uFamily Suing Previous Homeowner, Real Estate Agent After Realizing “Dream Home” Was Infested With Snakesr

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  (via WUSA 9 News [link has video that autoplays])

  It’s the stuff of nightmares: Fearing that the walls of your home are crawling with snakes, only to find out that no, this isn’t a bad dream, there are actually reptiles infesting the house you live in. That was the reality for one Maryland family who’s now suing their home’s previous owner and the real estate agent behind the sale, claiming both parties knew the house was chock-full of snakes before they sold it.

  At first, when the family’s four-year-old son saw a three-foot black snake hanging from the facade of their new home in Annapolis, his parents thought it was a good thing, reports the Washington Post. They’d spotted a snake’s shedded skin in the house months ago and thought this meant they could get rid of the home’s snake problem.

  But a week later, they found a seven-foot black rat snake. Then they found another, and another and so on until it was clear that there was a definite snake problem that wasn’t going away.

  They called in a contractor and a snake inspector who gutted the basement and told them the house was snake-infested and as such, not suitable for children. The family moved into a relatives home after living in their new house for only four months.

  They’re now suing the previous owner of the house and her daughter, the real estate agent who sold the home to them last year, claiming they knew the house was infested with snakes and hid it from the family in order to make the sale.

  When they heard rumors from neighbors about a possible snake issue, they approached the real estate agent who allegedly “assured” the family that the prior rental tenants were people who didn’t want to pay rent and had mocked up a picture of a snake at the property to get out of the lease.

  The agent allegedly had a pest-control company do a “snake away” treatment, and during inspections the family didn’t see any snake activity. That was just part of an act, the suit alleges.

  But after finding snake upon snake, it seemed the infestation was all too real. The lawsuit is seeking a combined $2 million in damages, claiming the snake infestation was so bad that an inspector spotted snake “highways” in the basement walls that the serpents used to slither around the home in.

  “It was a house we could make into our dream home,” the mom says, though those hopes soon turned into worry. “We had a fear that [a snake] would go into our daughter’s crib and, like the movies, wrap itself around our baby girl.”

  Though black rat snakes aren’t venomous, the family says they’ve had severe respiratory problems due to living with an “excessive amount of snake feces.” The distinct smell those snakes leave behind means the family can’t move back, the mom says, as the smell can bring more snakes slithering.

  “Unfortunately, that’s us, we’re the snake family. . . . We’ve learned more about snakes than we’ve ever wanted to know,” she said. “We just want them to let us start over and take the house back.”

  The real estate agency’s lawyer declined to comment to the Washington Post, due to the ongoing litigation.

  This Md. family says their ‘dream home’ is infested with snakes [The Washington Post]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uStudent Loans Are The New Roboisigning Crisisr

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  (Joe M. O’Connell)

  You may remember the term “robo-signing” from the recent financial crisis, where lenders would put homeowners in foreclosure without an actual person reviewing the documents, which is required in many states. The same thing is reportedly happening again with s different debt crisis: student loan lenders are robo-signing those, too.

  Most debt in this country is in the form of home mortgages. Credit card balances used to come in at #2, but Americans have paid down those debts and now student loans are the biggest source of outstanding debt. When people miss payments or enter default, collection agencies come after them…but the robo-signing menace is back thanks to the student loan industry.

  Yes, lenders packaged up private student loans and sold them as securities: specifically bones, which funnel borrowers’ student loan payments to investors. Only, much like in the mortgage crisis, record-keeping is sloppy and the chain of who owns which loan can be difficult to prove.

  When lenders sue student loan payers in court, it’s possible to force the financial company suing you to prove that they are the ones who rightfully own the debt. If they didn’t, buy not having a human being review the documents before filing in court, it’s possible to have a payment judgement vacated for a private student loan: meaning that since the current owner of your debt can’t prove that you own it, you don’t have to pay them.

  The Lawsuit Machine Going After Student Debtors [Bloomberg]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uPolice: DNA Analysis Proves Chili’s Waiter Spit In Customer’s Drinkr

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  (JeepersMedia)

  Many of us have had that moment where something about a food or drink order at a restaurant doesn’t feel quite right when it comes, especially if you’ve had any kind of negative encounter with the wait staff. But in one case, police say they were able to prove which waiter at a Chili’s restaurant had spit into a customer’s takeaway drink, using DNA analysis.

  The incident dates back to last July when a couple went to dinner at a Chili’s restaurant in New York, according to court documents in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, reports ABC News. The twosome complained to their server, a 24-year-old man, that their food wasn’t cooked enough and that they hadn’t gotten chips.

  “They were polite to the server, and even left a tip,” the couple’s lawyer told ABC News, with the man echoing that sentiment.

  “We weren’t rude or anything,” he said. “It was a busy night but we didn’t expect for our food to get spit in.”

  The couple ordered drinks to-go and headed out. At some point the lid of the man’s cup popped off, giving him a glimpse of a glob of spit, he claims, saying was “really bad.”

  After dropping off his wife and son at home, the man went back to the restaurant where he got an apology from managers, a refund and some coupons. However, the staff didn’t admit the waiter was responsible, the couple’s lawyer says.

  The customer says he then ran into the waiter crying in the parking lot, so he confronted him and asked why he’d spit in his cup. The man says the server denied doing so, and allegedly said he didn’t want to lose his job.

  Several days after the couple called the police, investigators showed up at the server’s door whereupon he once again denied spitting in the cup but agreed to have his mouth swabbed for DNA, state police say. The server hadn’t been fired and he continued to work at the restaurant until last October when he left on his own accord, court papers indicate.

  Three months after the saliva discovery, DNA analysis concluded that the spit in the cup matched the server’s. He was taken into custody and confessed to the crime, and was charged with disorderly conduct, according to police. He pleaded guilty in February and got a one-year conditional discharge and a $125 fee.

  Now the couple is suing him, Chili’s parent company Brinker International and the owner of the Chili’s for negligence and retention of an incompetent employee. No damages were specified in the lawsuit.

  “Due to company policy and a pending lawsuit, we are waiting to review the case before commenting,” a manager at the Chili’s told ABC News. Brinker did not immediately respond to ABC News.

  Cops Use DNA Analysis to Prove Chili’s Waiter Spit in Customer’s Drink [ABC News]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uSubway Removing Artificial Ingredients From Its Menu By 2017r

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  (Mandy Jansen)

  Last April, Subway stopped using Azodicarbonamide – a chemical that is used to improve elasticity in bread but that also shows up in things like yoga mats. Now, the sandwich shop is taking things a step farther, by making plans to drop all artificial ingredients from its menu by 2017.

  The Associated Press reports that the company will remove artificial flavors, colors and preservatives from its stores in North America, joining a long list of other food-related businesses including Chipotle, Panera, Nestle and Kraft that have done the same in recent months.

  Subway says that ditching the artificial ingredients has been an ongoing process.

  Elizabeth Stewart, the company’s director of corporate social responsibility, says that most recently the restaurant chain has been working to remove caramel color from ham and roast beef, and replacing the preservative proprionic acid with vinegar in turkey.

  When it comes to sandwich toppings, the AP reports, Subway plans to switch its banana peppers from those with artificial dye Yellow No. 5 to ones colored with turmeric, among other things.

  Stewart says the company is also working to remove the ingredients from cookies and sauces.

  Subway’s effort to drop artificial ingredients comes on the heels of other major food companies doing the same.

  Last week, Yum Brands announced that two of its fast food chains – Taco Bell and Pizza Hut – would remove artificial flavors from most of its menu offerings by the end of the year.

  Before that, Chipotle announced all of its food would be GMO-free (while simultaneously acknowledging that GMOs may be completely safe).

  In April, Kraft announced it would remove synthetic colors and artificial preservatives from its Original Macaroni & Cheese in the United States.

  That announcement came two months after Nestle said it would remove artificial flavors and colors from all its chocolate products by the end of the year. Earlier this week, the company said it would remove artificial flavors and reduce salt by 10% in many of its frozen pizza and snack products.

  Subway Joins Companies Dropping Artificial Ingredients [The Associated Press]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uCoca-Cola Debuts Bottle Made Entirely Of Plant Materialsr

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  Photo courtesy of Coca-Cola

  If you thought that Coke was sweet before, then Coca-Cola’s newest bottles will give you a sugar rush. That’s because the company has developed a beverage container made solely from plant materials, including sugarcane.

  While the bottles won’t actually change the taste of Coke or other Coca-Cola beverages, it is the first plastic beverage container made from 100% plant-based materials, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

  Coca-Cola unveiled the new “PlantBottle” – made from sugarcane and waste from the sugarcane manufacturing process – at the food technology conference World Expo in Milan, Italy on Wednesday.

  “PlantBottle packaging maintains the high quality package consumers expect but with the added benefit of being made from renewable materials,” the company said in a statement. “It can be used for a variety of packaging sizes and across water, sparkling, juice and tea beverage brands.”

  The beverage behemoth says it has been working to “develop a more responsible plant-based alternative to packaging traditionally made from fossil fuels and other nonrenewable materials.”

  Back in 2009, the company debuted its first attempt at a greener bottle, but that one only continued 30% plant-material.

  The latest beverage casing was made possible through a partnership with biofuels and biochemicals company Virent.

  Working together, the two companies converted natural sugars found in plants – such as cane sugar – into plastic material, replacing the petroleum once used in Coke’s bottles.

  “Today is a pioneering milestone within our company’s packaging portfolio,” Nancy Quan, Coca-Cola global research and development officer, said in a statement.

  So far, Coca-Cola has made 35 million bottles based on its 2009 version with 30% plant-based materials, resulting in saving an equivalent of 315,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the Journal Sentinel reports.

  The company hopes to achieve wide use of the new 100% plant-based bottle by 2020.

  Coke, Virent debut plastic bottle made 100% from plant materials [Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uReport: Dish And T-Mobile Mulling Merger (Again)r

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  Last fall, rumors started swirling that satellite TV company Dish Networks and mobile carrier T-Mobile were eyeing a merger. And now, many months later, it looks like the two companies may indeed be close to a deal.

  The Wall Street Journal reports that our latest wave of broadband and media consolidation is on the horizon, as Dish and T-Mobile are “in close agreement” about the details of a merger deal.

  Last year after the Dish rumors first surfaced, T-Mobile CEO John Legere protested, saying he was “sick and tired” of everyone speculating on possible buyers for T-Mobile. But by April of this year, Legere was admitting that partnerships between wireless carriers and traditional companies were all but inevitable. At the time, he said, “I’ve always said on consolidation that it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘when and how.’ And now I’m gonna add, ‘and who.’”

  That question, at least as far as T-Mobile is concerned, appears to be on the verge of an answer.

  With the merger between AT&T and DirecTV looking likely to gain approval any day now, it’s not hard to see why Dish would want to merge with a mobile company, nor hard to see why T-Mobile would want to merge with the satellite provider.

  The key, as ever, is broadband — in this case, wireless. T-Mobile is growing but still dwarfed by AT&T and Verizon, and has limited resources to use on network expansion. Dish has large swaths of wireless spectrum, but no mobile service to use them with. Put those together, and the merger becomes a natural solution.

  According to the WSJ, both sides are in agreement that Dish head Charlie Ergen would become the merged company’s chairman and T-Mobile chief would become the new company’s CEO. The two companies are, however, still hashing out the important part: the money. Specifically, how much, to whom, and in what kind, cash or stock.

  Any merger between Dish and T-Mobile would, of course, face scrutiny from the FCC as well as from the Justice Department, just as the seemingly endless wave of mergers before it.

  Dish Network in Merger Talks With T-Mobile US [Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

uApple Watch Headed To Retail Stores This Monthr

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• If you’ve been biding your time to get your hands on an Apple Watch — as in, actually see it, touch it and then walk out of the store with it in your hands, the wait is almost over: Apple says after months of online-only sales, it’ll be expanding the device’s availability into seven more countries and kicking off in-store sales around the same time.

  The company announced today that it’ll soon be selling Apple Watch in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan beginning Friday, June 26. Customers will have the option to buy online at the Apple Store or go to a retail location, including authorized resellers.

  Here in the U.S., Apple says it’s eating its way through a clog of backorders, but that soon customers stateside will also be able to check out and buy certain models of the watches in retail stores.

  “We’re also making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience,” says Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations in a statement. All orders placed through May, with the sole exception of Apple Watch 42 mm Space Black Stainless Steel with Space Black Link Bracelet, will ship to customers within two weeks. At that time, we’ll also begin selling some models in our Apple Retail Stores.”

  That means sometime this month, for those of you who don’t feel like doing the math, probably in about two weeks. Before now, customers could make appointments to try on the Watch in Apple stores, but still had to order it online.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist