Florida RealEstateRama

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) sent the attached letter today to the Hillsborough County Commission, Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill, Hillsborough County MPO Executive Director Beth Alden, Port Tampa Bay Authority Board, Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson urging them to move forward on the region’s high-speed ferry project.

Cushman & Wakefield announced today that the brokerage team of Director Julia Rettig, Director Jeff Lamm, Associate Director Jared Bonshire, Senior Associate David Perez, and Executive Director Mike Davis has been selected by a joint venture of Ridge Development and AEW Capital Management to market the 490,000-square-foot Lakeland Logistics Center in Lakeland, Florida.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, made the following statement regarding the defeat of the Lee Amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which would have repealed language that prohibits any new regularly scheduled flights or cruises to Cuba if they use illegally confiscated American property. The Lee Amendment was defeated by a margin of 247 – 176

Association Law Group (ALG), one of Florida’s leading HOA and condominium law firms with offices in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, has recovered close to $125,000,000 for its clients in past due maintenance fees and other liabilities since the recession first began. During the peak of the financial crisis, many HOAs and condominiums found themselves in desperate times as delinquencies skyrocketed and owners stopped paying their maintenance fees, in many cases abandoning bad investments they made, while leaving the rest of the homeowners in such properties holding the bag

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension in Lake County is offering its popular two-hour long course “Chicken University” on Thursday, June 11 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Lake County Agricultural Center, located at 1951 Woodlea Road in Tavares. Topics to be covered include poultry anatomy and biology, housing, egg production, predator protection and egg handling.

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) today announced the arrest of Juan C. Garcia, owner of Construction Forever LLC, for his involvement in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud scheme. The investigation conducted by DIF revealed that Garcia provided false and misleading information on his application for workers’ compensation insurance with the intent to lower premium costs

Hunt Mortgage Group, a commercial real estate lender, announced today that that it has opened an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located at 110 SE 6th Street on the 17th Floor.

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI), the nation’s largest local Realtor association with 35,000 members, promoted South Florida real estate to Asian luxury buyers at China’s leading property showcase last month. MIAMI participated in the ninth annual Luxury Property Show Beijing show from April 24-26 at the prestigious Legendale Hotel Beijing

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24) announced today that the City of Opa-Locka will receive revitalization grants totaling $400,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Opa-Locka is one of nine communities in Florida to receive a portion of more than $3.9 million in Brownfield grants. This investment will provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean, and redevelop contaminated sites, which will boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment

Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were granted a final judgment against the Hoffman Law Group and corporate affiliates accused of using deceptive marketing practices and scamming distressed homeowners into paying illegal advance fees. Working together, five companies conned consumers into paying millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees to join frivolous lawsuits that the companies falsely claimed would pressure banks to modify their loans or provide foreclosure relief.

The westbound curb-side lane of West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is closed between North Rome and North Albany Avenues while the Tampa Water Department repairs a distribution pipe. One westbound lane and all eastbound lanes remain open for traffic. Barricades and signs will be located in the area to assist with traffic flow

Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE: WYN), is inviting travelers to vote for their favorite “dream destination” of 2015 during the Dream Destinations Sweepstakes now through June 24, 2015 for the chance to win a five-night vacation package with a retail value of up to $3,000.

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud today arrested Giselle Avila, vice president of The Valenti Group Insurance, Inc. in Miami, for insurance fraud after she knowingly misled a consumer in order to obtain a higher commission payout. Investigators also determined that Avila prepared and issued a fictitious notice of reinstatement for the consumer’s homeowner insurance policy in an attempt to conceal that it had been canceled.

This year's Broward County Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, conducted over a three-day period on January 26-28, 2015 shows that the total number of sheltered and unsheltered persons experiencing homelessness in Broward County has decreased by 5.1%, from 2,766 to 2,624. The number of unsheltered persons also decreased by 5.7% from 879 to 829. Both figures are comparisons to the same count done in January 2014

Beginning Monday, June 8, Lake County’s Housing Services will be permanently relocated to a new office in the Citrus Rail Plaza, located at 2008 Classique Lane, Tavares. All services formerly offered at the previous office on Sinclair Avenue will be moved to the new location. This includes Section 8, home ownership and repair assistance, CDBG and SHIP assistance.

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI), the nation’s largest local Realtor association with 35,000 members, is pleased to announce its latest staff addition, Ana Maria Rodriguez as Vice President of Government Affairs

“Insisting that the Castros pay back Americans for property they stole should be non-negotiable in any talks to normalize relations with Cuba,” Rooney said. “It’s bad enough that, if the President gets his way, American trade and travel dollars will be used to prop up the Castro regime and repress the Cuban people. The least we can do is make sure those profits aren’t earned on property stolen from American citizens and businesses and never settled.

Coup joins the existing team of Senior Director Mercedes Angell, Senior Director Paula Buffa, Senior Director James Moler, Director Jeff Lanning, Director Barry Oaks, and Associate Brian Breeding – all operating under the auspices of Managing Director of Investor Services Tim Rivers.

CFO and State Fire Marshal Jeff Atwater, alongside Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, today announced 30 more arrests made during the second wave of a collaborative state and local operation known as “Operation Flames and Floods.” The investigation exposed an extensive scheme in which a Miami public adjuster named Jorge Espinosa recruited homeowners to stage fire and water damage claims in residential homes in order to defraud multiple insurance companies.

At the request of Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-22), the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee unanimously passed a resolution requiring the General Services Administration (GSA) to investigate the feasibility of constructing a new federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale and report back within the next four months