Floridians Warned to Cease Transactions with Tennessee ‘Foundation’

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink alerted consumers and agents to avoid any annuity transactions with Tennessee-based National Foundation of American (NFOA), and immediately contact the Department of Financial Services’ consumer helpline.

The company is operating inside Florida’s borders without proper authority Sink said.

“We advise Florida consumers to never conduct insurance or financial business with any entity not authorized to do business in this state, and we have made it easy for them to check on any agent or company through our Web site,” Sink said. “We stand ready to assist consumers with any questions or concerns they may have.”

The company promotes itself in Florida and other states as a charitable organization, but investigators are unable to confirm that the company is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as such, nor have they been able to confirm registration with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

NFOA is soliciting Florida consumers with existing annuities and offering allegedly tax-favored monthly payments in exchange for the transfer of their annuities to NFOA.

CFO Sink said the department wants consumers and agents currently working with NFOA to call to help investigators determine the extent of NFOA’s operations. One insurance company has reported that in Florida alone it has more than $4 million in annuities where ownership has been transferred or is pending transfer to NFOA.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services