WASHINGTON — A troubling trend is spreading across the United States, threatening the American dream for many homeowners. Skyrocketing home insurance rates and a record number of policy non-renewals are leaving homeowners vulnerable, according to a recent investigation by Spotlight on America.

The frequency of natural disasters, such as wildfires in California and hurricanes in the Southeast, is a significant factor driving the crisis.

“You’re seeing insurance companies go bankrupt,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse warned. “You’re seeing insurance companies abandon states, you’re seeing insurance companies abandon long-standing customers. You’re seeing prices quadruple.”

The upheaval in the property insurance market is not limited to high-risk coastal areas. A Senate Budget Committee report highlighted that states like Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and California experienced the highest rate of non-renewals. Surprisingly, states like Massachusetts, New Mexico, Utah, Nebraska and Montana also faced significant non-renewals.

“If they feel they have too much risk in a certain area, they’re going to pull back and that’s going to lead to non-renewals,” Mark Friedlander, Senior Director of Media Relations for the Insurance Information Institute, explained.

Home insurance rates have spiked nationwide, with 33 states seeing double-digit rate increases in 2024. Nebraska experienced the highest increase at 22.7%. Since 2019, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Arizona, Minnesota and Iowa have seen cumulative increases of over 65%.

Friedlander noted that states not traditionally considered high-risk are seeing increases due to other natural disasters, such as severe convective storms and wildfires. He also cited litigation over claims and rising rebuilding costs as contributing factors.

In Florida, the sharp spike in rates drove Tampa area resident Larry Bendik to cancel his policy and go self-insured.

“Even if something happened, I would still get stuck with a big bill anyway,” Bendik said.

A 2023 survey from the Insurance Information Institute showed that 12% of homeowners didn’t have home insurance, more than double the 5% in 2019.

“It’s kind of understandable that some people would look at this and be like, I need to drop my insurance,” Michael DeLong, an analyst with the Consumer Federation of America, cautioned. “I just can’t afford it. But it’s still a very bad idea.”

Senator Whitehouse expressed concern that the growing crisis could destabilize the housing market nationwide. “We’re headed towards a pretty significant cascade from failed insurance markets to failed mortgage markets to crashed property values,” he said.

Veteran Tampa Bay real estate agent Vince Arcuri confirmed that escalating insurance rates and non-renewals are making it harder to sell homes.

“People are not able to qualify for a mortgage because of the skyrocketing insurance,” Arcuri said.

Homeowners are advised to bundle home and auto insurance, take risk mitigation steps and shop around for coverage to potentially lower premiums.

TACOMA, Wash. — In one of the largest chronicled cases of sexual misconduct in military history, a trusted Army doctor has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing dozens of his patients at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Michael Stockin, who admitted to 41 counts of abuse, received a maximum sentence of 164 months in prison, four months for each named victim, and was dismissed from the Army.

Victims of Stockin’s abuse, including a 15-year veteran who wished to remain anonymous, have shared their experiences of betrayal and anger.

“It didn’t happen just because I was weak,” said one victim. “It happened because he set it up in intentionally ambiguous ways to take advantage of people who are trained to trust people in positions of authority.”

Attorney Ryan Guilds, representing seven of Stockin’s victims, expressed concern over the military’s handling of the case, noting that only one out of the 41 victims had a victim advocate. “That’s unacceptable,” Guilds said, emphasizing the need for legal representation for victims.

A recent survey estimated that 14,000 active-duty men experienced unwanted sexual contact or assault in 2023, with nearly 90% choosing not to report their experiences. Guilds criticized the Army for failing to provide essential support and representation to victims, stating, “Dr. Stockin is responsible for Dr. Stockin’s actions, but the Army failed to provide those services, and it had a real negative impact on our soldiers, and I’m angry about it.”

Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, representing Tacoma and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, urged service members to speak up if they experience abuse.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. This is not your fault,” Strickland said, highlighting the importance of addressing power and control dynamics in sexual assault cases.

The military justice system has undergone reforms to remove sexual assault cases from the chain of command, but debates continue in Washington, D.C., about preserving training to prevent future crimes. Strickland emphasized that “quality of life should be a nonpartisan issue.”

Since the reports about Stockin were released, multiple new servicemen have come forward with allegations of sexual assault during medical appointments. More than 40 alleged victims are now suing the Army, accusing it of negligence in hiring and supervising Stockin. Recent civil case filings allege the Army allowed him to continue seeing patients even after receiving complaints in 2022.

As the military continues to grapple with the issue of sexual assault, the latest report to Congress stressed that addressing this problem is “crucial” to maintaining a mission-ready force. The road to recovery for many survivors remains long, as they work to repair their lives and seek solace in shared experiences.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a groundbreaking legal case that pits Mexico against a group of American gun makers and distributors. Plaintiffs accuse those companies of knowingly allowing their weapons to flow into the hands of cartels.

By some government estimates, hundreds of thousands of guns flow south from the U.S. each year into Mexican, in a so-called Iron River.

Attorney Jonathan Lowy has represented victims of gun violence for nearly three decades. Now, he’s representing Mexico in the case, seeking $10 billion from 11 American gun makers and distributors. The case alleges that the guns are trafficked into Mexico and that interested parties make “deliberate design, marketing, and distribution” choices to grow that market. They’re accused of selling to straw buyers who purchase extremely powerful weapons with cash repeatedly.

“Most gun dealers just wouldn’t sell to someone like that,” Lowy told Spotlight on America. “They’d call law enforcement and say, ‘I think we’ve got a gun trafficker in the store.’ But unfortunately, there’s a small number of gun dealers who are happy to take the money, even though they know or should know that those guns are headed to the streets.”

The lawsuit claims it’s big business for that small group, with the defendants allegedly making over $170 million a year from the sale of guns trafficked to Mexico. Mexico estimates that these guns make up 70-90% of firearms recovered at crime scenes south of the border.

The American gun industry says straw buyers should be punished, but not the gun makers. They argue that the case before the Supreme Court is trying to bankrupt America’s legal firearms industry.

Larry Keane, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is not being sued, said the lawsuit poses a threat to the Second Amendment.

“The U.S. is the largest firearms industry, and it’s not surprising that some guns are smuggled illegally into Mexico, that does not mean that a manufacturer or anybody in the licensed and lawful chain of distribution has done anything wrong,” Keane told Spotlight on America.

He points to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, that protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products.

Lowy disagrees, saying that the case before the Supreme Court makes very specific allegations about the gun industry. The high court is expected to make a ruling in June.