Housing regs to add protections for gays

WASHINGTON ? Oct. 22, 2009 ? Federal housing officials said Wednesday they?re developing regulations to ensure that gays and lesbians aren?t denied access to federally subsidized housing based on their sexual orientation.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will also commission a first-ever nationwide study to determine the extent of discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing sales and rental programs.

Officials said the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of homes, doesn?t specifically cite gays and lesbians when it comes to the groups protected. The department wants to make sure that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people are treated the same as everyone else when it comes to eligibility for housing programs.

The extent of such discrimination is unknown, but HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said it undoubtedly exists.

?The evidence is clear that some are denied the opportunity to make housing choices in our nation based on who they are, and that must end,? said Donovan.

Department officials pointed to a study from Michigan?s Fair Housing Centers that found nearly 30 percent of same-sex couples were treated differently when trying to buy or rent a home.

The department also announced that the regulations concerning HUD?s housing and voucher programs would clarify that the term ?family? also applies to lesbian and gay couples.

Copyright ? 2009 The Associated Press, Kevin Freking, Associated Press writer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Homeowners still pricing their homes too high

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? Oct. 16, 2009 ? Real estate practitioners in the heart of foreclosure hotspots are talking turkey about pricing to their clients.

?I don?t sugar-coat anything. I don?t tell people what they want to hear. I tell them what they have to hear,? says Mike Aubrey, an associate with RE/MAX Metropolitan Realty in North Potomac, Md.

?[Setting the initial price too high] is not only a waste of time, but you stigmatize your property,? says Joe Manausa, president of Century 21 First Realty in Tallahassee. ?People wonder why nobody bought it, why it?s been on the market so long.?

In fact, setting a price too high is ?downright willful negligence,? Manausa declares.

Source: Inman News, Mary Umberger (10/14/2009)

? Copyright 2009 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Is it ever going to get better?

News Service of Florida - Oct 16th, 2009

Florida?s unemployment inched up in September to 11 percent as the state continues to be dogged by a sluggish economy that shed 360,000 jobs from a year ago.

The rate, the highest since October 1975, was 4.3 percentage points higher than in September 2008 and 0.2 points higher than a revised August figure of 10.8 percent, the Agency for Workforce Innovation reported on Friday.

Florida, which typically lags behind the nation during recovery, is likely to experience higher rates before the worst is over, an AWI economist cautioned Friday. The state?s economic picture overall may be brightening, however, as other state and national economic indicators show a slow recovery may have already begun.

For example, the number of mass layoff notices received by AWI fell from a peak of 36 notices in March to seven notices received in September. Last week, the agency received no major layoff notices, the first time since the week of September 29, 2008.

?The recovery is coming slowly, but it is coming,? said AWI Director Cynthia Lorenzo. ?The latest unemployment figures confirm that the economic downturn continues to impact a significant number of Floridians and businesses. However, a reduction in employers announcing closings or large-scale layoffs is a positive sign of Florida?s growing economic stability.?

Florida?s total non-agricultural workforce fell to 7.2 million in September, a 4.7-percent drop over the past year. Losses in construction, transportation, professional and business services sectors accounted for two-thirds of the loss, which translates into more than 1 million jobless.

Health care remains the only growth sector in the economy, said AWI chief economist Rebecca Rust.

The state rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than the national average of 9.8 percent.

State economists had estimated earlier this year that Florida?s jobless rate would peak somewhere around 11 percent before slowly returning to more moderate levels. Rust said that figure may have to be revised upward when state economists next meet Nov. 3 to update the state?s economic picture.

Don Winstead, who has been coordinating state efforts to spend federal economic stimulus money, said economists have stated that the unemployment trend tends to be a lagging indicator of how the economy is actually doing at present time, but noted that the state needed to continue working to bring Florida out of the hole.

?I think it just underscores how important it is that we stay the course and press on and do everything we can to help people,? Winstead said.

But stimulus funds alone will not pull the state and nation out of its economic stupor, said Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida.

Snaith said the unemployment rate underscores the existing economic challenges, despite news that Wall Street has posted impressive gains in recent months. And though the state is reaching the bottom, it may not have hit it yet.

?The Dow over 10,000 and the ?Cash for Clunkers? surge in spending might be giving us a false hope for a strong recovery,? Snaith said. ?When the celebrations die down, the reality of continuing double-digital unemployment will set in, and things are going to slow down again.?

The highest unemployment rate in the state was in Palm Coast, which is experiencing a 16.2 percent jobless rate. Vero Beach and Port St. Lucie followed at 15.2 percent and 14.1 percent respectively.

Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville and Tallahassee ? regions known for government, education and military employment ? had the lowest unemployment rates, all less than 7.5 percent.

Something new for Palm Coast

Oaks Development Group Launches Physician Incubator Space in Palm Coast Medical Office Building
Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:58pm EDT

Featured Broker sponsored link
Oaks Development Group Launches Physician Incubator Space in Palm Coast
Medical Office Building





PALM COAST, Fla., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology companies have been doing
it for years. Why not the medical profession? Incubator space has recently
gathered some thoughtful discussion in hospitals and as a way to generate
interest in the expansion of medical care into secondary markets. One
developer, North Carolina-based Oaks Development Group, believes there's
application in off-campus medical office buildings (MOBs). As such, the
innovative developer is rolling out the concept in its Palm Coast, Florida,
building.


Oaks broke ground on the 20,000-square-foot building over the summer. Located
across from Florida Hospital Flagler on State Road 100, it is expected to be
completed in early 2010.


The incubator space will consist of 2,200 square feet and eight offices. Oaks
is making the space available for as little as two, half days a week with just
a one-year commitment for physicians looking to expand into new markets. Oaks
provides exam tables, chairs, permanent equipment, high-speed internet, phone
system and cleaning services, with no cash outlay for physicians. "It's shared
space, providing opportunities for physicians to open second practices or move
into new markets. It's available to them while they build up their practices,
until they are ready to move into permanent space," said Charlie Barker, Oaks'
director of Florida development.


"In addition, our model for tenanting our office buildings is focused on
nesting practices that serve as natural referral sources for each other,"
added Barker. "This contributes to a start-up practice's ability to attract
new patients."


Such space also provides an option for physicians who are coming in from
competing markets where they may not yet be affiliated with any hospital or
are connected with a competing hospital. "Our workspace gives them an
opportunity to start up in that market, at a fraction of what they'd pay to
rent traditional office space," added Barker.


The rest of the Palm Coast building is reserved for Oaks' unique ownership
model that provides tenants with a piece of the ownership pie without
requiring upfront equity. The architect on the project Thomas Miller &
Associates. M.J. Harris, Inc. is the contractor. Cornelia Manfre, Prudential
Commercial Realty, is exclusive broker.


For leasing and ownership information regarding the Palm Coast medical office
building, please contact Charlie Barker of Oaks Development Group at:
1-866-676-7453 or cbarker@oaksdevelopment.net.


About Oaks Development Group
Oaks Development Group, http://www.oaksdevelopment.net, is a private equity
funded real estate investment group specializing in the acquisition,
construction, conversion, restructuring and management of medical/professional
properties to achieve a consistent long term and stable return for private
investments. The Oaks model involves strategically sharing equity in
transactions with individual tenants and equity partners. Oaks Development
Group is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, with additional offices in
Wilmington, NC; Savannah, GA; Tampa, FL; and San Antonio, TX. For more
information on Oaks projects, please call 1-866-780-5095 or visit
www.oaksdevelopment.net for more information.






SOURCE Oaks Development Group

Kim Oaks of Oaks Development Group, +1-910-763-5737, ext. 204,
kloaks@oaksdevelopment.net; or Debi Pfitzenmaier of PfitzPR, +1-210-669-6911,
debi@pfitzpr.com, for Oaks Development Group

Another toxic drywall problem: No insurance

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? Oct. 8, 2009 ? Homeowners living in houses with suspect Chinese drywall are already in a bind: Their air conditioners stop working, a rotten-egg smell permeates their homes, they suffer a litany of health problems including troubled breathing, nosebleeds and headaches.

Now, some of them could lose their property insurance coverage.

Many homeowners have filed claims with their home insurers to repair the drywall damage. That?s turning out to be a dead end: Most property insurers are denying the claims because homeowners policies don?t cover contamination or building material defects.

But once an insurer knows there is drywall damage in a home, the existing damage could be the trigger for not renewing a policy unless repairs are made.

That?s the dilemma for James and Maria Ivory. The couple retired to Punta Gorda from Colorado in February, buying a home for $109,000 that was built in 2006. The Ivorys had to have the air conditioner replaced right away and noticed metals were corroding shortly after moving into their home, which had never been lived in.

They filed a claim with their insurer, Citizens Property Insurance, to rehabilitate the home, asking for the drywall to be ripped out and corroded items be replaced, among other repairs.

The Ivorys? claim didn?t specify a dollar amount, but some builders have estimated repair work generally can run at least one-third of the original construction costs.

The state-run insurer, the largest in Florida, denied the claim. Then last month, the couple received a notice from Citizens, saying their homeowners policy won?t be renewed in March because it has no proof the damage the Ivorys wanted their insurance money to pay for has been repaired.

?Safety net?

?There?s nothing that?s ever happened to this home other than Chinese drywall,? said David Durkee, a Coral Gables attorney who is representing the couple. ?He needed to go to Citizens because he couldn?t get insurance elsewhere. That was supposed to be the safety net for residents in Florida.?

Durkee, who is handling several lawsuits against builders and drywall suppliers, said this is the first time he has seen an insurer use drywall damage as a reason for dropping a policy.

Durkee has written to Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Congressman Robert Wexler of Boca Raton about Citizens.

?We cannot let that safety net have a hole in it, period,? Durkee said.

For its part, Citizens has received about 20 drywall claims so far, and each are handled on a case by case basis, said John Kuczwanski, Citizens? spokesman. Not all the claims are resolved yet.

Thousands of homes in South Florida and tens of thousands nationwide are suspected of having the tainted imported drywall. Large amounts of drywall were imported into Florida to deal with demand from the home-building boom and reconstruction following hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

So far, there is no scientific proof that the imports are causing the problems, but homeowners with the material have similar complaints of malfunctioning air conditioner metals, a chemical or rotten-egg smell, and breathing trouble and nosebleeds, among other health problems.

The Ivorys aren?t the only Florida residents who have had Chinese drywall claims denied by the homeowners insurance companies.

Many of Miami attorney Jeremy Alters clients have experienced the same thing.

?A shame?

?It?s a shame because it?s an immediate solution for the homeowners,? Alters said. Instead, many are waiting on lawsuits to work their way through the legal system. But if insurers honored the claims, then they could go after the drywall manufacturers, instead of homeowners, he said.

Homeowners insurance policies are designed to cover ?sudden accidental losses? such as the water damage caused by busted pipes or ripped out roof due to a hurricane, explained Dick Luedke, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance. However, homeowners policies generally exclude pollution or contamination damage or problems stemming from defects in building materials.

State Farm has had fewer than two dozen claims with drywall damage. Luedke says no policy so far has been canceled because of a drywall problem. But the company can reevaluate a policy if the risk of insuring a home has increased dramatically.

The giant international reinsurer Swiss Re said in report issued last month that most homeowners insurance companies are using those two exclusions to deny claims from damage stemming from imported drywall.

Durkee says none of the claims he has reviewed have been denied improperly. Homeowners are turning to builders, drywall suppliers and manufacturers to recover remediation costs. Some builders, including Lennar and GL Homes, have taken on the cost of gutting and rebuilding homes and providing temporary living quarters until the repairs are done.

Hearing held

Earlier this week, a state Senate committee held its first hearing in Tallahassee to discuss potential remedies to help affected homeowners. Requiring home insurers to cover drywall claims hasn?t been discussed.

Boca Raton attorney Allison Grant sued American Home Insurance Company in federal district court in March on behalf of Fort Myers residents Keith Baker and Linda Leri after the insurance company denied their insurance claim for damages related to Chinese drywall.

Although they said their 9,200-square-foot home was inspected after they filed their claim, it was denied because of a contamination exemption in their policy, the lawsuit says. American Home Insurance denies even inspecting the couple?s home, in court documents, but says contamination or pollution exemptions would apply anyway.

?The same thing?

?Most of the companies are doing the same thing,? said Grant, who has a list of clients who have been denied help from their insurance companies. Grant said she?s waiting to see what happens with this lawsuit before going after other insurance companies.

?With Chinese drywall, what?s so unique about it, is that when these policies were written, they didn?t know what Chinese drywall was,? Grant said. ?To exclude it, I think it?s wrong.?

Copyright ? 2009 The Miami Herald, Beatrice E. Garcia and Nirvi Shah. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.