YOUR CAR KEYS MAY SAVE A LIFE

 YEP!!!

Put your car keys beside your bed at night.

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Doctor's office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage.

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds, all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

This would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can't reach a phone. My Mom has suggested to my Dad that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn't hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she'll know there's a problem.

This may save a life!

TAX REFORM ENGAGING CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS

Tax Reform is underway on Capitol Hill. The Senate tax-writers have adopted a "Blank Slate" approach that initially eliminates every provision in the tax code, including those that are cherished by homeowners and future homeowners.  The intent is to lower tax rates that in turn will stimulate the economy.
From a website created for the effort: 
"In order to make sure that we end up with a simpler, more efficient and fairer tax code, we believe it is important to start with a "blank slate" -- that is, a tax code without all of the special provisions in the form of exclusions, deductions and credits and other preferences that some refer to as "tax expenditures." This blank slate is not, of course, the end product, nor the end of the discussion....
We plan to operate from an assumption that all special provisions are out unless there is clear evidence that they: (1) help grow the economy, (2) make the tax code fairer, or (3) effectively promote other important policy objectives."

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Finance Committee recently began a legislative push to simplify the tax code by asking all Senators to make a case for including special tax breaks.Senator Max Baucus, on the left, and Senator Orrin Hatch want to start work on the tax code by clearing it of special breaks, unless those breaks meet specific goals. 

In the House, the committee that works on tax measures is called the Ways and Means Committee and it is headed up by Dave Camp, (R-Mich). This Committee has held many hearings on tax reform and has built "working groups" to arrive at a game plan for tax reform.

 

Normally Senators are tasked with the need to eliminate tax breaks but Senator Baucus and Senator Hatch thought that it is easier for Senators to come up with their list of deductions and breaks they want SAVED.

Every  $2 trillion in individual tax breaks added back to their "blank slate" would raise tax rates 1.3 to 2.2 percentage points. In other words, Senators must decide between popular tax breaks and low income tax rates.

FINANCIAL PROTECTIONS FOR SERVICEMEMBERS

To protect our military forces with mortgage relief, termination of leases, protection from eviction, a 6% cap on interest rates and the right to reopen any default judgments made during their active duty, in 2003, President Bush signed into law the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.  This law applied only to obligations that originated before their military service and were still in effect.  “Servicemembers” includes all those on active duty in the military and includes National Guard members called up for active duty for more than 30 days.

All lenders should be immediately notified when you go on active duty, and they must receive a copy of your military orders.  When put on notice, all interest payments must be reduced to 6% and lender must forgive all pre-service debts exceeding the 6% cap.  Your monthly payment must be reduced.  This also applies only to debts that were initiated before active service began.

Leases entered into before active service began can be terminated before expiring, giving landlord 30 days advance notice of termination and rent must be paid up to termination date.  A private life insurance policy cannot lapse, terminate or be forfeited for nonpayment of premiums while insured is on active duty and for one year after duty ends.

 

Garnishments and attachments, requested by military personnel or a court, may be stayed or vacated during active service.  The court can appoint an attorney to represent the interests of a servicemember.

The Supreme Court ruled that the law must be read with “an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country’s call.”

HAPPY NEWS... TRADER JOE'S IS COMING TO BOCA RATON AND PALM BEACH GARDENS

The line forms to the right.

For years a popular topic of discussion has been, “I heard Trader Joe’s is coming to town, hooray!”  Now, it is true!  Scheduled to open in both Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens in 2014, with cedar covered walls and Hawaiian motifs and art celebrating the neighborhood, we will have our pick of a variety of domestic and imported foods and beverages – they promise: all at honest low prices!  Staff, known as “crew members,” will be easy to spot in their Hawaiian shirts.  Residents will receive by mail Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer,” known as a cross between Mad Magazine and Consumer Reports. 

A dozen new items will be added each week to the 1000+ private label items including fresh baked artisan breads, Arabica bean coffees, international  frozen entrees, 100% juices, fresh crop nuts, deli items, vitamins and supplements and basics like milk and eggs.  Vegan, vegetarian, kosher, gluten free, low sodium and fat free products will be included.  Antibiotic meats will include beef, steaks, roast beef, chicken, sliced turkey and ham, bacon and lamb loin chops.

The store specializes in high quality ingredients, great flavors and great prices.  Sometimes when they purchase from manufacturers they will take a brand name product, remove preservatives and artificial colors and ingredients, put their label on it and sell It at a real discount.  Boca location will be 855 South Federal Highway, approximately 12,500 sq ft, and wine and beer will be included for sale.  Palm Beach Gardens PGA Plaza will be the other location. Started in 1958 and thriving.

See you there!

 

FOOD RECALLS

Are you sure the food you are eating is safe? 

The list on the link below provides information gathered from press releases and other public notices about certain recalls of FDA-regulated products.  

• FDA works with industry and our state partners to publish press releases and other public notices about recalls that may potentially present a significant or serious risk to the consumer or user of the product.  Not all recalls have press releases or are posted on this page.
• The posting of information on this page is separate from FDA's recall classification process. The weekly Enforcement Report lists all recalls after they have been classified by FDA.  For more information about FDA’s product recall authority, process and classification guidelines, see FDA 101: Product Recalls.
• For recall notices older than 60 days, see the Recall and Safety Alerts Archive.

How did the FDA know to recall these products? People got sick!  Use this link each week to see the report.  Two popular local grocery outlets have products on this week’s list that were recalled.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm

BE SMART SCAM WORKSHOP MAY 10TH, 1 PM at SOUTH COUNTY CIVIC CENTER, DELRAY BEACH

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater presents a free workshop for seniors, their families and caregivers.  The program is part of Operation S.A.F.E. (Stop Adult Financial Exploitation), On Guard for Seniors initiative. 

The Be Scam Smart workshop will be held on Friday, May 10^th from 1 pm to 2:30 pm at the South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach.  Discussions will include:

·        The Psychology of a Scam

·        How to Spot Fraudulent Behavior

·        Common Scams that Target Seniors

·        How to Fight Identity Theft

·        Resources to Keep You Safe

Click to register.  For more information, call 850-413-2854. 

DRONES FOR GOOD COMMERCIAL USAGE

The Federal Aviation Administration may open the nation’s airspace to drone photography of real estate properties.  Other countries are allowing this method.  A drone, says Wikipedia, is and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) without a human pilot on board.  A computer can control it or a remote control from another vehicle.  FAA rules are expected to be finalized by 2015 and Congress instructed FAA to open drone use to the nation’s airspace for commercial use and permit issuing.  The results can be less expensive than aerial photography.  Issues may come up about invasion of privacy.

UPDATE: Foreclosure Filings Spiked By 34% In South Florida Region In Q1 2013.

Nearly 13,700 foreclosure actions were filed in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach in the first quarter of 2013, representing a 34 percent increase in notices of default initiated on a year-over-year basis compared to the same January through March period in 2012, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

FORECLOSURE LEGISLATURE UNDER DISCUSSION IN TALLAHASSEE

 

Lawmakers and consumer advocates are currently seeking to change Florida’s status as one of the few states in the country that is still seeing an increase in foreclosure activity. There are multiple proposals currently floating around in the Florida legislature that have people on all ends of the issue debating.

“Fair Foreclosure Act”

House Bill 87, also known as the “Fair Foreclosure Act,” is currently moving through committees in the House. Supporters of the bill argue that the bill protects borrowers by requiring banks and lenders to prove they own a mortgage before filing any action towards foreclosure. If passed, the bill would also allow third-party lien holders, such as condo or homeowner associations, to push foreclosures through a faster process rather than through the usual court proceeding with the lender. Borrowers would then be allowed 20 days to provide defense against the foreclosure action. After a final judgment in foreclosure is reached, the bill would give banks and lenders one year instead of the present five years to go after borrowers for losses from a foreclosure.

HB 87 has generated the most discussion of all proposed measures. Critics claim that the legislature seems more concerned with processing foreclosures as fast as they can and less concerned about protecting the well-being and rights of homeowners. They also say that 20 days is not enough time for homeowners to seek out attorneys and provide reasonable foreclosure defenses. On the contrary, supporters claim Florida’s judicial-foreclosure process is too drawn out, creating misery among those involved. Supporters say accelerating the process would also be beneficial for the future of Florida’s real estate, as homes in foreclosure limbo are sometimes eyesores that push surrounding property values down.

Senate Bill (SB) 1666

Senate Bill 1666 would allow retired justices or judges to consent to temporary duty to help go through the backlog of foreclosure cases in Florida. The legislation would also allow second publication of the notice of sale of a home to be published on a publicly accessible website of the clerk of court in lieu of being published in any other form of media.  This changes the requirement that a second notice of pending foreclosure occur in a print newspaper advertisement, a move some say is unfair to low income homeowners who could only find out about a potential foreclosure sale through a print newspaper notice.

House Bill (HB) 1777

HB 1777 would establish a homeowner bill of rights, like a similar measure enacted in California early this year, in the event of late mortgage payments. California’s law is meant to protect homeowners from predatory lenders and further regulate lending practices. California has already seen a steady decrease in the amount of foreclosure filings since it went into effect on January 1, CNNMoney reports.

Senate Bills 1236, 1226, 371 and 1228

Four bills, proposed and sponsored by Senator Darren Soto (D-Orlando), seek to remedy homeowners’ distress. SB 1226 and 371 would mandate that lenders can only file a deficiency judgment one year after a final foreclosure judgment, and would only have two years to collect outstanding debt. Presently, collectors are legally allowed to contact borrowers about debts for up to two decades. SB 1236, also known as the “Mortgage Principal Reduction Act,” would require the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to apply for $100 million of the federal government’s Hardest-Hit Program in order to begin a mortgage principal reduction program for Florida residents with properties are in foreclosure. Soto’s final proposed bill, the “Short Sale Debt Relief Act,” would make deficiency judgments unenforceable on a short sale if the original debt was 20 percent or greater than fair market value.

Based on all of the proposals presented, Floridians will likely see changes to the foreclosure process soon.  Everyone who has an opinion on what needs to be done most likely wants to see more improvement in the housing market.

Sarah Parr is a Florida writer who blogs about Florida foreclosure issues.

THE OPERATIVE WORD IS "TRANSPARENCY"

State governments contract for goods and services amounting to tens of billions of dollars, and offer subsidies to encourage economic development, grants and other spending issues.  To insure that the funds are well spent, accountability and public scrutiny are required.

Right now all 50 states provide state spending information on the internet, and for all except CA and VT the info is searchable.  “Transparency 20” refers to meeting the standards.

Take a look at TRANSPARENCY FLORIDA, and see how our state spends its money.  The U.S. Public Interest Research Group gave Florida an A- grade for the Transparency Florida website, and ranked it third in the US for state government transparency.  You may want to subscribe to Florida’s CFO Jeff Atwater’s weekly DOLLARS AND SENSE newsletter to keep apprised of what is happening in our state.

SHADES OF FLASH GORDON...

 

Watch and listen to how drones work....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpcSpLHu-8

 

 

 

 

 

EVER WONDERED HOW THE INTERNET WORKS?

http://www.wimp.com/internetworks/

 

 

EVER WONDERED HOW THE INTERNET WORKS?

http://www.wimp.com/internetworks/

 

 

FINDING AN UNCLAIMED PENSION

You, or someone you know, may be owed a pension. Below are options for searching PBGC's list of pensions that have been earned, but are unclaimed.
PLEASE NOTE: The lists you can search here do not include all people for whom PBGC is holding pensions or information about their pensions. It includes only those people whom PBGC has not yet been able to contact directly.
Search here for unclaimed pensions by the participant's or beneficiary's last name, the name of the company that provided the pension, or the state of the company's location.

Search by Name - either exact match or contains, Company or State.

http://search.pbgc.gov/mp/mp.aspx

A SELLERS MARKET
IS STARTING TO DEVELOP
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA...

 

good news for sellers, not so good news for buyers
as prices ARE starting to go UP

CATCH SOME HISTORY HERE

FLAGLER MUSEUM’S WHITEHALL LECTURE SERIES – PRESIDENTS OF THE GILDED AGE

Presidents to be discussed include Grant, McKinley, Garfield, Cleveland and Hayes. Here is an opportunity to listen to the lectures, watch the presentations and ask the lecturer questions. Authors of books about these men will be present and a book signing with the author will follow each lecture.

It can also be seen online. For first time users of the Flagler Museum's on-line room, you need to install a small, safe plug-in. When prompted please provide your first name and leave the password field blank. At the welcome page, click on the "Download Here" link. This will open a "File Download" dialogue box. Within that box, click on the "Run" button. Please be sure to configure your firewall to allow the Talking Communities software access to your computer and please disable your screen saver. No charge for online attendance.

Flagler Museum Members at Sustaining and higher levels can attend for free. Individual, Family and Life Members cost $10/each. Non-members costs $28 per lecture of $125 for a Series ticket and includes Museum Admission. More information here. The Museum is located at 1 Whitehall Way in Palm Beach. Call 561-655-2833 for further information.

You just might hear some similarities to our times right now. The more things change the more they remain the same?

EXCITING, INFORMATIVE, INSPIRATIONAL - A MUST WATCH!

Israeli Air Force documentary

Got to watch.

Password to view is iaf

https://vimeo.com/54400569

NEW APPRAISAL RULE FOR HIGH-PRICED MORTAGE LOANS

A new appraisal rule has been issued by The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Effective January 18, 2014, the final rule was issued on new appraisal requirements for Higher-priced mortgage loans (HPML).

A licensed appraiser must provide a written appraisal based n a physical visit to the property, creditors must disclose the purpose of the appraisal and applicants will be given a free copy.

If seller bought the property within six months and the current price exceeds a threshold written into the new rule, the creditor must also pay for a second appraisal.  This is intended to cut down on fraudulent property flipping by ensuring the property value has legitimately increased.  The types of exempt loans include qualified mortgages, temporary bridge and construction loans, loans for new manufactured homes and loans for mobile homes, trailers and houseboats.  Some rural areas and other transactions are exempt.

The complete rule can be downloaded from the Federal Reserve’s website.

 

 

Message from Jeff Atwater, CFO, State of Florida January 2013

After having stumbled in the wake of the recession, the U.S. Census Bureau affirmed that Florida has again become a top destination for Americans. 

Florida also is setting itself apart on a national scale by continuing to excel at education compared with other states and the country as a whole. While many challenges must be overcome, this past year has been a hopeful indication for the future.

“FISCAL CLIFF” NEGOTIATIONS: NEXT PAYCHECK TO BE REDUCED

Article Summary:

The White House and Congress have finalized the details and the President has signed off on the terms to avoid the "fiscal cliff". But what is coming up are fights over entitlements and the debt ceiling issue. We will cover these in the next few editions. On a summary basis, here is what may impact you now and throughout the year


First, what was NOT in the final outcome.

All wage-earners who have taxes withheld from their paycheck will see an impact in their first full check in 2013. Under the Social Security tax holiday granted two years ago, the 6.2 percent payroll tax was cut to 4.2 percent.  In 2013, the amount withheld will go back up to 6.2 percent.  If your annual salary is $50,000, expect to have about $1000 less in take home pay over the year or about $20 per week. If you earn $100,000 per year you will most likely see $40 to $45 less per week in your take home pay.

Now the major provisions that will be enacted:

• Tax rates will rise for income above $450,000 and individuals above $400,000. All income below these thresholds will be taxed at current rates.
• The tax on capital gains and dividends will be permanently set at 20 percent for those with income above the $450,000/$400,000 threshold. It will remain at 15 percent for everyone else.
• Also extended for five years: The 2009 tax breaks for low-income taxpayers including the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit
• The Alternative Minimum Tax will be "patched," so as to not impact  the middle class wage-earners.
• Federal unemployment insurance will be extended for one more year.

GL HOMES BUYS AG RESERVE LAND SOUTH OF BRIDGES ON LYONS ROAD FOR 610 SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

Estimation is that GL Homes now owns 1300 acres in a rectangular-shaped area north of Clint Moore Road.  It is expected that they will build communities similar to The Bridges, but there are no immediate plans to break ground on the property.  Purchase of two parcels bought separately was reportedly for $150MM.

The Agricultural Reserve was formed, 21,000 acres, in 1947 to preserve farmland, and County rules have changed to allow suburban-style clusters as long as 60% is set aside for preservation.  Both newly purchased parcels have been recently used for farming.

According to Brad Hunter, Chief Economist with housing research firm Metrostudy, said that, “GL homes has five developments in the Lyons Road corridor stretching from Boca Raton to Boynton Beach that managed to thrive even during the worst of the real estate collapse.”  He also said that, “There’s not a lot left for people to choose from in that sub-market…It’s a proven market with a huge amount of demand, so I think their success will continue in this location.”

The new Delray Marketplace will be opening soon with Publix, many shops and restaurants.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Bridges had sold 246 homes as of December 17^th.