News Room

March 27, 2008

Assurant’s South Florida Employees Begin 7th Habitat for Humanity Build Since 2001 on April 1

MIAMI: Beginning April 1, Assurant’s Miami-based operations will field a team of more than 100 volunteers over two weeks to build a home for the Tomas Martinez family at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami’s Jordan Commons community in Homestead.

Assurant has sponsored construction of Habitat for Humanity homes in South Florida since 2001. The Martinez home will be the seventh South Florida build for the company. Assurant’s support has included recruiting more than 1,200 volunteers and making more than $300,000 in grants to Habitat for Humanity.

Jordan Commons, with a capacity for 187 homes, is the second largest Habitat for Humanity community in the nation. Only 34 build sites remain vacant. The remaining homes, which include the Assurant build, will be completed in 2009.

“Working with Habitat for Humanity has been a most rewarding partnership for our company,” said Art Heggen, executive vice president and chairman of the Miami charitable contributions committee. “We have been able to help the community address the lack of affordable housing in South Florida while also creating opportunities for our associates to get directly involved in solving this problem.”

Assurant annually provides each employee up to eight hours of company-paid time to work as a volunteer for community organizations. In 2007 Assurant compensated employees at the Miami campus for approximately 2,800 hours of volunteer time.

The Martinez’s three-bedroom home will be located at 12991 SW 242nd Terrace. Construction will be completed as part of a blitz build over a two-week period. Assurant volunteers begin work on Tuesday, April 1. They are scheduled to work eight days during the build. The home will be dedicated on Saturday, April 12.

Homeowners Tomas and Maria Martinez have two children, Tomas Jr., age 13, and Edward, age 7. Mr. And Mrs. Martinez moved to South Florida from Mexico 16 years ago. The family currently lives in Florida City. Mr. Martinez works at Sunrise Growers, Inc.

In a note to Assurant employees, the Martinez family wrote that they considered the opportunity to own their own home a blessing from the Lord. “We are fortunate to have been selected [to purchase this home]. If it weren’t for Habitat, and the many sponsors like you, we could have never made this dream come true.”

Families selected to purchase Habitat homes are required to contribute between 250 and 300 hours of “sweat equity,” including working along side volunteers during the construction of their homes and on other Habitat homes and participating in homeowner training workshops. The new homeowner also is required to make a down payment of approximately $1,500 prior to occupying the house. Habitat for Humanity then finances the purchases through no-interest loans, which are typically paid back by homeowners over a period of 20 years.

Applicant families are required to have a favorable debt history, or that efforts to resolve any unfavorable credit are being made. They must be permanent residents or citizens of the United States and have resided in Miami-Dade County for 12 months prior to applying with Habitat.

About Assurant

Assurant’s Miami corporate campus, with more than 1,900 employees, is the company’s largest work site and supports its two largest businesses – Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property. Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property businesses develop, underwrite and market specialty insurance, extended service contracts and other risk management solutions in collaborative relationships with leading financial institutions, retailers, manufactured housing and automobile dealers, utilities and other entities.

A Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, Assurant is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has over $25 billion in assets and $7 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com

Media Contacts:

Assurant Solutions/Assurant Specialty Property
Carolyn Jarro
Employee Activities Coordinator
Tel. 305.253.2244, ext. 31426
Email carolyn.jarro@assurant.com

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami
Michelle Marco
Communications Director
Tel. 305.634.3628
Email michelle.marcos@miamihabitat.org