Special Session, Price of Paradise & Judicial Activism – March 23rd, 2022

FL Special Session, Price of Paradise & Judicial Activism – March 23rd, 2022 

1. It’s time for something special. Some things can’t wait another year and some things shouldn’t wait another year. One of each is currently being debated among Florida legislators as they’re considering the prospects of a special session. After having failed to pass property insurance reform amid a growing crisis and condo inspection reform after last year’s Surfside collapse, the rational for holding a special session to address them is there. So is the will of Governor DeSantis to call it. When asked about whether a special session should be called after the State Legislative Session just concluded, DeSantis said this: If they can get an agreement, they should do it. In that case, we should get that agreement and we should just do it. Any Florida homeowner carrying property insurance (who isn’t part of the problem by attempting to scam or game the system) is caught in the middle of a crisis which if not addressed, will soon be worse than what was experienced after the housing crisis and Great Recession. As I’ve discussed, 77% of the country’s property insurance lawsuits are in Florida. It’s insane and it costs every homeowner with property insurance, including those who never file claims, huge money. That’s because it’s costing Florida property insurers huge money. With the Florida property insurance market having resulted in a net loss of $4 billion over the past three years, we’ve had a cascading effect of rapidly rising insurance premiums – which were already the most expensive nationally – and fewer companies offering them with five having collapsed in the past two years. This is all without Florida’s most populous and expensive area – South Florida – having had a major claims event since Irma in 2017. What’s happening isn’t sustainable for the industry or most homeowners. It’s time for the legislature to finally pass major insurance reform which includes meaningful litigation reform – which is the single biggest problem our state faces that’s yet to be meaningfully addressed. The current state of scamming and litigating in our state is far more damaging than any hurricane could be – but it also means if we get wacked by one, more property insurance companies, let alone us- won’t be able to afford it. It’s time for something special out of our state legislature and it really can’t wait another year – especially if this one were to include a major claims event. Speaking of South Florida property... 
2. The price of paradise continues to reach record highs. The most recent report from the Florida Realtors Association shows South Florida – both east and west – remains the most desirable in our state and naturally – the most expensive. In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro – our home prices are relative bargains at $530,000 after gains of 19% over the past year. A bargain you say? Yeah, our coast is the 2nd most expensive coast in Florida. The Naples metro in Collier Country just became the first in the state to post an average single-family home price of $700,000 – on back of a 26% increase in prices year-over-year. The price of paradise is no doubt expensive but with demand continuing to far outpace supply – with only about a month worth of inventory currently available – it’s also a near certainty it’ll only become pricier in the future. Btw, these increases are also putting additional pressure on the aforementioned insurance companies and the premiums we have to pay for policies. And yeah, obviously pressure on affordability is a huge concern for many families with a median household income in South Florida of around $63,000 – the fact remains that the average family isn’t really able to afford the average home. But the reason the rise has proved sustainable? Cash. There’s actually been an increase in cash being used to purchase homes over a year ago – with approximately 40% of homes in South Florida being purchased with cash. That’s what’s really driving up the price of paradise and is likely to keep them there.  
3. Judicial activism. Based upon where you went for coverage of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson you found headlines like NBC’s, Supreme Court Pick Jackson rejects GOP attacks, or Fox’s - Biden nominee fumbles question on landmark case about the rights of African Americans. But to me the biggest tell which came from Tuesday’s hearings wasn’t about her ability to successfully defend herself from concerns that she’s soft on child predators or oddly that she’s not versed on the Dred Scott decision. What these hearings are mostly about are judicial philosophy and there’s one answer above all others that stood out to me yesterday – and while it was on one of the highest profile issues, abortion, it wasn’t her position on abortion that caught my attention – it’s what she views the Supreme Court’s role to be. In answering Senator Feinstein’s question as to if she feels Roe v. Wade is settled as a precedent, as Justices Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett had previously stated, Jackson said... Roe and Casey are the settled law of the Supreme Court concerning the right to terminate a woman's pregnancy. There’s only one huge problem with that statement...did you catch it? The settled law of the Supreme Court? How radical is this Supreme Court nominee? Radical enough that she apparently believes the role of the Supreme Court isn’t to interpret the law and to rule on rights but rather to create them. Specific to the abortion issue itself, it’s wholly ironic as the current court has actual laws – you know the kind created by legislatures as per the United States Constitution, its currently considering. The other issues will grab the headlines, but her assertion of the court’s role is alarming and blatantly unconstitutional.