Thoughts by Richard Bleil
Today (or, at least as of the writing of this blog) was a very difficult day. For a couple of reasons, the largest of which is that the church I had bid on (and discussed a couple of posts ago) fell through. I’m rather surprised, actually. I knew I had underbid and expected them to come back with a counteroffer. It has been on and off of the market for about fifteen months now, the most recent entry was a few thousand dollars higher than the previous posting with no indication as to why. I assumed that they, like me, were giving themselves negotiation room, but unfortunately there was another bid on the table, and like mine a cash offer. Unfortunately, it was higher. I only hope that the offer didn’t go to the other people looking at the property but with the intention of tearing down the church. As much as they were offering, this didn’t seem likely, but it is possible. I don’t see why the land would be worth so much, but I could be wrong. I hope that whoever bid on it intend to keep this church up, and that the history of it won’t be lost.
The other thing that went wrong today was the continuing saga of my father’s retirement inheritance. I’ve been working with three (count ‘em, three) financial institutions on this, and they’re still failing me. The first one insisted on documentation to prove that I’m living where I’m living. My friend is allowing me to stay with him as I seek my own place, so my name isn’t on the lease. I do have a mailing address here in the city, though, and I should think that’s enough. With the financial woes of Americans today, with people unable to keep their own homes or looking for alternative housing options that they can afford, the problem of permanent homes is becoming an increasingly large problem, so what are people to do if they don’t have a place of their own? Fortunately, my roommate was willing go jump through hoops for me, and as I worked with the first financial company, I sent them photos of my driver’s license, social security card and passport, plus my father’s death certificate and a notarized letter from my roommate saying that I was living with him along with a utility bill in his name. It wasn’t enough.
So now I’m working with another financial institution. I still needed a physical address, not just a mailing address, so I provided it. Rather than making me jump through those hoops, they simply accepted the address I sent them. But, they are unhappy as well. They didn’t like that I signed their documents using a stylus on my computer, and insist that I print out the forms, sign in ink, scan them back into the computer and send them back to them. Are you kidding me? Like I have a printer. Or a scanner. I don’t understand why ink is somehow more believable than a stylus, especially with modern technology moving away from paper and towards tablets.
Well, fine. So I open the letter in my iPad, but it won’t let me click on or download the attachment. Ugh, pain in the butt. Unfortunately, my hot spot internet allotment is used up for the month, so I decide to go to a chain office supply store and use their business center. I log onto their network, but my computer security system won’t let me access the internet or click the email link because the network wasn’t secure. Fine, I use my personal hot spot, with the severely crippled speed since I’m out of my allotment and go to the secure page where the attachments are, but the attachments are gone. I’m guessing because I already opened these pages on another computer the links are no longer available.
I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is that these “security measures” all add up to me being physically unable to sign the documents, even though I’ve already signed them once. They’ll say “well, it’s regulations you know”, and that might be true, but isn’t it time for regulations to catch up with technology? There are secure ways to obtain signatures. Just yesterday, I used one of these technology sites that allow for electronic and secure signatures. Why aren’t these investment firms, with all of their money and resources, able to do the same thing that my real estate agent can do?
Okay, not much point to today’s post. I’m just frustrated, and getting it out of my system.
Bleil's Banter 