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One minute after midnight Thursday, James Murray became a gambling man and a bundle of nerves.
The same day a new hurricane season dawned, the retired photographer and 85-year-old World War II veteran joined a growing class of Floridians - uninsured homeowners.
It wasn't his choice.
Faced with skyrocketing property insurance rates and rampant cancellations from private companies, many homeowners are unable to afford policies offered by the state-run insurer of last resort, Citizens Property. By law, Citizens must charge higher rates than the private market.
In his 12 years of public service, state Sen. Mike Fasano said he never has received more e-mails, phone calls and letters than now, most all of them from Floridians upset about the rising cost of property insurance.
"The American dream is being taken away from the homeowner,'' said Fasano, a Republican from New Port Richey. "Homeowners insurance is totally unaffordable.''
Residents with mortgages are usually prevented from going without insurance by banks and lenders. But for those who own their homes free and clear, nothing requires them to have insurance.
Nationally, about 5 percent of homeowners go bare, or without insurance, according to the Insurance Research Council. The state's Office of Insurance Regulation doesn't track the uninsured, but some statistics suggest the numbers may be much higher in hurricane-prone Florida where many private insurers are no longer writing policies.
A recent Times review of property and insurance records showed one of every five Pasco County residents in single family homes have no homeowners insurance. Hundreds of coastal Pasco residents face some of the highest insurance increases statewide, driven by climbing sinkhole claims.
Chris and Sandy Butterfield, who own a two-bedroom home in Pasco's Port Richey, are teetering on the edge of the insurance black hole.
The retired musicians have seen their annual insurance bill rise from $400 to $1,800 in the past two years. Their Citizens policy is due in August, and unless they can come up with the cash, the couple might have to go without insurance.
"We're trying to save,'' said Mrs. Butterfield, a 64-year-old whose family relies on a $1,400 monthly Social Security income. "We watch every dime we spend.''
The family has given up on dinners out, the movies and Publix shopping trips.
"I never thought it would come to this,'' she said. "Sometimes we ask ourselves, should we cut our losses and go out of state?''
Mounting insurance bills are the No. 1 concern of residents of the state's mobile homes, estimated to number between 700,000 and 800,000, said Largo resident Don Hazelton, board member of the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida. Pinellas County has one of the state's densest populations of them, about 50,000.
"A lot of people are saying, 'I'll take a chance and not insure. I can't afford the increases,' '' said Hazelton, who has seen his own insurance increase from $880 to $2,300 for coverage on his 1979 mobile home.
He estimates the number of uninsured mobile home owners is increasing by the thousands.
"This is not a small case of a few hundred homes dropping out,'' he said.
Citizens has seen the number of mobile homes it insures more than triple in the last year, going from about 42,000 to 133,000.
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http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/02/Tampabay..._or_buy_f.shtml[/b]
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average wages and income in florida:
Estimated median household income in 2005: $36,699 (it was $35,732 in 2000)
Orlando $36,699
Florida: $42,433
Estimated median house/condo value in 2005: $194,300 (it was $103,200 in 2000)
Orlando $194,300
Florida: $189,500
Median gross rent in 2005: $808.
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2005: 15.1%
(8.4% for White Non-Hispanic residents, 23.2% for Black residents, 16.2% for Hispanic or Latino residents)
Total population: 185,984 (Urban population: 185,145, Rural population: 839 (all nonfarm))
Houses: 88,636 (81,020 occupied: 33,052 owner occupied, 47,968 renter occupied)
% of renters here: 59%
State: 30%
Housing density: 948 houses/condos per square mile
Median price asked for vacant for-sale houses and condos in 2005: $194,300 (lower quartile is $123,700, upper quartile is $320,500)
Median contract rent in 2005: $693 (lower quartile is $573, upper quartile is $821)
Housing units in Orlando with a mortgage: 20,871 (2,564 second mortgage, 1,735 home equity loan, 77 both second mortgage and home equity loan)
Houses without a mortgage: 7,033
Median year house/condo built: 1973
Median year apartment built: 1984
Household type by relationship
Households: 181,964
In family households: 132,153 (26,693 male householders, 16,235 female householders)
27,229 spouses, 45,249 children (41,994 natural, 1,214 adopted, 2,041 stepchildren), 4,409 grandchildren, 2,705 brothers or sisters, 1,687 parents, 3,489 other relatives, 4,457 non-relatives
In nonfamily households: 49,811 (18,591 male householders (12,709 living alone)), 19,477 female householders (15,636 living alone)), 11,743 nonrelatives
In group quarters: 4,020 (2,453 institutionalized population)
Size of family households: 18,587 2-persons, 10,958 3-persons, 7,630 4-persons, 3,530 5-persons, 1,352 6-persons, 871 7-or-more-persons.
Size of nonfamily households: 28,345 1-person, 8,340 2-persons, 1,065 3-persons, 259 4-persons, 30 5-persons, 23 6-persons, 6 7-or-more-persons.
18,595 married couples with children.
16,286 single-parent households (2,664 men, 13,622 women).
75.0% of residents of Orlando speak English at home.
16.5% of residents speak Spanish at home (58% very well, 21% well, 15% not well, 6% not at all).
6.3% of residents speak other Indo-European language at home (59% very well, 24% well, 14% not well, 2% not at all).
1.5% of residents speak Asian or Pacific Island language at home (48% very well, 30% well, 17% not well, 5% not at all).
0.7% of residents speak other language at home (62% very well, 29% well, 9% not well).
Foreign born population: 26,741 (14.4%)
(36.2% of them are naturalized citizens)
Household income:
Less than $10,000: 8182
$10,000 to $14,999: 5574
$15,000 to $19,999: 6390
$20,000 to $24,999: 6193
$25,000 to $29,999: 6634
$30,000 to $34,999: 6544
$35,000 to $39,999: 5703
$40,000 to $44,999: 5453
$45,000 to $49,999: 4070
$50,000 to $59,999: 6803
$60,000 to $74,999: 7066
$75,000 to $99,999: 6159
$100,000 to $124,999: 2601
$125,000 to $149,999: 1094
$150,000 to $199,999: 1117
$200,000 or more: 1413
Unemployment rate for Black males: 7.9%
Unemployment rate for Black females: 10.2%
Unemployment rate for American Indian and Alaska Native males: 16.3%
Unemployment rate for American Indian and Alaska Native females: 14.1%
Unemployment rate for Asian males: 3.9%
Unemployment rate for Asian females: 2.8%
Unemployment rate for other race males: 5.6%
Unemployment rate for other race females: 6.3%
Unemployment rate for two or more race males: 5.1%
Unemployment rate for two or more race females: 4.1%
Unemployment rate for Hispanic or Latino males: 6.5%
Unemployment rate for Hispanic or Latino females: 6.8%
Median house value for:
White Non-Hispanic householders: $120,900
Black or African American householders: $71,200
American Indian or Alaska Native householders: $72,700
Asian householders: $139,800
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander householders: $77,700
Some other race householders: $83,600
Two or more races householders: $81,700
Hispanic or Latino householders: $89,400
http://www.city-data.com/city/Florida.html[/b]
| Its just staggering..........   |
08-16-2007, 03:17 PM
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