| Volume 142 Number 49 |
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The Hurricane Consumer Assistance Project will host the Consumer Disaster Preparedness Seminar for the public. It will touch on typical issues that consumers face after a storm including FEMA, insurance, home repair, landlord tenant, and other consumer related issues. The seminar will be held this Saturday, July 27, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., at the University of Houston Law Center. Registration is limited and now open Click here for more.
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Impacted by the 2017 Equinox breach? Learn more. Claim your benefits. Click here for more.
Toyota recalls model year 2018-2019 Prius Cs
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling 464 model year 2018-2019 Prius Cs. The DC-DC converter may fail resulting in the battery no longer receiving power from the converter, which may cause a loss of drive. A loss of drive increases the risk of crash. Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the DC-DC converter with a new one, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at (888) 270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is K0K. Click here for more.
Your Money
Earnest money is a deposit typically paid at the time you enter into a contract on a home. It indicates your commitment to follow through on a home purchase. But if you're not expecting to pay earnest money on top of other homebuying expenses, such as closing costs or the down payment, it may come as a surprise. Understanding what earnest money is, why you have to pay and when you can get earnest money refunded is an important first step in the homebuying process. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
$80 million Roundup verdict reduced to $25 million. A California federal judge reduced an $80 million verdict against Monsanto to $25 million, calling the company's failure to warn about the dangers of its Roundup weedkiller "reprehensible," but finding the punitive damages awarded to a man who claims Roundup caused his cancer unreasonably high. "The jury's punitive damages award [$75 million] was approximately 15 times the size of the compensatory damages award," the judge said. "Monsanto's conduct, while reprehensible, does not warrant a ratio of that magnitude, particularly in the absence of evidence showing intentional concealment of a known or obvious safety risk." Hardeman v. Monsanto Co. et al., case number 3:16-cv-00525, and the MDL is In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, case number 3:16-md-02741, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Click here for more.