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LAKELAND, FL - January 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross (FL-15) will introduce the Homeowners’ Insurance Protection Act next week. This bill will create a federal catastrophe reinsurance program to back up federal reinsurance programs like that of the state of Florida.

TALLAHASSEE, FlL - August 22, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a home improvement store are teaming up this week to provide information on cleaning up and rebuilding homes after Tropical Storm Debby.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - July 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- While survivors finish repairs to their homes or find a new place to live, money may be available to help them pay for a clean and safe place to stay.

Washington D.C. - July 3, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- In testimony filed today, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) called for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) to require Praetorian Insurance Company to cut homeowners’ insurance rates by at least 44.1 percent. Praetorian sold in excess of $430 million in “force placed” insurance in Florida in 2011, as Balboa Insurance Company and QBE Specialty Insurance Company. Praetorian has requested that the rates for the largest insurer in the group, Balboa, remain unchanged.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 5, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a lawsuit and obtained a temporary injunction and limited asset freeze against two foreclosure management companies for misleading distressed homeowners. MGD Management, LLC, and CRS Marketing, LLC, both with offices in Broward County, marketed "strategic default" services which purported to keep the consumers in their homes "for free" for three years without paying the mortgage, taxing authorities, homeowners association, or home owners insurance.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced today the appointment of Carlos Lacasa as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Lacasa, from Miami, is a former state representative and has more than 20 years of experience as an attorney with expertise in the insurance industry

TALLAHASSEE, FL - August 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater today announced the arrest of an Oviedo business owner for overbilling State Farm Insurance Company for fraudulent sinkhole claim repairs. Michael Hodge, owner of A&M Contracting Company, is charged with multiple counts of racketeering and insurance fraud involving billings of materials he never used to repair properties in Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - October 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today sent a letter to Scott Wallace, President and Executive Director of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., outlining proposed changes to Citizens’ procurement policy and contracting procedures. On August 13, CFO Sink called upon Citizens to review its contracting procedures and competitively bid its contracts after news reports revealed that the company did not competitively bid 33 contracts worth close to $50 million.

Washington, D.C. - September 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) led the entire Florida Delegation to the U.S. House, including all Republicans and Democrats, in a letter today calling for urgent action on the Homeowners’ Defense Act. This bipartisan letter expresses strong support for Congressman Klein’s bipartisan legislation to reduce the cost of homeowners’ insurance for families in Floridaand around the country.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today announced the arrest of Aylin Hernandez, 23, of Miami, for fraudulently diverting mail and stealing payments intended for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Hernandez was arrested this morning and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County on charges of organized fraud and grand theft. The arrest results from an investigation by CFO Sink’s Division of Insurance Fraud, with assistance by Citizens Property Insurance Corporations’ Special Investigations Unit, and if convicted, she faces up to 45 years behind bars

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink announced today the culmination of an extensive insurance fraud investigation with the arrest of Luis M. Espinosa, 60, and Rene M. Cambert, 55, on eight first degree felony counts each for filing false or misleading financial statements for First Commercial Insurance Company (FCIC) and its affiliated company, First Commercial Transportation and Property Insurance Company (FCTPIC) with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). Espinosa was the president and CEO and Cambert was the vice president and chief operating officer of FCIC/ FCTPIC at the time the companies were ordered into receivership for liquidation in 2009. Each felony count carries a potential 30-year sentence.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - August 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today sent a letter to Scott Wallace, executive director of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, calling on Citizens to implement contract reforms to ensure accountable and competitive contracting, and allow all qualified businesses the opportunity to compete for work available from Citizens. Wallace is scheduled to meet with CFO Sink’s staff about contracting procedures at Citizens next week.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today announced the appointment of Harold M. Knowles to the Board of Governors for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, effective April 21, 2010, through July 31, 2011. Citizens is one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies in the nation and the largest property insurer in Florida.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today released a letter to OIR Commissioner Kevin McCarty inquiring whether any additional actions may be necessary by OIR prior to hurricane season to ensure authorized property insurers are financially capable of meeting their obligations through the course of the 2010 hurricane season. A copy of the letter follows below

Washington, DC - April 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior member of the Florida Congressional Delegation, has recently signed on to letters, along with a bipartisan group of her fellow Members of Congress, expressing their concern with the failure to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

TAMPA, FL - December 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) today announced a change of leadership as the organization looks toward 2010. Kevin Kelso, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of the Farmers Group, will become IBHS chairman at the end of this year. In addition, Carl Hedde, vice president of Munich Re America, will become IBHS vice chairman. Both appointments were lauded during the Dec. 4 IBHS board of directors meeting.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - July 3, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — “The availability and affordability of property insurance is, at its core, a consumer issue,” said 2009 Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) President Cynthia Shelton, testifying on the need for a national disaster insurance policy to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee during a hearing today in West Palm Beach. “The importance of available and affordable insurance to homeowners, commercial property owners, and those who would like to own their own home or place of business cannot be overstated.”

October 29, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge,...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 9, 2008 – Governor Charlie Crist met with Marianna Realtors Stephanie Wise Adams and Jeff Adams yesterday to discuss health...

Realtors blame uncertainty on taxes, insurance The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) released September figures of existing home and condominium sales Wednesday, showing sales and...