Lawmakers Look Anew at Storm Insurance Rates

With this year's legislative session just two weeks away, lawmakers are once again weighing proposals aimed at making insurance coverage more affordable and available.  A bill introduced Tuesday by Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, would give homeowners two choices when buying a hurricane policy. They could buy it from a state windstorm program, which would be created by this legislation, for a cost that could be lower upfront. But the policy could be subject to future assessments if the program runs out of funds to pay claims after a major storm.  The other option would be for residents to buy a policy including windstorm coverage from a private insurer at a possibly higher cost. This policy wouldn't be subject to any assessments.  This proposal ''engages the private market and allows the private market to come in if the consumer chooses,'' said Ross in an interview late last week.

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State Farm: No New Homeowners Policies

In a move certain to deepen Florida's insurance crisis, State Farm Florida plans to stop writing new homeowners policies throughout the state starting Saturday. The state's largest private insurer of homes also won't offer new renters or commercial policies in order to reduce its exposure to hurricane risk in Florida. State Farm's current policyholders won't be affected by the move. The company will continue to renew the one million homeowners and renters policies it has in Florida. The insurer also will continue to write new auto insurance in Florida, a far more lucrative line of insurance than property coverage. It insures more than two million vehicles. State Farm will cease writing new homeowners policies just days before lawmakers return to Tallahassee to wrestle once again with proposals to make insurance coverage more affordable and available.

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First  Signs of Insurance Recovery?

A little more than a year after the Florida Legislature passed a complex program of relief to an ailing property insurance industry, the first steps were made Thursday toward returning to a more normal balance between government and the free market.  Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink presented her plan to scale back the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by $3 billion to a receptive House Jobs and Entrepreneurship Council. Following a unanimous vote of approval, the bill will move ahead, carried by the council's chairman, Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton.  The immediate impact on homeowners insurance premiums isn't likely to be significant. But Sink explained that the move will require private insurers to spread their own risks by buying more reinsurance on the private market, rather than through the state-run Catastrophe Fund.

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Building With a Vision

Roberto and Cyndi Carrion designed their Montverde home to be a journey of sights and sounds: shimmering lake views, rough cypress ceilings, soothing water features and meditative silence.  They built it to be strong and practical, with energy-efficient features, eco-friendly materials, hurricane-resistant construction and water-conservation ideas. They focused on details that would enhance the home's aesthetics and function.  Now that it's complete, the Carrions are eager to move into the three-level, 5,400-square-foot home on Lake Apopka. But first, we get to see what they have accomplished.  The Lake County home is the third in a series of demonstration projects known as the Green Builder Vision House Series, sponsored by the publisher of Green Builder Magazine. It was built to coincide with the International Builders' Show, which ended Saturday, in Orlando.

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Some Feel Rosy Despite Housing Slowdown

Not to belabor the housing market's bad news, but the National Association of Realtors said recently that its pending home sales index fell in December to its second-lowest reading on record.  Even so, some Palm Beach County brokers are upbeat about the housing market. Leibowitz Realty, for instance, just moved into a larger office at Midtown at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens. Leibowitz Realty co-owner Michael Leibowitz says the firm had outgrown its smaller office in Juno Beach, and he says he's seeing plenty of $2 million-and-up sales in neighborhoods such as Frenchman's Creek, Mirasol and Steeplechase.  "There are bright spots out there," Leibowitz says.  Leibowitz isn't the only broker who's expanding during the downturn. Douglas Rill, owner of Century 21 Americas Choice Realty, says he spent $6 million to buy and renovate an office building at 105 N. County Road in Palm Beach. Rill notes that the Palm Beach mansion market is still going strong. And he looks at the big picture.

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New Bill Aims to Curb Foreclosure

With one out of every 95 homeowners facing foreclosure in the state, a pair of plans emerged Wednesday aimed at helping Floridians handle subprime and other high-cost mortgages they can't afford.  Two Democratic lawmakers unveiled a bill they said would tighten restrictions on "fly-by-night" lending companies and make it harder for consumers to take on risky mortgages.  Republican Gov. Charlie Crist also ordered a special task force of lawmakers, financial experts and consumer advocates to make a quick study of the crisis.  "Homeownership is one of the cornerstones of the American dream, as we know, and one of the cornerstones of our economy," Crist said. "But many Floridians are losing that dream and are losing the home."  Crist's Florida Home Ownership Promotes the Economy Task Force will meet four times before recommending a plan to address the state's foreclosure rate, which was up 275 percent in 2007 from the previous year.

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State Takes Another Step in Battle with Allstate

Insurance regulators on Tuesday filed a complaint seeking to suspend Allstate's authority to write new insurance policies in Florida in response to what they said was the company's continued failure to provide requested documents.  The administrative complaint was required by Florida law after Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty issued a Jan. 17 order suspending the company, said Ed Domansky, a spokesman for the Office of Insurance Regulation.  Allstate filed an appeal of McCarty's order. The First District Court of Appeal issued a stay of the suspension, allowing Allstate to go back to writing new business. That appeal is ongoing.

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Senator Said More Tax Cuts Unlikely

One of the state's top lawmakers said Wednesday that he did not expect any big property tax cuts this year from the Legislature.  Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said that it was time for Floridians to pause and gauge the impact of two such cuts approved by voters and lawmakers in the past year.  "I'll be clear with you that there will be no concerted effort in the Florida Senate to do anything more,'' Pruitt said to reporters on Wednesday. "I just don't see that there's going to be a big need for us to move forward.''  Pruitt has virtual veto power over legislation. But his views reflect the general sentiment among senators that two multi-billion-dollar tax cuts in the past year were enough for now.  Lawmakers begin their 60-day annual session in early March.  Last month, voters approved Amendment 1, which increases the homestead exemption and allows residents to keep accrued Save Our Homes tax breaks if they move. The plan also creates a soft cap on future assessment increases for part-time residents and businesses.

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Lee County Leaders Mull Over Controversial Economic Stimulus

County leaders have come up with an economic stimulus plan that will kick start the slumping construction industry, but some think it puts residents' safety at risk.  Lee County recently laid off several people in the Community Development Department because construction has slowed down and permitting fees are no longer flowing in.  The new plan is supposed to create jobs by pushing up some county construction projects. It will also suspend or reduce all impact fees until 2010. Leaders say it could stimulate builders into completing half finished homes around the county. "That will help get those homes back on the market," said Mary Gibbs, who works for the Lee County Community Development Department.  But some public safety officials say while it may speed up construction, it could slow them down.  Impact fees pay for manpower, equipment and buildings used by first responders, such as firefighters and EMS.

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Builder Fees Are Not Cut

Polk County Commissioner Jack Myers on Wednesday couldn't find a second for his motion to cut most of Polk's impact fees in half and the proposal died.  Myers then suggested a smaller, 25 percent cut in the fees but it failed in a 3-2 vote with Commission Chairman Sam Johnson supporting the plan and Commissioners Bob English, Jean Reed and Randy Wilkinson voting against it.  English said he didn't think cutting impact fees would aid the economy as proponents contended, and he called it a "hope not a promise.''  Myers, a persistent critic of impact fees, earlier this month proposed cutting in half the fees the county charges on a new home to pay for growth-related costs of roads, parks, libraries, jails, and police, fire and EMS services. The school impact fee wouldn't have been changed, meaning the total fees would have dropped from $11,821 to $7,996.

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Organizers Pleased With Builders' Show Despite Attendance Drop

Attendance at the giant International Builders' Show slipped more than 11 percent this year, as a slumping housing market and uncertain economic times apparently cut into the largest gathering on Orlando's 2008 convention schedule.  The conference and trade show, organized by the National Association of Home Builders, ended a four-year run in Orlando over the weekend with a final tally of 92,089 people, the association said. The 2007 convention pulled in more than 104,000 people, while the 2006 show set an attendance record of 105,263.  Still, the show's organizers said they were pleased with this year's results -- because the decrease could have been worse, given the state of the housing market and the show's presence in the same location for four straight years.

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Expansion Proposed for Housing Rebate Program

A proposed change to an affordable housing program could give more households a $2,000-plus reimbursement on a new home.  Moderate-, low- and very low-income families have been able to recoup as much as half the Lee County school impact fee when they purchase a new home. The Affordable Housing Committee will debate Friday whether to make the next higher income level eligible as well.  An eligible household can get up to a $2,150 reimbursement on a new home, or one built since 2005 but not occupied. Income classification is based on the median household income, which is $54,700 for a four-member household in Lee County. Very low income is a household making up to half that amount. Work force income, which would become eligible, is a household making up to 140 percent, or about $76,500.

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