Marlin Financial has stopped taking new customers as state investigators scrutinize its business practices. The online auto lender at the center of a Florida Attorney General investigation has a note on its website that it is "no longer accepting new loan applications" as of the end of September. The company offered no further explanation and did not elaborate after the Tampa Bay Times contacted its attorney on Tuesday. A Times investigation published Sept. 14 revealed that Marlin’s loan practic...
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U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., is leading the charge in trying to change how the VA handles veterans impacted by Agent Orange. Along with U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Dean Heller, R-Nev., and U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., Crist is championing the “Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act.” Crist introduced the bill last week and showcased it on Monday. According to his office, the bill “requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to adhere to an expedited process to expand Agent Ora...
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ST. PETERSBURG – Charlie Crist met with local pastors to encourage them to get souls to the polls. Listening to and discussing issues on voting restoration rights, affordable housing and education, he stressed voter participation is a must in this mid-term election. “Each of you have a big following; people look to you for guidance and comfort and insurance and kindness and compassion,” Crist said. Held at the Enoch Davis Center Monday, Sept. 17, the purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm and ...
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Another public official has set his sights on Marlin Financial. In a letter Tuesday, Rep. Charlie Crist urged the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to investigate the online auto lender, saying he was "disturbed" by a recent Tampa Bay Times’ investigation into Marlin. Crist urged Mick Mulvaney to investigate Marlin for potential "unfair, deceptive and abusive practices" and other potential violations of federal law. "Should any of the outrageous behaviors reported by the Tampa...
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Interested in creating the next great app? Want to use your skills to help Pinellas veterans? Sign up for the 2018 FL-13 Congressional App Challenge to design and program an app to connect Pinellas veterans with the resources and services they need in our community! Inspired by the Congressional Art Competition, the App Challenge aims to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) education by recognizing young programming talent across the nation. Rather than a traditional op...
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U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist introduced a bill last year to require that all new school buses be equipped with three-point belts and to provide grants to upgrade existing buses with safety belts. WASHINGTON, DC – A school bus safety measure introduced in the U.S. Senate includes provisions introduced last year by U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist. Crist, D-St. Petersburg, (D-St. Petersburg) introduced the Best to Use Safety (BUS) Belts Act requiring all new buses be equipped with three-point belts and providin...
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Freshman U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., continues his fight to add seat belts to school busses as his proposal on the matter was rolled into another proposal. Back in April 2017, Crist introduced the “Best to Use Safety (BUS) Belts Act” which would mandate that all new school busses have seat belts. Crist worked on the issue when he served in the Florida Senate in Tallahassee. "Our responsibility to keep students safe goes beyond the classroom – we must also provide for safe transportation to...
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Freshman U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., got his proposal offering U.S. support for defending Israel over the finish line in the House as it was included in a bill from two members of the South Florida delegation. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the chairwoman and the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, were able to have the House pass the “United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act” on Wednesday ...
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INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — It remains business as usual along Indian Rocks Beach heading into the Labor Day holiday, but head south onto the tip of Pinellas County and beyond, and red tide is still prominently in play. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, along with Pinellas County officials, walked the beach to monitor a beach nourishment project. Crist also spoke about the high concentrations of red tide, now detected about 10 miles off the southern Pinellas coast. Crist said that raises con...
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ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - Jacqueline Dixon calls it a double-barreled problem. "Florida is being beset by two different algal blooms," Dixon said. One is red tide; the other is the blue-green algae. Both were part of the roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Charlie Crist at the University of South Florida's Marine Science Laboratory. Rep. Crist explained the difference. "It's an annual event, I'm talking about the red tide, and just a matter of temperature and currents that determine whe...
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