Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, Feb. 18

Feb 18, 2008

 

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ALEX SINK: We can reduce Floridians’ insurance risks

Right now, every Florida homeowner, automobile owner and business owner is liable for ”hidden taxes” in the form of assessments from Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe (CAT) Fund.

Allstate again asked to turn over documents

A Senate panel seeks documents from Allstate to see if the insurer met requirements of last year’s insurance reform bill.

State Farm dumps 50,000 statewide

Longtime State Farm customer John Spencer is not wanted any more.

Galvano bill takes aim at insurers

Doreen Degirolamo’s main job is filing insurance claims for doctors, but she says she spends most of her time fighting insurance companies instead.

Trampoline use puts property insurers on edge

Having one out back may be a spring- board to a canceled homeowners policy.

Families may buy a backyard trampoline for exercise and amusement, but it can quickly bring trouble when it comes to property insurance.

Big loan insurer tightens the screws on borrowers

Florida is one of four states included in MGIC’s warning that the party is over for easy loan standards.

EDITORIAL: Our view: Bring ’em down

First, show us the money.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Where is the help Gov. Crist promised?

Our condo association’s insurance has gone up more than 400 percent in three years.

EDITORIAL: Solutions to potential puzzles of portability

Nearly three weeks after voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 1, deadlines are looming for those hoping to take full advantage of the property tax cut plan in 2008.

Tougher shutter standards

Hundreds of Keys residents could be at risk of losing their Citizens Property Insurance Corp. windstorm insurance – the state’s last-resort insurance for homeowners – if they don’t either upgrade or purchase hurricane-resistant shutters.

$1.4M grant from FEMA helps Stuart residents stay dry

Looking at her home of 27 years as it sat propped six feet above the ground Friday waiting for a new, higher foundation, Jo Luger said she was overjoyed she no longer would have to worry about flooding.

Revised flood mapping is under way in Orange

Orange County is about 18 months behind Seminole County in the revision of the maps.

More Orlando-area homes need flood insurance

Mike Kirby has never seen water rise in his Seminole County neighborhood, but he is being forced to buy flood insurance.

Foreclosure bus tours driving into South Florida

The bus tours that have motored across foreclosure-littered neighborhoods of California, Nevada and other slumping states are pulling into the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County.

Palm Bay’s outside legal costs racking up

Between October 2006 and Jan. 31 of this year, this city paid $1.25 million for outside legal fees, more than 14 times what was originally budgeted.

Pundits say McCain-Crist duo is possible

Some question their conservative credentials

Vice President Charles J. Crist Jr.?

Protesters tilt at turbine plan

FPL wants to plant a wind farm with three towering turbines in a St. Lucie park and conservation area.

Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility, wants to build a line of nine wind turbines, each more than 400 feet tall, along an Atlantic Ocean beach.

State GOP no longer sees Vana’s district as top target

Once considered fertile ground for Republicans fighting Democratic dominance in Palm Beach County, state House District 85 is becoming a barren land for the GOP – and a sign of larger, troubling registration trends for local Republicans.

Early voting opens for special election

Early voting begins today for the Feb. 26 special election to replace state Rep. Bob Allen.

Congress looks into reverse mortgages as abuses begin to appear

Now that the subprime mortgage business has crashed, many lenders are reviving their incomes by persuading older homeowners to take out reverse mortgages.

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