California Wildfires and Lending Delays

This morning I woke up to this notice:

Effective immediately due to current fire activity in California, XXXXXXX Bank will temporarily cease funding loans in the following California counties until further notice: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange.

Wow!

When the earthquake happened in '89, lenders reacted by requiring additional inspections and limiting lending in certain affected areas. So, how does a lender mitigate their liability while still serving their clients?

Unlike the earthquake, which was a relatively measurable, one time thing, raging wildfire liability is literally changing with each tick of the clock.

While the above lender reaction is an attempt at mitigating lender liability, think about all the people poised to close on their home loan - lives packed into boxes in the back of moving vans - who are now unable to close their home purchase.

For me, this notice reinforces the sheer magnitude of the damage. Not four cities, or neighborhoods or four areas. Four counties! Millions of people, their lives and their homes.

We have you in our prayers.

Trees and The Socialist Republic of San Jose

My neighbor has a huge tree in her back yard. It's a gorgeous tree and she has tried to save it but, the trunk is hollow and is a huge liability because it could fall on her or her neighbors at any time.

Welcome to the land of fruits and nuts. The city of San Jose made her post a sign in the front of the house to "alert" anyone driving by that she was going to cut this unsafe tree down. She's had this eyesore in her front yard for six weeks. There was a public hearing, in case anyone wanted to dispute the tree removal, and now they are going to be removing the tree.

I am a tree lover. I enjoy their shade and beauty and peacefulness. However, I value a person's safety over a tree. To me, this latest tree fervor is just craziness and as a property owner it puts me at risk. If something happened and this tree fell on my neighbors 3 year old cutie pie of a daughter, the property owner could be sued. But, if the property owner cuts the tree down without the proper red tape, the city could severely fine the owner.

How do I do the right thing while living in the land of catch 22?