Columns

  So you’re thinking about buying a home but you don’t know where to begin. There are several tasks you need to tackle months before you start house hunting in earnest. Getting started early will ensure that no surprises arise to trip you up on the way to your purchase. Do you know how much you want to spend? Is your income where it should be? Check your credit rating if you’re seeking to finance your new property. For a small fee, you can pull your credit on your own from many different online website. Check your report and make …

  In many of my recent columns, I have discussed the rapid growth of familysearch.org. I have been working on so many areas of American records that I have forgotten to check on Italian civil records. All I can say is “Wow.” Let me first remind you of the project because it will explain why they’ve done what they’ve done. The LDS Church has microfilmed millions of records all over the world over many decades, including lots of Italian civil records and a small percentage of Italian Catholic records as well. In the 2000s, they began to digitize these films …

  Starting on Oct. 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is implementing new Tila-Respa Integrated Disclosure requirements, known in the industry as TRID. “So what’s a TRID?” you may ask. It represents the integration and rescheduling of an assortment of current mortgage documents in an effort to make things easier for consumers to understand while giving them an earlier account of what funds will be needed at closing. TRID requires that a “loan estimate” (terms, rates, costs, and payments disclosure) be sent directly from the lender’s or broker’s disclosure department to the costumer within three business days of the application …

  Many people ask, “What is guardianship in the state of Illinois?” Simply put, guardianship is the process of applying to a court to be able to legally assist an individual over the age of 18 if the person has a disability. A disabled person, for purposes of guardianship laws, is someone who cannot make basic life decisions or manage their own property or money. Due to the participation of the court system and the attorneys’ fees involved, it’s an expensive proposition and should be avoided at all costs using other methods of surrogate decision such as powers of attorney, …

  Growing up in the dawn” of the variety show concept, one of my favorites had to be The Sonny & Cher Show. Each week, watching the little Italian guy get picked on by the tall beauty, well, really hit home for me for obvious reasons. When the show went on summer hiatus in 1974, its replacement starred a guy who I was excited to see, mainly because he was another Italian American with a great voice. Tony Orlando was actually Greek and Puerto Rican, but he still looked like one of my cousins with the big bushy moustache and …

  A significant event on the Far South Side, the 42nd annual Pullman House Tour has garnered more attention over the years as former area residents felt the need to connect with their roots. They have found that the tour is the perfect time to return to Pullman/Roseland/Kensington for a glimpse into their past. This year marks the first year that Annual Pullman House Tour will be taking place in the newly proclaimed and designated Pullman National Monument. I mention this as a cautionary statement to those of you have given thought to attending the Pullman House Tour. Due to …

It seems that this time of year always presents itself with so many different avenues to choose from insofar as a topic for Petals from Roseland is concerned. That is why this column covers a number of different topics. So, sit back and relax as we journey down many paths. Let me begin by saying I really enjoy being a member of the Veneti nel Mondo. They are a jovial and fun-loving group. Even those members who aren’t laughing every minute due to physical pain or the agonies of life manage to laugh at the wisecracks. This is the group …

So you’re single and ready to make the homeownership commitment. Well you’re not alone. According to the National Association of Realtors, 36 percent of recent home buyers were unmarried. With home prices and interest rates as low as they are, right now is a perfect time to buy instead of renting an apartment and paying someone else’s mortgage. And when it comes to buying your first home, the first rule is something that I learned over the years, and that is that mamma is always right! Although the opinion of your friends and co-workers can help, many of them probably …

View image | gettyimages.com When you begin your genealogical journey, two possibilities can happen. One is that you focus like a laser beam on a single person and do whatever you can to find everything you need about that one individual. The second possibility is the one that usually happens to everybody! Once you ask for the names of your grandfather’s brothers and sisters and THEIR kids, you have a lot of people and a lot of data to find for each of them, and it can be overwhelming, if you’re not organized. Everybody organizes their lives in different ways. …

View image | gettyimages.com In this part of our 10 installment series, I would like to discuss when it is necessary to invoke the services of a physician in the estate planning, long-term care planning and eldercare journey. Obviously, if there are immediate health concerns, a physician should be contacted straightaway, before legal counsel is sought. However, there are circumstances where involvement of a physician is necessary even if the client isn’t in the middle of a medical crisis. This generally arises in cases where clients come in to execute powers of attorney for property and powers of attorney for …