CFO SINK HAILS $541 MILLION HOUSING ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today hailed the award of $541 million in housing aid to Florida’s local governments by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation and the highest rate of mortgage fraud. 

The funds, appropriated by Congress as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, will be used to help local governments renovate abandoned and foreclosed properties to make them available for resale.  In turn, local governments will make these properties available to moderate and low-income Floridians.

“I am delighted to see that Floridians will reap hundreds of millions of dollars worth of benefits from the new law,” said CFO Sink, who oversees the Department of Financial Services.  “These resources will help thousands of Floridians who don’t currently own a home have the chance to become homeowners.  It will also help local governments meet the pressing need for housing for many of our hard-working families, including law enforcement officers, teachers and nurses.”   

After Congress’ passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, CFO Sink created a Financial Action Team to review the federal law and to conduct an outreach campaign.  The Financial Action Team is targeting new homebuyers, veterans, homeowners who are having trouble meeting their mortgage payments, and local governments.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink's “Financial Action Team” met Wednesday, September 24, 2008,  in Tallahassee. The Financial Action Team is reviewing Florida’s potential share of the billions in federal dollars available from the recently-passed federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
During the workgroup meeting, members discussed how to use their individual and collective means to inform Floridians about the benefits of the new federal law, and also discussed the impact on the law of the new White House proposal to rescue financial institutions that are still troubled by the housing crisis.

The FACT Team focused on a number of key provisions of the law, including the HOPE for Homeowners Act, which will provide federal guarantees for up to $300 billion in troubled mortgages, the $7,500 homebuyer tax credit, which is available to Floridians who have not owned a home in the past three years but have purchased a home this year, extensive benefits available to veterans, and the nearly $4 billion in aid to local governments which is to be used to refurbish foreclosed properties to be made available for resale – particularly for moderate and low-income homeowners.
The FACT Team will conduct outreach efforts using the Department of Financial Services Web site, member newsletters and magazines, E-mail lists, and The Chief Financial Officer’s toll-free help line, which is 877-My-FL-CFO (877-693-5236). The CFO expects to have these resources available to Floridians over the next few weeks.

Idea: Protect against identity theft

Know your wallet. Carry only the credit cards you need so that access is limited to your accounts if cards are lost or stolen. Photocopy your cards and keep a record of customer service phone numbers.

Shred. Open all mail and read it carefully— shred any items with personal information before discarding.

Be suspicious. Never give out personal information until you have verified that you can trust the source -- over the phone, in-store or online.

Monitor. Check your bank, credit card and other financial account information to reduce the risk of unauthorized charges or credit applications. If you find a suspicious charge, contact your financial institution.

Take action. If you notice a new account has been opened without your permission, contact one of the three major credit bureaus and have a fraud alert placed on your record. The other two bureaus will be notified, and creditors will be required to contact you directly before opening new accounts or making changes to existing accounts. Then file a police report and submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.

Use the Web safely. Be sure to use a secured network, and frequently update firewall protections on your computer. Also limit the amount of personal information you post on networking Web sites.

The Florida State Fire College, a division of the State Fire Marshal's office, sponsored and participated in the third annual Northwest Florida Volunteer Firefighter Weekend on September 19-14, 2008. The event was held for the first time at the Northwest Florida State College (formerly Okaloosa-Walton College). Nearly 200 students from Pensacola to the Keys took part in the educational experience.

Les Hallman, left, division director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office, spoke about safety and the importance of training.  “This is what it is all about, good training in a safe atmosphere. The State Fire Marshal and the Florida State Fire College are proud and pleased to be part of this annual event.”  CONTINUED

For those residents who still intend to receive an economic stimulus payment, the Oct. 15 deadline to file a 2007 income tax return is fast approaching.

And according to the Internal Revenue Service, there were 317,388 potential filers in Florida in mid-September who had not submitted a tax return to get the stimulus check.

Nationally, the IRS is alerting the estimated 4.3 million retirees and disabled veterans who may be eligible to receive a stimulus payment, but who normally don't file a tax return. It's also the deadline for the approximately 10 million people who earlier this year received extensions to file their 2007 income tax return.

• Applies to home purchases after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009.
• Reduces a taxpayer’s tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.
• Is fully refundable, meaning that the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax that they owe.

However, the credit operates much like an interest-free loan, because it must be repaid over a 15-year period. So, for example, an eligible taxpayer who buys a home today and properly claims the maximum available credit of $7,500 on his or her 2008 federal income tax return must begin repaying the credit by including one-fifteenth of this amount, or $500, as an additional tax on his or her 2010 return. CONTINUED