Findings Of Fact Based upon the testimony of the witness and the documentary evidence received at the hearing, the following findings of fact are made: At all times material to the allegations of the administrative complaint, Respondent was licensed and was eligible for licensure as a limited surety agent in the State of Florida. Respondent's application for examination for limited surety agent was filed in June, 1986. This application represented that Respondent would be employed by Carroll Collins Bonding when licensed. At the time of the hearing, Respondent was not licensed as a bail bondsman. During the period January through June, 1988, Respondent was licensed as a limited surety agent for Allegheny Mutual Casualty Company (Allegheny). This license had been issued in April, 1987, based upon a form application submitted on Respondent's behalf by an employee of Carroll Collins Bonding. The information submitted on that application (such as social security number, date of birth, and home address) was accurate and was identical to that which had been included in Respondent's application for examination. While Respondent admitted he had signed a contract to work with Collins, he claimed that he was unaware that the Allegheny license had been sought and approved. I find such claim not credible. Respondent did not, however, work for Carroll Collins in a bonding capacity. Whether he worked for him in some other role was not addressed at the hearing. Respondent did not timely provide statistical reports to the Department for Allegheny. When contacted by the Department, Respondent submitted a report which indicated no activity for Allegheny for the subject period, and requested that the license be cancelled. No one from Carroll Collins Bond testified at the hearing. Consequently, no explanation for why the Allegheny application was filed for Respondent was offered. It can reasonably be inferred that Carroll Collins Bond pursued the Allegheny application based upon information Respondent had given them and that Respondent should have known of its submittal.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED: That the Department of Insurance and Treasurer enter a final order imposing an administrative fine in the amount of $250.00 against Respondent, Kenneth Alford Durham. DONE and ENTERED this 31st day of October, 1989, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. JOYOUS D. PARRISH Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 31st day of October, 1989. APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER, CASE NO. 89-2193 Rulings On The Proposed Findings of Fact Submitted By Petitioner: 1. Paragraphs 1 through 3 are accepted. Rulings On The Proposed Findings of Fact Submitted By Respondent: Since Respondent submission was in one paragraph, each sentence has been considered a separate proposed fact and is ruled upon accordingly. The first six sentences are accepted The seventh sentence is rejected as unsupported by the record or hearsay. The ninth and tenth sentences are accepted. COPIES FURNISHED: Clyde W. Galloway, Jr. Office of Legal Services 412 Larson Building Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0300 Ralph L. Flowers Post Office Box 3668 Fort Pierce, Florida 34948 Honorable Tom Gallagher State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner The Capitol, Plaza Level Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0300 Don Dowdell General Counsel Department of Insurance and Treasurer The Capitol, Plaza Level Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0300
The Issue The issue for disposition is whether Petitioner's application for licensure as a limited surety (bail bond, type 2-34) agent should be granted.
Findings Of Fact Robin Abrahamson, 35 years old, resides in Kissimmee, Florida, and currently owns and operates a telephone answering service. After she completed the necessary educational requirements Ms. Abrahamson was issued a temporary limited surety agent license by the Department of Insurance (Agency), effective June 30, 1999 to June 30, 2000. Ms. Abrahamson was employed for approximately one year, from February 1999 until February 2000, with Central Florida Bonding, in Orlando, Florida. She had previously worked at Able Bail Bonds in Inverness, Florida. Her duties at Able Bail Bonds, and initially at Central Florida Bonding, were secretarial. Ms. Abrahamson was interested in becoming a limited surety (bail bond) agent and her employer at Central Florida Bonding, George Cox, agreed to sponsor and supervise her training. Ms. Abrahamson was not supervised or trained. Instead she was assigned to work weekends, Friday through Monday, mostly at night, with another recently-licensed agent, A.D. Miles. Ms. Abrahamson did paper work and telephone calls and was paid $200 a week, minimum wage. She was not paid on a "point" system based on the number of bonds she handled. Mr. Miles was paid a salary and "points." Because the office became very busy on weekends Mr. Miles began to rely more and more on Ms. Abrahamson to help. She was happy to do this because she thought she was learning the work. Ms. Abrahamson regularly drove from the Orlando office to Osceola County, to meet with clients and take collateral for bonds. At Mr. Mills' direction she signed his name to collateral receipts and returned to the office to complete the paperwork. Although she denies delivering bonds there is competent evidence from correctional officers at the Osceola County jail that Ms. Abrahamson would actually deliver the bonds to the jail on occasion. These same correctional officers testified that Ms. Abrahamson held herself out and introduced herself as a bail bond agent. Ms. Abrahamson explained at hearing that she regularly identified herself as a "temporary agent," for which she was properly licensed. Because the witnesses had no real understanding of the license differences, it is entirely plausible that they considered only that Ms. Abrahamson was saying she was a bail bond agent. On frequent occasions, "more than 20, less than 100," Ms. Abrahamson charged a $100 "transfer fee" for bonds that were delivered to counties other than Orange County by Central Florida Bonding. After a client complained to the Agency that Ms. Abrahamson was charging illegal transfer fees, the Agency commenced an investigation of Central Florida Bonding. When the investigator, Toby Luke, told George Cox that the fees were illegal, Central Florida Bonding and Mrs. Abrahamson stopped charging the fees in or around November 1999. Also in November 1999, Ms. Abrahamson applied to the Agency for her licensure as a limited surety agent. She was approximately one month away from completion of her six months as a temporary licensee. After the agency investigation revealed allegations that Ms. Abrahamson was holding herself out as a bail bond agent and was signing bond documents, George Cox, allegedly at the direction of the investigator, asked Ms. Abrahamson to resign in February 2000. She then terminated her employment with Central Florida Bonding. On March 22, 2000, the agency sent Ms. Abrahamson a certified letter denying her licensure as a limited surety agent. The letter described the reason for denial as her alleged violations of Chapter 648, Florida Statutes. Specifically, the letter alleged that she held herself out to be a bail bond agent and acted as a bail bond agent without proper licensure; that she illegally charged transfer fees; that she signed another bondsman's signature to bonds; and that she was currently not employed and supervised by a licensed bailbond agent as required. As described in the preliminary statement, above, that letter was the basis for this proceeding. After leaving Central Florida Bonding in February 2000, Ms. Abrahamson has provided telephone answering services and occasional secretarial work for Central Florida Bonding.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing, it is hereby RECOMMENDED: that the Department of Insurance issue its final order, denying Robin Abrahamson's application for licensure as a limited surety (bail bond) agent. DONE AND ENTERED this 30th day of October, 2000, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. MARY CLARK Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 30th day of October, 2000. COPIES FURNISHED: C. Michael Magruder, Esquire 203 South Clyde Avenue Kissimmee, Florida 34741 William Fred Whitson, Esquire Department of Insurance 200 East Gaines Street 612 Larson Building Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0333 Honorable Bill Nelson Department of Insurance State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner The Capitol, Plaza Level 02 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0300 Daniel Y. Sumner, General Counsel Department of Insurance The Capitol, Lower Level 26 Tallahassee, Florida
The Issue The issues are whether, in violation of section 648.45(3)(c), Florida Statutes, Respondent executed a bond after a judgment had been entered on a bail bond that she had executed and the judgment had remained unpaid or unsecured for at least 35 days; and, if so, what penalty should be imposed.
Findings Of Fact At all material times, Respondent has been licensed as a limited surety (bail bond) agent, holding license number A097887. She has not been previously disciplined. From March 2004 through August 2010, Respondent was appointed as a bail bond agent to represent Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (Lumbermens). On August 3, 2007, Respondent, as a bail bond agent, issued a bond on behalf of her principal, Lumbermens, in the amount of $75,000 for defendant Richard Benton. Almost two years later, Mr. Benton failed to appear at a mandatory court appearance on May 15, 2009, in Broward Circuit Court Case 07-13631CF10A. On May 15, 2009, a circuit judge entered an Order Estreating Bond, which ordered Lumbermens to pay $75,000 to the Broward County Clerk of Courts. On July 17, 2009, the Broward County Clerk of Courts entered a judgment in the amount of $75,000 against Lumbermens based on the Order Estreating Bond (Judgment). After "Ordered and Adjudged," the Judgment reads: "Judgment in the amount of $75,000 be and the same is hereby entered against Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Ins as surety" plus interest. On July 17, 2009, the Clerk's office served a copy of the Judgment to the bail bond agency at which Respondent worked. By Clerk's Certificate of Unsatisfied Judgment dated August 21, 2009, the Broward County Clerk of Courts certified that the $75,000 Judgment had not been satisfied as of the date of the certificate. The certificate, which, on its face, was not served on Respondent or her bail bond agency, states erroneously that the Judgment was against Lumbermens and Respondent. This flawed certificate does not establish by clear and convincing evidence that the Judgment was unpaid, nor do the confusing docket remarks that the civil action against Lumbermens was "Disposed by Other," as indicated under the column marked "Statistical Closure(s)." However, Petitioner introduced into evidence Petitioner Exhibit 7, which is another Clerk's certificate certifying that the Judgment remained unpaid as of September 28, 2017. This establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the Judgment remains outstanding. After the expiration of 35 days following the entry of the Judgment, Respondent continued to execute surety bonds as a bail bond agent for one or more surety companies. In 2015, an investigator employed by Petitioner called Respondent and informed her about the Judgment against Lumbermens. The investigator told Respondent that the Judgment was outstanding and "could affect her license."
Recommendation It is RECOMMENDED that Petitioner enter a final order finding Respondent guilty of violating section 448.44(1)(m), Florida Statutes; suspending her limited surety license for three months; and reinstating the license at the end of three months without regard to whether the Judgment remains outstanding. DONE AND ENTERED this 22nd day of November, 2017, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S ROBERT E. MEALE Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 22nd day of November, 2017. COPIES FURNISHED: Matthew R. Daley, Esquire Department of Financial Services Office of the General Counsel 200 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399 (eServed) Frank Eduardo Gil, Esquire The Law Office of Frank E. Gil, P.A. 10689 North Kendall Drive, Suite 208 Miami, Florida 33176 (eServed) Julie Jones, CP, FRP, Agency Clerk Division of Legal Services Department of Financial Services 200 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0390 (eServed)
