Recession or no recession, a new poll by Quinnipiac University suggests a majority of Floridians feel their personal finances are in good shape. ...more

November 19, 2008

Amid state budget woes, a declining housing market, concerns about property taxes and insurance, and the worst jobless rate Florida has seen since 1994, Gov. Charlie Crist remains highly popular. ...more

November 19, 2008

Two months after having to evict one of its own, the Tampa Housing Authority is set to have a full board again. Mayor Pam Iorio has chosen Hersey Jackson to fill the vacant resident board seat formerly held by Karen Peoples, the longtime public housing resident who sat in the chair for 10 years. ...more

November 18, 2008

During the last few years, I have contacted the Highlands County Property Appraiser's office concerning the increased appraised value on properties in the county. I asked the question repeatedly, "since you are raising them drastically during this housing bubble, will you lower them as drastically when the bottom falls out of the housing market?" Their answer, Oh yes, we will definitely lower them if that happens. Well fellow residents, have you seen any drop in your appraised value? According to the newspaper, TV and radio, prices of homes in Florida have dropped 20-40 percent in the last year. When exactly do you think they are going to do what they told us they were going to do? If any of you are in agreement with me and others I have spoke to, please let's join together and force our county officials to live up to what they are suppose to do. ...more

November 14, 2008

The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed. ...more

November 13, 2008

Contractor fails to make required improvements. ...more

November 12, 2008

Chalk up another casualty of the slow housing market. Construction on phase 3 of Hernando Oaks, which includes 142 lots, has been stalled. And that has prompted county commissioners to issue a $5 million performance bond against the developer to ensure the work will get done. ...more

November 12, 2008

My wife and I are 65. I work full time and my wife, part time. We'd like to sell our house because it's too big for us. But we know this is not a good time, so we're waiting for the market to improve. In the meantime, we're paying an extra $500 a month on our mortgage. We have a balance of $155,000, and the house was appraised at $240,000 in March. ...more

November 9, 2008

Money used to be like religion or sex: It wasn't talked about in polite company. ...more

November 9, 2008