 

Never resorts to any of the hundred stock remarks most of us use. My guess is he does not speak like we do because he does not think like we do.

Like a lot of my entrepreneurial friends, he looks at what I do and sees things I don’t. I swear he sees colors that don’t exist in my spectrum.

He is actually a likeable guy. Sweet to be around. Good company. As for many of the other entrepreneurs, especially the most famous? Dining with them would be great. If I was in New York and they were in Los Angeles. 

From Tom … as in Morgan.           

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com

New York state has more than 892,000 veterans as residents, according to federal-government figures from 2014. Our state is home to the second largest veteran population in the nation. 

From older-generation veterans to those who are returning home today, veterans have a number of needs. The biggest issue often faced by our returning veterans is the complex transition from life as enlisted military personnel to life as a civilian. This could include issues related to seeking employment, housing, and physical and mental health. 

Our job as legislators is to help develop ways the state can assist the men and women, old and young, who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and to keep us safe from harm. We’ve worked incredibly hard to pass measures that will help our veterans.

One bill recently signed into law allows local municipalities the option of adopting a new or increased level for the alternative veterans’ real property-tax exemption. This bill came in response to the growing need of some veterans whose exemption could not keep pace with growing real-estate property costs.

Unfortunately, other bills that could help veterans are awaiting the governor’s signature. One measure would allow veterans already receiving the veterans’ real property-tax exemption to receive a pro-rated portion of the exemption should they sell and buy a home in the county where they currently reside. The legislature also passed a bill that would expand the eligibility criteria for admission to a NYS Veterans Home to include service during conflicts over the past 20 years to better serve aging veterans. Additionally, we passed legislation that charges the Department of Veterans Affairs with annually reporting on veteran-owned and disabled-veteran-owned small businesses. 

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the Veteran Buyback Bill (A.8174-A). Currently, the state has a program that allows veterans of certain conflict periods, who served in specific countries, or who received certain medal distinctions, to purchase up to three years of their service to count toward their New York State public-service retirement. Bill 8174-A, which passed with near unanimous bipartisan support, would have opened the program up to those who served in recent Middle East conflicts, Bosnia, Israel, and many other overseas missions and duties.

The governor, however, vetoed the bill, claiming there wasn’t a mechanism in place to pay for the program. He made this complaint last year as well, so the legislature fixed that issue in the 2015 version of the bill. This program is not a handout, as the governor is insinuating; each participating veteran purchases these credits. This program is one of the ways we can thank many veterans who are currently unfairly excluded from the program.

In response to the governor’s decision, some of my legislative colleagues and I are launching an effort to encourage the legislature to override the governor’s veto. We have set up a petition at http://bit.ly/OverrideCuomo. I encourage you to sign the petition in support of our many wonderful veterans.          

Marc W. Butler (R,C,I–Newport) is a New York State Assemblyman for the 118th District, which encompasses parts of Oneida, Herkimer, and St. Lawrence counties, as well as all of Hamilton and Fulton counties. Contact him at butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us