Miscellaneous

• Affluent Were as Susceptible to the Lure of Adjustable Rate Mortgages

  Paul Kiesel | March 25, 2008 6:00 PM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  At the peak of the housing boom to purchase homes, many affluent consumers with annual incomes of $100,000 or more were lured into taking out adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, under the impression that they would be able to lower their monthly mortgage payment (from existing fixed-rate mortgages) or that it would allow them more financial flexibility. In order to secure these lower monthly...

• Bad Week for Airline Passengers

  Sandy Grinnell | March 25, 2008 3:58 PM | 0 CommentsOrlando, FL

  Since the full moon had begun to wane, there had to be some other external force effecting air travel this week. Here are the headlines from msnbc.com yesterday:Piece of airliner dislodges... hits passenger window; Pilot's gun fires on US Airways jet; and 747 blows 4 tires, aborts takeoff from LAXThe first incident involved a US Air Boeing 757 traveling from Orlando to Philly. A piece of the...

• Second Crane Accident in 10 Days Kills 2

  RLF Staff | March 25, 2008 3:05 PM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Less than two weeks after the 20-story crane collapse that killed seven in New York City, a collapse in Miami has killed two workers and injured four others. Used at a construction site for a 40-story high-rise conominium, officials were unsure how the crane fell. Continued instability hindered rescue efforts at the rubble site - a home the contractor had been using as an office (and according...

• Tire Manufacturer Fights Wide Access To Records In Defective Tire Suit

  Brent Adams | March 25, 2008 2:45 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Cooper Tire Company has appealed to the 10th U. S. Circuit Court Of Appeals to fight an order of the lower federal court to produce records relating to the manufacture of tires.The families of several students of Utah State who died or received personal injuries from a van crash in 2005 have taken their lawsuit, which claims that the crash was caused by defective tires, to a federal court in...

• Oprah Winfrey Sued By Audience Member

  Brent Adams | March 25, 2008 2:27 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  A woman has filed a lawsuit claiming that while she was in Chicago, Illinois, she received personal injuries in a rush for seating at the set of the Oprah Winfrey talk show.According to the claims of Orit Greenberg, Harpo Studios exhibited negligence through their failure to control the audience during the December 5, 2006 incident. She filed the suit seeking damages in excess of...

• Fraud Possible for 4.2 Million Credit Card Numbers Stolen From Hannaford

  Shannon Weidemann | March 24, 2008 10:21 PM | 0 CommentsNew York City, NY

  Hannaford Brothers Company is an east coast grocery store chain serving millions of customers. Customers are being urged to check with their credit card and debit card companies this week after learning 4.2 Million numbers were stolen in a security breach. The data was not taken from a company database. The supermarket chain, the Hannaford Brothers Company, said the data were exposed when...

• Credit Card Numbers Stolen From Sweetbay

  Shannon Weidemann | March 24, 2008 9:40 PM | 0 CommentsMiami, FL

  The Sweetbay Supermarket, a Florida chain of grocery stores, and Hannaford Bros. announced last week that 4.2 Million credit card and debit card numbers were obtained during store transactions. Over 1800 cases of credit card fraud have been reported. The credit & debit card numbers were illegally obtained during the card authorization process.Hannaford was notified of unusual credit card...

• Prudential Didn't Use Qualified Doctors to Deny Disability Claim

  Ben Glass | March 24, 2008 2:11 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Graham Harrison, filed for disability benefits under his group long term insurance policy provided by Prudential Insurance Company. He suffered from Tourette Syndrome which prevented him from working on a full time basis. His doctor, a neurologist and specialist in his disease (Tourette Syndrome) had recommended that he consider reducing his work schedule to less than full time to accommodate...

• Deadly Heparin

  Frank Bailey | March 24, 2008 2:06 PM | 0 CommentsJonesboro, AR

  Pet food, children's toys, and now Heparin...all unsafe Chinese products. Investigators are trying to determine if the drug Heparin was deliberately contaminated with a fake ingredient resulting in up to 19 known deaths.We know Heparin is a commonly used blood thinner. All the ingredients come from China. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the Federal Drug Administration's deputy commissioner said it is...

• Are you a Faker?

  Christina Medlin | March 24, 2008 1:30 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Insurance companies and their lawyers have begun using the Fake Bad Scale (FBS) Test to determine if injured people are faking their pain from car accidents. Expert witnesses for the defense/insurance companies began using the test more often after the test was added to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).The MMPI is often used to diagnose and treat patients in mental-health...