Two Dead In Crash

CLEWISTON, FL. (July 28, 2005) -- Two women from Immokalee are dead in an
accident on SR833 in South Hendry County Thursday afternoon about 4:30 p.m..
The FHP says 16-year old Megalina Rios was driving a 2003 Chevrolet and
crossed into to the path of a 2005 Chevrolet driven by Orquidia Littles, 34
of South Kennel Street, Montura. Littles suffered serious injuries and was
transported to Lee Memorial. A passenger in the Rios car , 18-year old
Karen Cypress of Immokalee, also died at the scene. No seat belts were
reported being used by any of the subjects. It was unknown whether alcohol
may have been involved in the case of driver Rios, according to Trooper Cpl.
E.J. Finneran

July LaBelle Real Estate Sales

LABELLE, FL. -- There were 13 homes sold in the LaBelle area this month for
an average price of $125,000. The highest priced home sold went for
$195,000 on 7th Avenue in the city of LaBelle while the lowest priced
transaction was $55,000 on Edison Avenue in the west section of LaBelle.
Port LaBelle homes went for prices between $85,000 and $124,000.

State Sues Real Estate Speculator

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist this week sued a Singapore resident for orchestrating an elaborate real estate scam affecting owners of Florida real estate.

The lawsuit accuses Todd Teal of filing fraudulent affidavits that prevent landowners from selling to anyone but him.

The complaint alleges that Todd Teal, 61, who lives in Singapore, held a mail drop box in Marco Island and used the Internet to identify land held in Florida mostly by out-of-state owners. According to the lawsuit, Teal would make offers to buy the property, hold the property under contract until he found a buyer to purchase it at a higher price, and in the meantime threaten the owner with lawsuits and fraudulent affidavits to prevent the owner from escaping from the unfair transaction. 

The affidavits filed by Teal claimed he had a valid contract, and he would threaten to file a lawsuit to compel the property owner to sell him the property. As long as the affidavits remained in the court clerk's official record, the landowner did not have clear title and was prevented from selling to any other buyers.

These affidavits put a "cloud" on the title to the property, giving Teal an unlimited amount of time to arrange for another purchaser to buy the property from him. If a property owner objected to Teal's legal tactics, he threatened litigation. Investigators determined that Teal has bought and sold hundreds of properties, turning more than a million dollars profit in this manner.

According to the lawsuit, the title to more than 150 parcels of Florida land has been illegally clouded by Teal's actions. Owners have also suffered damages from lost opportunities to sell their land because of Teal's fraudulent scheme. About one-third of the properties involved owners who live in Florida.

Teal's actions as alleged violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and also constitute the common law offense of slander of title. The Attorney General seeks an order blocking Teal from buying additional Florida land and erasing the fraudulent affidavits from official county records. The lawsuit also seeks penalties of $10,000 for each of the more than 150 violations under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, or $15,000 for each violation against a person over 60 years of age.

Investigators discovered that Teal is operating similar scams in Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Washington. To date, these other states do not appear to have taken action against Teal.

A copy of the Attorney General’Äôs complaint is available at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-6EQPZ4/$file/TealComplaint+.pdf

UPDATE: The Leon County Circuit Court Judge William Gary signed a Final Judgment March 7, 2008 against Teal, for $6,464,393 in his scamming of Florida landowners with 546 deceptive contracts or fraudulent affidavits.

Self-Employed Health Insurance

LABELLE, FL. -- Self-employed Floridians in need of health insurance can
obtain it through an open enrollment period during the month of August,
Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher says.

The open enrollment period requires insurance companies and Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) to offer applications for coverage to the
self-employed on a guaranteed-issue basis from August 1 to August 31 each
year, with a plan start date of October 1. The open enrollment period
enables individuals without health coverage to obtain insurance.
Additionally, it provides Floridians that currently have health coverage
the opportunity to switch to another insurance plan.

Small employers are eligible if they have just one employee who qualifies
for coverage, and if they did not go into business primarily for the
purpose of buying health insurance. A sole proprietor, independent
contractor or self-employed individual is considered a small employer only
if all of the conditions and criteria established in the law are met.

A list of insurance companies offering coverage is posted on the Department
of Financial Services  website at
http://www.fldfs.com/Consumers/small_group_market_carrirers.htm. For
available benefits, go to
http://www.fldfs.com/companies/lh_fr/is_LHFR_Small_Emp_Benefit_Plan.htm.

Guaranteed-issue means insurers and HMOs must offer coverage without regard
to health status. Companies that write coverage for individuals are
required to offer only basic  or standard  plans.

With the passage of the Affordable Healthcare for Floridians Act last year,
coverage options for employers include health savings accounts (HSAs) and
health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). HSAs, which operate like
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), allow people to save their own money
in a tax-free account for use on health related expenses. If the money is
not spent, it will roll over annually and continue to accumulate until the
policyholder is age 65 at which time the money can be used for any purpose.

These accounts will help Floridians pay for out-of-pocket health costs
with pre-tax dollars and empower them to make wise financial decisions
about their medical care,  said Gallagher, who co-chaired the Governor s
Task Force that suggested many of the new choices. These accounts will
not only help lower overall costs in the market, but they provide
Floridians seeking health care coverage another option. Additionally,
young, healthy individuals who so often choose to go without insurance will
be more inclined to purchase this type of coverage. The goal is to provide
all Floridians access to affordable health care. 

Self-employed Floridians who apply for coverage must show certain
documentation verifying that they are operating an active business,
including tax forms, license information and business receipts.

Upthegrove Completes Training

LABELLE, FL. -- Attorney General Charlie Crist this honored School Resource
Officers at the annual conference of the Florida Association of School
Resource Officers. Honored at the conference were eight law enforcement
officers who received the designation as School Resource Officer
Practitioners after completing training through the Attorney General's
Office including Auxiliary Deputy Edward Upthegrove of the Hendry County
Sheriff's Office.

Since 1988, the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute, a unit of the
Attorney General's Office, has offered the designation of School Resource
Officer Practitioner. This designation is conferred to document an
individual's successful completion of a series of SRO training courses
offered by the institute. The officer must complete 130 hours of
juvenile-related courses from the institute or other authorized training
sources.

With the addition of the eight officers receiving the designation today, a
total of 201 School Resource Officers have been certified as practitioners.