Hello, Had my hearing on Thurs. My case was so strong that half-way through the county reps. got tired of being beaten up and actually capitulated. I don't think this happens very often because the judge didn't even know how to handle it from that point and had to call the vab for advise. One minor point in my case that seemed to have the county people squirming in their seats was the way in which they send out the denial notifications. Mine was sent via certified mail as opposed to registered mail as required by 196.151. The reps. obviously did not know the difference but fortunately I had printed out a page from the USPS website detailing the various mailing classes. The main distinction is that registered mail is handled separately and is essentially tamper-proof, whereas certified is handled in bulk with the rest of the first class mail. They did admit that their normal practice is using certified mail. I believe this means all of the denial notifications that have been sent in Sarasota Co. (and probably many other counties as well) would be invalid. I do wish more people would stand up and fight. Thanks for your help.
Andy
http://www.floridahomesteadservices.com |