According to a recent report from the Fed, banks have been easing their lending standards and are experiencing stronger demand in most loan categories in the past three months. About half the respondents reported stronger demand for commercial real estate lending. This is good news in light of the spike in market interest rates after [...]
You may desperately need work, but be careful to avoid bad work. You don’t need to be kicked when you are down. When margins are thin for all the contractors, it is very easy to pick up bad work. It is also very easy to pick up bad work when the owners (public or private) [...]
The ingenious folks at Enron used hundreds of dummy corporations which no one seemed to own, to avoid taxes and hide boatloads of debt. The Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) came up with FASB Interpretation Number (FIN) 46 to avoid this problem in the future. This is a complicated economic test of related corporations to [...]
We only gained 162,000 jobs in July. Unemployment dropped to 7.4% but that was largely from frustrated people giving up on even trying to find a job. According to the government, you aren't unemployed unless you are actively seeking work. For some reason, the Fed is apparently more interested in this unemployment rate than total payroll numbers. Thus, [...]
Does anyone remember that quaint, cute little shopping area once known as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village? It was a quiet evening to stroll through the shops, have an ice cream cone, and look at Legos. My, how time has changed. In 1986, Disney built Pleasure Island to compete with downtown Orlando clubs, and later [...]
In today’s bonding market, many surety companies are tightening up their underwriting considerably, and are extending less surety credit than ever before. They are less willing to stretch, even when it makes sense. Florida Surety Bonds has strong relationships with the best surety companies and represents over 600 contractors throughout Florida. Our team is focused [...]
You've gotta have heart! Your prospective bond agent can have experience, fancy cars, technical skills, equipment, pricing, computers, fancy software, and more. The bonding agency can represent over 30 surety companies, over 600 contractors, and have a couple of offices around the state. You can have all of that, but what you need [...]
There are several fine sureties that can provide a bond for you under $350,000 if you have clean personal credit. No need for expensive CPA statements or all the other paperwork sureties normally require. If you are looking for standard bonds under $750,000 and have good credit, there a couple sureties that could consider [...]
Effective October 1st, 2013, it will become illegal to operate a motor vehicle while using a wireless communication device for non-voice communication. This does not apply to a car that is stationary and is not being operated. It also does not apply to a driver of a police car, ambulance, or firetruck. It also does [...]
If it is the owner who is asking, that would be an emphatic yes. An owner has a very vested interest in who the subcontractors and suppliers are to the general contractor. Under the Florida Lien Law, if the general contractor fails to pay a supplier or subcontractor, then the owner may have to pay [...]