In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many South Floridians are feeling frustrated by the slow progress on their hurricane damage insurance claims and repairs due to a shortage of insurance adjusters and construction workers.

After Hurricane Harvey, many independent adjusters headed to Texas, leaving Florida companies strapped for workers when Hurricane Irma hit shortly thereafter. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Sept. 4, which temporarily lifted the regulations for normal credentialing and allowed catastrophe adjusters to hurriedly train more public adjusters in preparation for the storm.

As of Nov. 3, over 809,000 claims had been filed, and nearly half of those claims were still open. After initial damage assessments, because of the large amount of hurricane damage claims post-Irma, many Floridians have had to wait weeks for settlements and repairs. Many have expressed impatience with their insurance companies, whose adjusters do not always show when scheduled, so policyholders have often found themselves turning to public adjusters for help.

Unfortunately, lack of communication between insurance companies and multiple, often undertrained and backlogged third-party adjusters coupled with the sheer volume of claims have caused delays and frustration for many policyholders.

Exacerbating this issue is a lack of construction workers needed to complete hurricane damage repairs. Before the storm, many companies complained that there was a shortage of labor, and now after the storm, the problem is worse. Because of this shortage, roofing companies cannot keep up with the demand for roofing projects post-Irma. While some Floridians qualify for a new roof provided by their insurance companies, they may have to wait until 2018 for construction to start because, like public adjusters, roofing companies are backlogged.

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Leandra English, the deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has filed a complaint against President Donald Trump for appointing Mick Mulvaney as the acting director of the Bureau. English claims that the appointment of Mulvaney violates the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which bars current White House staffers from being assigned to the independent agency.

According to a report from The Hill, English was next in line for the position, having been nominated by former CFPB Director Richard Cordray. Just before resigning from his position, Cordray promoted English from Chief of Staff to Deputy Director. Trump also nominated Mulvaney shortly after Cordray’s resignation.

The White House has defended Trump’s actions, citing that his power under the Vacancies Act of 1998 overrules the line of succession outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act. Reuters has reported that General Counsel Mary McLeod, the head lawyer of the CFPB hired under Cordray, has sided with the White House and plans to challenge the suit.

The official complaint states, “An earlier version of the Dodd-Frank Act, which would have specifically allowed the President to use the Vacancies Act to temporarily fill the office, was eliminated and replaced with the current language designating the Deputy Director as the Acting Director. And the President’s attempt to appoint a still-serving White House staffer to displace the acting head of an independent agency is contrary to the overall statutory design and independence of the Bureau.”

English has asked that the court not only ban Trump from nominating Mulvaney, but also ban Trump from nominating another acting director, stating that the Dodd-Frank Act supersedes the Vacancies Act.

English would largely be expected to carry on the precedents set by Cordray, such as extensive regulations on lending and punishment for financial fraud. Mulvaney, on the other hand, has backed legislation to eliminate the Bureau entirely, and progressives worry that he would work to dismantle the Bureau if appointed.

This past August, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that a “tight inventory” of homes was a primary contributor to the 1.6% increase in single-family home prices in the second quarter and the 6.6% increase year-over-year. The FHFA’s findings are consistent with data compiled by the National Association of Realtors, which believes that the current supply of new homes is much too low.

The vast majority of states, plus the District of Columbia, saw median housing prices increase in the past year. The FHFA ranked Florida fourth in Y-O-Y housing price increases (9.4%), behind Idaho (10.3%), Colorado (10.4%), and Washington (12.4%).

While single-family home sales are overall on the rise, when compared with the size of the current US population, the amount of sales is relatively and historically low. However, since construction is not currently meeting the population’s need for new, affordable housing, median housing prices continue to increase despite the slump in sales.

In the past year, a net 2.2 million jobs have been created in the US, providing a new crop of home buyers. A tight housing supply coupled with a lack of new construction caused homes to sell quickly, especially those in the lower price range.

However, the national median home price of $255,600 is still too high for many buyers. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun warns that unless the demand for affordable housing is met with new construction, too many potential home buyers will still be priced out of the market, unable to reap the financial benefits that home ownership can bring.

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