Podcasts about several florida

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are getting closer to providing insurance companies with a new underwriting tool to combat fraud: the ability to review meeting minutes and other public documents from homeowners and condominium associations, whose communities are home to nearly half of Florida's 22.3 million residents.Several Florida associations have been accused of recent wrongdoing, including one where four former board members were arrested, accused of engaging in a multi-million dollar embezzlement of monthly dues from residents.  Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sat down with an insurance lawyer and an insurance services company executive who uses AI, to find out how often this fraud happens, how it increases property insurance rates, and exactly how the new technology to fight it will work.Show Notes The South Florida Sun Sentinel did a recent exposé of a West Miami development called The Hammocks, a 6,500-unit community of houses, townhouses, and condominiums.  Four former association board members were arrested for allegedly engaging in an intricate scheme to embezzle millions of dollars in monthly dues from residents.  Authorities say $2.4 million in checks were written to five companies that did little or no work for the homeowners association (HOA) – two of them owned by the husband of the former board president.  Andy McGuire, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of PEAK6 InsurTech, said such fraudulent practices contribute to inflationary pricing and higher insurance rates.   He said advances in technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI) and the machine learning process, are providing better insights into risk.  His company's subsidiary, Focus Technologies, is doing this today to serve its customers better. “With enough observations, you can run a model, for example, on the language used in the meeting minutes to potentially pick up on schemes,” said McGuire.  “Now that we have this example, for this particular issue, we can build an AI and teach it with these talk paths or words and knowing that it resulted in fraud, you have your first learning.  You can get enough positive observations that you now have a model that an underwriter can load the minutes into and get a prediction.  Combine that with financial data and a propensity to commit fraud of each individual member of the board, and you have a fully automated decision tree.  I don't think we're totally there yet, but we're really close.  This is the future,” said McGuire, whose 25 years in the industry include risk management and reinsurance.Tiffany Rothenberg is a Partner at the Kelly Kronenberg law firm's West Palm Beach office in the heart of Florida's condominium country.  She represents commercial property insurance companies in complex coverage disputes and is an expert in the HOA and condominium association insurance claims arena.  “I can't tell you how frequently we end up seeing this kind of a scenario,” Rothenberg told host Lisa Miller.  “I just had a case here in Palm Beach County, where the association submitted a $4.5 million dollar Hurricane Irma claim for roof damage.  When we started to review their condo records, we discovered that the association actually had five roof replacement proposals that were all under $1 million.  And then during depositions, it came out they actually signed a contract with one of those roofing contractors for around... (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-46-insurers-know-the-building-and-the-board/)  

Home buyers are getting cold feet because of high home prices and mortgage rates. A new report from Redfin shows the number of buyers canceling deals is now the highest it's been since the beginning of the pandemic. The pullback is also impacting builders. A report by John Burns Real Estate Consulting says they are lowering prices as they try to offload inventory. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.The Redfin report shows that homebuyers canceled 15% of the deals that went under contract in June. That's about 60,000 deals and the highest percentage of cancellations since the early days of the pandemic. About a month ago, in May, 12.7% of the deals were canceled. And about a year ago, that figure was 11.2%. (1)More Homebuyers Canceling DealsAnalysts say buyers may have different motives for canceling their purchases including the possibility that home prices might go lower in the coming months, and they might get a better deal if they wait. For those who don't want to wait, there's less competition and that's giving them more negotiating power. Redfin's deputy chief economist, Taylor Marr, says there are fewer buyers willing to waive inspections and appraisals, for example. By doing that, they have more time to weigh the pros and cons of a deal and get out if something turns up during the inspection, or the home doesn't appraise.The Redfin report also says that some homebuyers simply don't qualify with the higher mortgage payments. Marr says: “If rates were 5% when you made the offer, but hit 5.8% by the time the deal was set to close, you may no longer be able to afford that home or you may no longer qualify for the loan.”Redfin says that Las Vegas has the highest percentage of cancellations in June at 27.2%. Several Florida cities that have seen strong home price growth are high on the list along with New Orleans, Phoenix, and Houston. It's a long list that ranges from the Las Vegas high to a low of about 2.6% in Newark, New Jersey. Metros that had at least 1,000 pending home sales in June were included in this analysis.Home Builders Lowering PricesHome builders are also seeing higher cancellation rates. A report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting says 9.3% of new home deals were canceled in May. That's almost three percent higher than May of last year. (2)John Burns' senior vice president, Jody Kahn, says: “Buyer's remorse and cancellations shortly after contract are increasing. Builders say that buyers are nervous about a potential recession, struggling to get comfortable with higher payments, or expecting home prices to decline.”The cancellation rate for homebuilders varied from region to region within each state. The John Burns research shows the highest cancellation rate at 27% in parts of Texas, and the lowest in some parts of the Southeast at 8%. That research shows that a quarter of the home builders are lowering their prices. A builder in Austin, Texas, told Realtor.com: “Sales have fallen off a cliff. We're selling ⅓ of what we sold in March and April.”Housing Inventory Turn-AroundOne positive impact of this high-price environment is an increase in inventory. A TV station in Texas reports that: “Major housing markets in Texas are finally seeing the beginning of a housing inventory rebound.” (3) As you may know, six months of inventory is considered normal for a balanced housing market. We're not seeing that yet, but this report says the numbers are rising in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas Fort Worth, and Austin.Many homebuyers are getting priced out of the market, but the need for housing will not go away. That creates an opportunity for investors, despite the high prices. A recent guest our other podcast, The Real Wealth Show, isn't discouraged by the high prices. His strategy: “You don't wait to buy real estate. You buy real estate and wait.” In other words, cash flow will come to those who wait for properties and rents to appreciate. The episode is called: “Invest Now or Wait?” with Jimmy Vreeland. You'll find it under the “Learn” tab and “The Real Wealth Show.”And please remember to hit the subscribe button, and leave a review!Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke.Links:1 -https://www.redfin.com/news/home-purchases-fall-through-2022/2 -https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/scary-times-builders-are-slashing-home-prices-and-slowing-construction-as-buyers-pull-back-survey-shows/3 -https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/business/right-on-the-money/major-housing-markets-finally-seeing-the-beginning-of-a-housing-inventory-rebound/287-346525d9-e3f1-4806-a2a9-121940badc45

It's Thursday and topics tackled today include...President Biden says he will release around a million barrels of oil a day from the strategic petroleum reserve for six months to help drive down oil and gas prices.; Several Florida politicians, Disney and President Biden have condemned Gov. Ron DeSantis signing of the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, meanwhile, the silent majority of Disney employees support parental rights law in Florida.; San Antonio's beloved "Hispanic Elvis" has lost his life after he was hospitalized earlier with an infection in his esophagus and Covid-19. Did you ever see "Hispanic Elvis" in action?; Bruce Willis family has announced that Bruce Willis would be stepping away from acting after developing a medical condition that is affecting his cognitive abilities so we have some fun and ask you what is your favorite Bruce Willis movie role and Jack takes your calls on the days News and Hot topics.

On tonight's program: Governor DeSantis calls a special session of the Florida Legislature to oppose government employee vaccine mandates from the feds; Several Florida school districts battle a state rule banning local student mask mandates; A Texas-style abortion bill looks unlikely to move forward in Florida; Florida's jobless rate keeps inching downwards. That's a really good thing, because it seems the state's unemployment system is still fraught with problems; Florida's retirement system has been long considered a model for the rest of the nation. We'll hear from the man who helped make it so; And we'll hear from a Democratic strategist on how state Senator Annette Taddeo's recent candidacy for governor could help the party's chances for success heading into 2022...

On December 4, the House of Representatives approved decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level . The bill, branded as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act , or MORE Act, removes cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and facilitates canceling low-level federal convictions and arrests related to marijuana. However, the Senate is not expected to pass the bill despite strong public support , according to the Gallup polling agency. Several Florida cities have passed legislation to decriminalize cannabis. Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis has introduced such bills. One failed to pass and the other has yet to be heard. Sally Peebles , a Partner with Vicente Soderberg and a Member of the state’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee told us what to expect next. 10 Worst Toys For 2020 The organization World Against Toys Causing Harm Inc. (WATCH) has released its nominees for “ 10 Worst Toys for 2020 .” The list aims to discourage parents

With travel expected to set a record low this Memorial Day weekend due to social distancing and the troubled economy brought on by COVID-19 shutdowns, WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez looks at a number of places in our state where Floridians will likely spend their time.

We discuss some current news headlines (with SEVERAL Florida man stories) and have a dialog about some of the scariest threats facing humanity over the last few decades. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dark-corner-gunworks/support

Several Florida school district leaders lined up to reject the idea of letting classroom teachers carry guns in schools as part of a guardian program even before Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure into law. Bay County superintendent Bill Husfelt was not among them. Husfelt welcomed the initial guardian plan a year ago, and said the expansion of the model would help keep his county's students, employees and schools safe. Already, he said, several teachers are signing up to get trained. Why is his perspective so different from many others? Husfelt discussed his views with reporter Marlene Sokol. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stephani Scruggs Bowen's husband Michael had hoped to keep his medical cannabis use in the closet, but when he had a full blown epileptic seizure on the Florida senate floor everything changed. He was at the state house to testify in favor of medical cannabis, but before he could testify he had a grand mal seizure. Several Florida legislators and members of the press witnessed the terrifying event. The next day media outlets published the tale of what had happened to Michael, so any he had hope of trying to keep his use of cannabis on the down low vanished. Stephani joins the podcast to share their story of finding healing through cannabis and becoming outspoken advocates on behalf of medical cannabis. Show notes for today's episode can be found at www.cannabishealsme.com/33 Today's Sponsor is The Grow CFO. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Several Florida school leaders have said that while they have many excellent teachers, they're not always providing the best teaching possible. Concerns have arisen that they're lessons are below grade level, or perhaps they're not getting students engaged enough with the material. Impact Florida is a new group that arose to help schools find successful instructional models and get them into classrooms. It had its first statewide conference this month, involving officials from school districts representing nearly half of the state's students. Executive director Mandy Clark and chief operating officer Trey Csar talk about their objectives, how Florida's pending standards review will play a role, the connections between schools and outside funders, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.