At least it's not Bangladesh

Florida, Netherlands of USia:

Nearly half of homeowners in Florida had mortgages that were underwater in the third quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Reptile Solace and Reinvigoration

Who's Dreaming Gov. Scott?

In his inaugural address today, newly installed Florida Gov. Rick Scott said "dreams are the stuff Florida is made of." He also fervently expressed his desire to remove every shred of regulatory oversight that he says hampers the private sector.

Below are some facts about fraud in Florida. Who is dreaming?

Florida Ranks No. 1 Nationally in Mortgage Fraud
Recent figures reveal that Florida ranks first in the nation as it relates to those whose mortgages are seriously delinquent. But that is not the only dubious distinction where Florida tops the nation. Now, reports indicate that Florida can also claim first place in the number of mortgage frauds.

Expect major new busts in fighting $2.5 billion Florida fraud rings
South Florida easily ranks number one when it comes to healthcare fraud in the U.S., which is why the two are holding the first of several meetings across the nation right here.

Tampa Ranks First in Auto Insurance Fraud
Wondering where the highest cases of auto insurance fraud have occurred in the past year? Look no further than Tampa, Fla. According to the Tampa Police Department, the city is number one for fraudulent auto insurance claims.

Special Agent Ellen Wilcox
Florida ranks first in the nation in mortgage fraud, and the Florida legislature has passed stringent legislation facilitating the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of mortgage fraud.

Florida Ranks Third for Identity Theft
The State Attorney’s Office says the latest statistics show Florida moving up on the list of states with high rates of identity theft.

Miami clinic owners arrested in PIP fraud sweep
The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud made more than 830 insurance fraud-related arrests in the last fiscal year.
According to a recent National Insurance Crime Bureau report, Florida leads the nation in staged accidents. In the first half of last year, Florida had 631 staged accidents.

Identity Theft Information In Florida: Don't Be A Victim!
Florida ranked 6th in identity theft rating in the entire United states. The most common locations of these thefts are Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale.

New Report Ranks Florida Number One for Mortgage Fraud

Florida AG Likens Mortgage Fraud to "State of Emergency"
Florida ranked second in the nation for mortgage fraud activity during 2008, after ranking first during 2006 and 2007, according to recent data released by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, or MARI.

10 busted for auto insurance fraud; you're paying for it
Tampa, Florida -- The Tampa Bay area has earned a claim to fame we'd rather not have, ranking first in the state when it comes to staged auto crashes and second in the country behind Brooklyn, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.


Fraud Friendly Florida
"Retirees in Florida are losing their homes to foreclosure, not because they didn't pay their bills as required, but because the laws of Florida leave them unprotected."

Florida Land of Exploitation

Not exactly tourism down Miami way:

Robo-Signers r Us

A Big Robosigning Firm Just Opened Themselves Up To Public Scrutiny

Hail Miami, leading edge of worstness

Let us count the ways:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=miami+worst+in+nation

STATE FARM: WE FUCK YOU VERY MUCH

Florida, Penile State extraordinaire, penetrated by the sharpsters at State Farm. See brilliant piece in the Herald Tribune.

How State Farm cashed in on a crisis

Through DaVinci, State Farm quietly continues to collect money from thousands of former customers who were told their homes were too risky to insure. MORE

One question the article does not address: Where were the "regulators?" Does the PENILE STATE actually have regulators? What do they do? How do they do it? With what budget? etc.

"Rocket Docket" courts set up in Florida to expedite the process of dirtbag lenders are kicking people out of their homes without having to provide any real evidence that the banks own the note or that the homeowners are delinquent, according to Matt Taibbi:

The bank's new set of papers also traces ownership of the loan from the original lender, Novastar, to JP Morgan and then to Bank of New York. The bank, in other words, is trying to push through a completely new set of documents in its attempts to foreclose on Kowalski's clients.

There's only one problem: The dates of the transfers are completely fucked. More.

"Rocket Docket" courts set up in Florida to expedite the process of dirtbag lenders are kicking people out of their homes without having to provide any real evidence that the banks own the note or that the homeowners are delinquent, according to Matt Taibbi:

The bank's new set of papers also traces ownership of the loan from the original lender, Novastar, to JP Morgan and then to Bank of New York. The bank, in other words, is trying to push through a completely new set of documents in its attempts to foreclose on Kowalski's clients.

There's only one problem: The dates of the transfers are completely fucked. More.

More Penile State Genius

Man Tied to Housing Scheme Arrested for Grand Theft

Investigators say McNair is running a business called Homes for Americans that finds houses in foreclosure and leases them to unsuspecting victims. These victims pay a membership fee to his company and pay monies to McNair to lease property that he does not own. See more here.

Penile Freedom

mysuncoast ABC 7 News Sarasota

63 small dogs abandoned on rural Florida road shar.es/XnQMu

3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Election Night Fun

Go here and pick Fiona, and have her say, in Italian:

questi tea party republicani sono stronzi

at least somebody's still talking sense...

Bring it on, Tea Party

Your hardcore Dixieland fans in the Penile State want you so baaaad!

Your local bank.. er, burglar.

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It is illegal for any bank representative to enter a property if they have not yet retaken it at a foreclosure sale, especially if there is any sign the home is occupied, foreclosure experts say.

The process of banks hiring people to break into homes, even when occupied, is just the latest oddity of the messy foreclosure crisis in Florida.

Some property owners are reporting the break-ins to law enforcement as burglaries. Yet investigators consider the disputes a civil matter because the contractors do not display criminal intent.

That essentially leaves the property owners without recourse.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101004/ARTICLE/10041051/2416/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

Baggers bagged by Oligarchic Corporate State

In the Tea Party narrative, victory at the polls means a new American revolution, one that will "take our country back" from everyone they disapprove of. But what they don't realize is, there's a catch: This is America, and we have an entrenched oligarchical system in place that insulates us all from any meaningful political change. The Tea Party today is being pitched in the media as this great threat to the GOP; in reality, the Tea Party is the GOP.

Vast forests have already been sacrificed to the public debate about the Tea Party: what it is, what it means, where it's going. But after lengthy study of the phenomenon, I've concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They're full of shit. All of them.

READ the whole fucking thing and weep tears of laughter.