Findings Of Fact Respondent Leroy Ellsworth Hardman has been licensed by petitioner as a limited surety agent since 1974. In January of 1976, he opened an office in Sanford, Florida, under the name of Action Bail Bonds. By December of 1978, he had qualified with the clerks of court in Orange, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and had written bonds in all three counties. Respondent decided to open an office in Deland, in addition to his office in Sanford. He leased office space on December 1, 1978, and began renovation. He had arranged for an advertisement to appear in the yellow pages of the Deland telephone directory, effective December 18, 1978, but did not succeed in opening the Deland office until December 19, 1978. Respondent hired Barbara Linkel to be in the office weekdays until four o'clock in the afternoon. He himself visited the office daily. Respondent, who had a 24 hour answering service and wore an electronic pager, instructed Ms. Linkel to notify him if anybody wanted a bond written. Respondent had charge of his Deland office while continuing to have charge of his office in Sanford. On January 29, 1979, John Wolmac, a limited surety agent, registered at the courthouse and began working for respondent, taking charge of the Deland office. On January 31, 1979, respondent executed the first bond written at the Deland office. Respondent's exhibit No. 8. Records of all bonds written at the Deland office were kept on file there until that office closed on May 31, 1979, when the records were transferred to respondent's office in Sanford. At all pertinent times, respondent's records were complete and open to the public for inspection. At the time of the hearing, respondent still had records of every bond executed or countersigned by him.
Recommendation Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED: That petitioner dismiss the administrative complaint against respondent. DONE and ENTERED this 8th day of October, 1979, in Tallahassee, Florida. ROBERT T. BENTON, II Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 101, Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675 COPIES FURNISHED: Thomas A. T. Taylor, Esquire Office of the Insurance Commissioner The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 James C. Weart, Esquire 201 West Firth Street Suite 206, Paulucci Building Sanford, Florida 32771
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
