Florida state officials have rolled out a contract fraud prevention program to help protect people impacted by Hurricane Milton.
The new Check My Contract portal is a free service that helps property owners understand the fine print in home repair contracts to ensure they are in compliance with Florida law following the major storm that spawned destructive tornadoes.
"If you're going to take advantage of our citizens, it's my job to put you behind bars," the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis told reporters at a news conference in West Palm Beach on Wednesday afternoon.
"You are not going to take advantage of our people when they're vulnerable trying to put their lives back together," he added.
If there is any indication of fraudulent activity by contractors, restoration professionals or public adjusters, the state department will advise policyholders on how to terminate those contracts, said local and state officials during a press conference in the western part of Palm Beach County, where Hurricane Milton spawned a series of tornadoes that ravaged nearly 150 homes.
In St. Lucie County, the tornadoes were deadly, with confirmed six deaths related to tornadoes.
READ MORE: Milton recovery efforts in Wellington face a major hurdle: lack of disaster equipment
Common strategies from an unknown, fraudulent contractor include forcing homeowners to sign an Assignment of Benefits (AOB), which legally assigns your policyholder benefits to the third party, or signing "Direction to Pay," a non-legally binding agreement that allows policyholders to direct their insurance company to make payments directly to contractors for their services.
"This is a tactic, this is a way they get paid and you get cut out of getting your money," Patronis cautioned. "So, if you need any help, the first call should be to your insurance agent or your insurance carrier," Patronis cautioned.
Patronis said the states' fraud investigators are walking door to door to check the licensure of individuals that are doing work.
Patronis said law enforcement hasn't detected an alarming amount of fraud related to Hurricane Milton. But officials want to be proactive after 16 people were convicted in fraud investigations following Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs also reiterated the county's temporary waiver of building permit fees for property owners in unincorporated areas affected by Hurricane Milton.
The waiver speeds up the rebuilding process and eases the financial burden on property owners dealing with structural damage from the tornadoes and other storm-related hardships.
It applies to permit applications submitted between Oct . 14 of this year and April 14, 2025, with the possibility of extension.
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