Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 12-29-15 Edition

State News
Same Sex Couples Seek Ruling On Children’s Birth Certificates
Attorney General And Agriculture Commissioner Shut Down Travel Scams
A legal decision could be close in a dispute about birth certificates for children of same sex couples. This comes nearly a year after same sex marriages started in Florida.
A pair of couples and an ad- vocacy group asked a judge to require the Florida Depart- ment of Health to list both spouses on birth certificates of children born into same sex marriages. The department typically does this when mar- ried parents are a man and woman.
The request for summary judgment contents that the
department’s refusal to list both spouses in same sex mar- riages on birth certificates vi- olates couples’ constitutional rights.
Agency officials’ refusal to issue birth certificates listing both parents when a same sex spouse gives birth to a child in Florida treats married same sex couples differently than married different sex couples, denying married same sex couples one of the most im- portant protections provided to married couples under state law.
TALLAHASSEE --- Atttor- ney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced coordinated actions taken to stop Florida travel companies accused of deceiving con- sumers.
According to consumer complaints, the defendants charged for items advertised as free; sold vacation pack- ages that could not be used because of burdensome black- out dates and overly restric- tive terms and conditions; refused to provide refunds or allow cancelation of pur- chases; greatly exaggerated savings; and made unautho- rized charges to consumer credit cards.
Attorney General Bondi filed enforcement ac- tions against the companies alleging violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and seeking con- sumer restitution, civil penal- ties and injunctive relief. In conjunction with the Attorney General’s litigation, Commis- sioner Putnam initiated ad- ministrative actions seeking to revoke the licenses of two of
ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI
the same companies.
The coordinated actions
are taken against the follow- ing companies:
Millennium Travel and Promotions, Inc. allegedly sent millions of misleading mailers promising travel awards but failed to disclose terms and conditions or the total cost of redeeming the awards. Only a small fraction of these consumers were ever able to redeem the promised travel awards.
Grand Incentives, Inc. al- legedly failed to fulfill travel requests by citing overly re-
strictive terms and conditions or blackout travel dates; col- lected deposits and failed to timely return the funds when the consumer was unable to book travel; misrepresented the nature of fees charged to consumers; and made unau- thorized charges on consumer credit cards.
Attorney General Bondi also filed a complaint against an additional travel company: Global Connec- tions, Inc. allegedly allowed its Florida distributors to use unscrupulous sales tactics to induce consumers to pur- chase its vacation club mem- berships by greatly exaggerating the true savings, nature and value of the mem- berships. Global allegedly did not honor its cancelation pol- icy and did not make con- sumers aware of restrictive travel terms and conditions and limited availability of va- cation destinations.
Global Connections, Inc. is currently exempt from reg- istration by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
PAGE 12 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2015