OFR: We didn't screw up that badly

Don Saxon who runs the recently beleaguered Office of Financial Regulation sent a letter to nearly all Florida media publications giving his side and blasting the Miami Herald's investigation. Read the letter here.

Saxon says he doesn't quite believe the Herald's numbers and says the Herald won't give the numbers over so his office can verify. (Most media publications don't share their investigative research with government agencies. And Buzz hears that OFR charged the Herald a hefty $4,000 down payment to get the records in the first place.)

He also suggests the series blames them for things OFR can't control by law. For example, there's no law requiring the agency to license loan originators, which were written in depth in one of the stories.

"Do we make mistakes? We all do. Did we make mistakes to the degree the Miami Herald has suggested? No." Saxon wrote in the letter.

Comments

[terminator]

Saxon's toast.

You can stick a fork in him.

What is it with these guys over at the CFO's office (Saxon and Stipanovich)?

Sounds like a thorough housecleaning is in order.

[Cynical Idealist]

Saxon is being vilified by a gullible Herald reporter who has relied on facts given by people with an ax to grind against OFR.

There's more to the story then the Herald lets on, or knows...

Part of the problem is that newspapers have eliminated most of their experienced reporters and the current crop of reporters have very little ability to read a statute or rule and actually understand what is required - but they work cheap so that is all that matters.

Newspapers are in the business of generating revenue and reporting or investigating is just a sideline.

Look at the lack of in-depth reporting of the last legislative session, of the presidential candidates. Follow the money - who benefits if the OFR has insufficient people to effectively regulate? Who benefits if state agencies can't hire competent and experienced investigators, regulators, and prosecutors. Yep - follow the money.

Remember in November.

Come on terminator, You are smarter than that! You know that neither Coleman or Don works at the CFO's office. And cleaning house is exactly what she is doing! Too bad Kevin McCarty isn't next!

[terminator]

7:11
they all fall under the CFO umbrella.
Even worse is the fact Tom G. appointed them although we know Jeb pushed Coleman Stipanovich for obvious reasons and the result was the recent Lehman Bros. fiasco.

7:11 must be a piss off insurance thief.

OFR is no worse than other government agencies who are supposedly protecting consumers. I am sure that Crist's and Bronson's agencies are giving licenses to felons and worse. Instead of running background checks, most agencies rely on the honor system.

Looks like the Herald jumped the gun. How could they print such a story with the underlying facts so misreported? Thats aweful. Trying to ruin a guy's lifelong career working for the state just to get a headline. Jesus, this is absurd.

[Lifelong Republican]

Terminator, you are wrong this time. SBA is not under the CFO and OFR and OIR are only administratively housed in the CFOs Office. All these entities report to the Florida Cabinet.

Saxon is a class act and is being set up by a child reporter who thinks he's getting a Pulitzer. The fact is OFR doesn't have enough staff and their background checking is not integrated with the state's CJIS system for checking on felons. They've repeatedly asked to be included, but there's been a lack of funding to allow OFR's portion to be added to the CJIS system.

Get the facts, then blog

[Tom]

Whether you use a Broker an Originator or get a mortgage online all by yourself you still need a FUNDER, so what's the big beef all about?

Termie: You are often right but you are wrong about Don Saxon. He is and has worked in the same area of the department as it has morphed from the Comptroller's Office under Democrat Gerald Lewis to the CFO office under Alex Sink. During that period Republicans General Milligan and Treasurer Gallagher (one of the several hats all of them wore) led the department.

I'm out of the game now and don't know Ms. Sink or the "child reporter" in question. But I do know Don Saxon and I worked with him in the past. We would be lucky if more state leaders were like him.

Hopefully after he's forced out private industry will pick him up and he'll make five times what the state is paying. Also, hopefully some political hack WILL NOT get his job and make things worse.

Political hacks always get the jobs. That's why it Jeb descimated career service so Political Patronage could once again run state government.

Remember in November.

Political hacks always get the jobs. That's why it Jeb descimated career service so Political Patronage could once again run state government.

Remember in November.

[terminator]

12:05 and 8:16
while I'm sure you guys know a lot more about the goings on at the CFO's office, Saxon still has to bear some responsibility since he was division chief.
You can't really say he didn't know what was going on.
I'm sure he's a stand-up guy and career bureaucrat but unfortunately we need to be demanding more of our government then what we've been getting.
Just look at the examples from the last several days: empty chair Chuck galavanging all over Europe while Florida goes down the tubes, Marco accepting a $70K professorship while cutting Florida school budgets by the billions and promising to hold them harmless.
What in the hell happened to the GOP? When did we become the party of corporate welfare while destroying the middle class that was once our backbone?
It's almost enough to make a guy vote for Obama!

[Clyde]

Well, I have to agree with Brother Saxon that he didn't screw up that badly. At least in comparison to some of the other state officials with whom we are afflicted. He only failed to vet some people with criminal records. What about the prosecutors who freely hand out passes to our crooks. It's their job to lock them up, but they don't.

[ecodude]

Alex Sink is just as complicit in this mess as Mr. Saxon. In her time in office, she has never even acknowledged the existence of OFR employees and what they do for the State. Perhaps that's because she hasn't been able to appoint any of her Bank of America buddies to the staff? They're all clueless and looking for a scapegoat when the problem is that the whole system is broken. Just ask any OFR investigator or examiner.