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DALE LOOKS INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM

Florida Homeowners Ravaged by Record Hurricanes Find an Advocate iHazardFinder’s Detailed Online Disaster Disclosure Reports

Besieged by a record four hurricanes in Florida during the summer of 2004, LGreiner Dale is no stranger to sharing in the overwhelming sense of communal losssuffering of her neighbors. In fact, when it comes to natural disasters and their aftermath, Dale, a long-time public advocate for enforcing hazard disclosure laws, doing something now to help damage-weary Florida homeowners with the recent formation of HazardFinder.com. As a Vice President of HazardFinder, Inc., Dale is an environmental and consumeractivist who also brings over years of professional public-disclosure management experience--now applying it to the direct-to-consumer hazard disclosure clearinghoknown on the Internet as HazardFinder.com. The timing couldn't be better for Florresidents; homeowners are looking to repair badly damaged homes, rebuild entirelpurchase new homes altogether, and facing ever-escalating, record prices for new housing, household insurance and mortgage financing. "Until you personally experience it [hurricanes and other disasters], you don't reallunderstand the necessity for [public disclosure]," says Dale, who spent the previouyears in the public disclosure business and has launched an integrated digital mapping/database system based on a wide variety of government agency reports onatural and man-made hazard conditions. "With the growth of the Internet, it has exposed people to so many things and we sHazardFinder as being a direct-to-consumer research and report database tool for twhich is also moderately priced," adds Dale, who estimates that a typical HazardFinder.com report will cost no more than $25 per order. "It is well worth thinvestment to let us gather all of the information for a consumer rather than worryiwhether your life savings and health are in jeopardy" because of natural or man-mahazards that were not disclosed by a housing developer, real estate agent or previohomeowner at the time of sale. Not unlike other disaster-prone states, Floridians in both hurricane-ravaged coastain-land areas of the Sunshine State, including Dale's hometown of Orlando, the extensive storm damage to homes only served to exacerbate other long-term environmental hazards. Besides the typical hazards like flooding and emerging sinkholes, the saturated ground soil in many Florida communities has renewed con

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Page 2 of 3 Lynn Dale profile HazardFinder Inc., Vice President

about soil toxins coming to the surface, mold and mildew, and contaminated well-water--common concerns in most any other state of the union. "Public disclosure is only [enforced] when it is done on a case-law basis, and that usually happens after someone has already been diagnosed with some kind of cancer or other disease," says Dale, who has mounted various consumer-based lobbying efforts in the state capital, Tallahassee, in favor of stricter enforcement of public-disclosure laws. "It really has been an educational thing for homeowners who are not aware of previously existing environmental and man-made hazards coming to the surface because of these horrendous storms and floods." These hazards, even before a natural calamity strikes, often go undetected by new home buyers. Dale says these "hidden dangers" can range from an undermining of the soil, known as "muck" migrating from landfill and swamp lands, to contamination from radon gases, and industrial waste seepage and agricultural-related runoff from various fertilizers and pesticides. Along with those hazards, a plethora of government agencies also issue monitor reports on such hazards as leaking underwater storage tanks; well-head and well-water contamination; sinkholes; specially-designated wetland preserves; protected wildlife habitats; and flood zones--all of which is compiled and digitally-mapped by HazardFinder.com. "It really is buyer-beware in this state because public disclosure laws are not enforced, even after all of this hurricane damage we've been hit with," says Dale, whose Orlando home was spared significant damage. "If you have children like I do [two sons], you want to make sure you're not moving next to a school built near a waste site or a former refuse dump. When people come down with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or cancer, these people don't always know how they came down with this, but it could be due to the environmental effects of pollution and dumping. Even something considered minor, like mold and mildew, can be dangerous to a child with asthma or allergies--these are hidden hazards we need to know about." With one in every five homes in the central Florida region suffering significant damage or destroyed altogether, the unseen ripple effect in the public-disclosure arena has also come from the insurance companies' reporting of shared information on filed claims, when it comes to household policies with varying levels of attached hazard coverage. In some cases, the information being reported and shared privately between insurance companies, Dale says, has led some of her neighbors and friends--who suffered worse household losses--to experience a tripling or quadrupling of what they paid for their household policies prior to the 2004 hurricane season. "People in Florida have had to take out second mortgages or other equity loans on their homes because the deductible [on homeowner policies] are typically based on 2 to 5 percent of the value of their homes," Dale notes. "So people had to come up with $15,000 deductibles, and then possibly do that two to three times again if you filed claims from the other hurricanes that came through."

Page 3 of 3 Lynn Dale profile HazardFinder Inc., Vice President

Similar to how the credit reporting agencies keep tabs on consumer loans and credit card accounts, Dale says consumers should also be wary of the kind of insurance claims information being shared and disclosed to other "third-party" companies. HazardFinder.com can also allow consumers to view what information insurance companies are sharing when it comes to wide variety of claims and hazard data arising from claims and disaster reporting in neighborhoods and surrounding local communities. "The public is definitely asking more questions, relating to correct and fair claims and hazard reporting," says Dale, who previously served as Director of Operations for Accent on Children's Arrangements, a company that provides childcare staffing for out-of-town conventions, business meetings and other events. "That's because the insurance companies, loan companies and mortgage brokers are also asking more questions before underwriting mortgages--after all, they're in business to minimize their risks and maximize their profits." Minimizing risks for current and prospective homeowners is Dale's sole mandate and HazardFinder.com's ultimate mission. Understanding the rights of consumers is also something Dale learned intimately in dealing with customers and business people on the retail level when the Pittsburgh, Pa. native worked 15 years in stints as a convention and hotel services representative for the New Orleans Hilton Hotel Riverside, Trump's Castle Hotel/Casino (in Atlantic City, N.J.) and Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino (Atlantic City). "As a consumer and homeowner, buying your house is usually the single biggest ticket purchase decision you make in life and one that you have to live with in terms of your future comfort, safety and well-being," says Dale, adding "So when you order your [HazardFinder.com] report for what essentially equals the cost of a tank of gas, you're doing your due diligence in knowing what you're getting or not getting--that's when you can find peace-of-mind and a clear conscious."

About HazardFinder HazardFinder is leading provider of the most accurate and comprehensive real property hazard reports for residential buyers, sellers and even renters. HazardFinder is pioneering the Florida real estate hazard report industry by creating a process by which any concerned individual can obtain important information about their current or future residence.

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