There were 30 members of our club in attendance this week. There were no visiting Rotarians or guests. Past-President Baker presided over the meeting in the absence of John Thomas. He presented Joe Nash with a ‘recruiter pin’ and Rich Lalley with a ‘Paul Harris +3 pin.’
August 4 is Rotary Night with the Chicago White Sox. Rotarians from across the state will be at the Cell to enjoy a night of fellowship and baseball. Tickets are $22 each with a portion of the proceeds going to Rotary’s End Polio Fund. Notify Rich if you want to be part of this fun evening.
Eric Birkenstein made an appeal to the club to bring more guests to our Rotary Luncheons, as there have been very few in recent weeks. We need to introduce more members of the community to Rotary.
Tony Kambich said that the club was considering reinstating the Holiday Craft Fair that was quite successful under the leadership of former member Kristen Jasinski. Our funds for next spring’s community grants are very low at this time and we need some additional revenue. If anyone is interested in chairing the Fair please contact Tony.
There were a lot of happy Rotarians this week as Happy Buck$ came from Bob Baker, Rodger Morris, Rich Lalley, Ned Meisner, Wes Baumann, John Stone, Robert Mardirossian and Tony Kambich.
The speaker for the week was our own Tom Nash who is the Senior Mortgage Originator for PPH Home Loans. He has 30 years experience in the business. Tom’s topic was the new regulations that apply to the closing procedures for home loans. The new regulations, which will take effect on October 1st this year, are called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID). (Explanation: TILA is the Truth in Lending Act and RESPA is Real Estate Settlement Protection Act.) The regulation mostly affects real estate agents and loan officers but it was also designed to provide better protection for homebuyers. Some of the goals are to provide earlier receipt of loan information and easier to use mortgage disclosure forms for the consumer. The form should help homebuyers shop around for the best mortgage and prevent surprises at the closing.
Tom provided a sample copy of the new form and walked his audience through the form. The form provides a summary of the key loan terms being offered by a lending institution, including estimates of the loan and closing costs in a new format. This initial loan estimate must be delivered within 3 business days of receipt of the application and at least 7 business days before the loan is consummated. It cannot be delivered on the same day or after the Closing Disclosure has been sent. This form will replace the previous Good Faith Estimate form and will be is provided in a more timely manner. Real estate agents must make sure the client is ready 7 days prior to closing and avoid last minute changes, as changes to the agreement resets the clock and will cause a delay in the closing. Tom did a nice job in explaining some technical issues around mortgages so that the laymen in the audience could understand the new set of rules.
