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Talk of the bay: Clearwater lender's layoff details murky

By the Times staff
Published August 22, 2007

This much is clear: Market Street Mortgage, the home lender headquartered in Clearwater, is laying off employees. This much isn't clear: the total number of lost jobs and where they were based. About 20 employees got the ax in July in Clearwater and an undisclosed number lost jobs at other Florida offices. The company's vice president of marketing, Joyce Frustaci, was a tad thin on the details. "We did indeed have a layoff regarding mostly administrative functions to adjust our staffing models," she said. Market Street, which originated $3.2-billion in loans last year, is a subsidiary of troubled NetBank. NetBank trades for 6 cents per share and is being acquired by Jacksonville's EverBank. Under whose control Market Street Mortgage and its 600 employees end up in is still uncertain.

Insurer holds its nose and pays up

How do you ship 219 cases of frozen shrimp from Honduras to Tampa without the little critters spoiling? Not easily, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week. Insurance company Lloyds of London says a cargo of shrimp was so stinky by the time Tampa-based Jackson Shipping Inc. arrived in port recently that federal authorities had to destroy it. Lloyds had to cover $39,000 in losses suffered by the company that ordered the delivery, St. Petersburg-based Bama Sea Products. But it believes Jackson was at fault.

News to build on: Foreclosures dip

Don't hold your breath waiting for the real estate market to rev up. Wachovia economist Mark Vitner says Florida's housing market may be approaching a bottom, but it won't improve appreciably until 2009 or later. One in every 431 households in Florida is in some stage of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. The good news: That's not as bad as it was in June. Foreclosures fell 9 percent in Florida while rising 9 percent nationally. Nevada's situation is the worst in the country.

Wilma claims blow back to Citizens

Citizens Property Insurance could have to shell out nearly $300-million to homeowners who have reopened claims from Hurricane Wilma back in 2005, according to a recent review by the state-backed insurer. Citizens officials said that the review is conducted periodically and that the state's catastrophe fund would reimburse Citizens as much as $175-million. Citizens has a record $2-billion in cash and $8-billion more in liquidity to pay claims for the 2007 hurricane season.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 23:33:13]