Finding that, under New York law, brokers “are charged with knowledge and responsibility to check the public records to confirm any information the broker is conveying to the potential purchasers,” a New York court has held a listing broker (“Listing Broker”) liable for $4,200 to reimburse a homebuyer (“Buyer”) for the costs Buyer expended to hook up a purchased property (“Property”) to the municipal sewer line.

In early 2013, Buyer began looking for a home to purchase. He was only interested in houses with connections to the municipal sewer system. His real estate broker showed him the Property, which Listing Broker, based upon information supplied by the Property’s seller (“Seller”), had listed as having “city sewers.” Apparently relying exclusively on the listing information regarding the Property’s sewage system, Buyer purchased the home.

After closing on the Property, Buyer discovered that the Property was not, in fact, connected to the city sewers, but rather had a septic tank system. Buyer spent $4,200 to connect the Property to the city sewer line located beneath the street in front of the Property, and then filed a small claims action against Listing Broker for reimbursement of his costs. In his suit, Buyer alleged that Listing Broker’s failure to use due diligence in checking the public records for the accuracy of the listing information amounted to a breach of Listing Broker’s duties under New York real estate law.

The court found “several problems with [Buyer’s] allegations,” including the fact that Buyer worked for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and, as part of this job, did sewer maintenance for the city. In addition, the court determined that both parties had failed to submit into evidence a number of key documents, including the contract of sale and the title report. The court pointed out that either or both of these missing documents may have included information and disclosures related to the Property’s sewage system. Despite these factual and evidentiary issues, the court relied on New York’s real estate license law statutes and case law to determine that, “although [Buyer’s] alleged lack of knowledge borders on being less than credible, taking into account all of the facts, the primary responsibility for discovering the inaccurate information must fall on the [Listing Broker.]”

Concluding that, “had [Listing Broker] acted as a ‘professional’ and checked out the public records, the listing would have been corrected and claimant would not have even looked at the house,” the court determined that Broker had failed to use the requisite due diligence required by New York law, and was therefore liable to Buyer for the costs of connecting the property to the municipal sewer system.

McDermott v Related Assets, LLC 2014 NY Slip Op 51464(U) ( September 16, 2014). [Note: This opinion is not published in an official reporter and therefore should not be cited as authority. Please consult counsel before relying on this opinion].

Courtesy of www.realtor.org

by Stephanie Goldberg

Absenteeism among obese workers in the United States costs employers about $8.65 billion each year, according to a study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Costs associated with obesity-related work absences vary from state to state, reflecting variations in average daily earnings, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine said Thursday in a statement.

Obesity accounts for about 9.3% of all absenteeism costs nationwide, ranging from 6.5% in Washington, D.C., to 12.6% in Arkansas, according to the statement. And the study found that obese workers miss an extra 1.1 to 1.7 days of work each year compared with overweight or normal-weight workers.

“Obesity is associated with high direct costs for medical care, but the societal costs due to health-related work absences and reduced productivity could be even higher,” according to the statement.

The study examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1998 to 2008, and from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2012.

Adults who have a body mass index of 30 or higher are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Courtesy of www.businessinsurance.com

By James Jaillet

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to grant drivers carrying loads that are oversize or overweight an exemption to the the 30-minute break requirement of the 2013 hours of service rule.

The 30-minute break requirement was instituted in July of last year, when the latest hours of service rule took effect. It requires drivers to take a 30-minute break within the first eight hours of their on-duty time.

Compliance with this requirement is “extremely difficult” for specialty loads haulers, SC&RA says, due to state permit restrictions that often limit when and where oversized/overweight loads can be transported.

The exemption is requested for all permitted loads, according to SC&RA’s application for exemption.

“The 30-minute break uniquely affects OS/OW loads and has exacerbated the number of instances in which drivers have had to park these loads at roadside, consequently impacting the safety of both the general public and the driver,” according to the application, posted Nov. 24 in the Federal Register.

Average oversize and overweight loads are 15-16 feet wide and longer than 100 feet, according to SC&RA. Finding parking for these loads is more difficult than with other loads, SC&RA says, and drivers of the specialty loads are often forced to park alongside highways or exit ramps during the required 30-minute break.

“SC&RA does not foresee any negative impact to safety from the requested exemption. It believes that granting the exemption would have a favorable impact on overall safety by reducing the frequency of drivers resorting to less than ideal parking options, thereby reducing the frequency of lanes being partially or fully obscured,” according to the application.

FMCSA is accepting public comment on the application for 30 days.

Courtesy of www.ccjdigital.com

Home Depot Inc., which suffered a data breach between April and September, said 53 million e-mail addresses were taken by hackers during the attack, in addition to the 56 million payment cards that were previously disclosed.

Home Depot also said that the criminals used a third- party vendor’s user name and password to reach the perimeter of its network, then gained additional rights to navigate the company’s systems. Hackers used custom-built software on Home Depot’s self-checkout terminals in the U.S. and Canada to access customer data, according to a statement.

“Customers should be on guard against phishing scams, which are designed to trick customers into providing personal information in response to phony e-mails,” the Atlanta-based company said.

Home Depot, which first acknowledged the attack in September, has become one of the biggest victims of hackers’ war on retailers. The world’s largest home-improvement chain has said it expects to pay about $62 million this year to recover from the incursion, including additional costs for call-center staffing and legal expenses. Insurance will cover $27 million of that tab, the company said.

The latest information stemmed from weeks of work by investigators, who are cooperating with law enforcement and information-technology experts, Home Depot said. The e-mail data that was stolen didn’t include passwords or other sensitive information, the company said.

New Malware
Home Depot began investigating the breach on Sept. 2, immediately after banking partners and law enforcement raised alarms that its systems may have been infiltrated. The malicious software used in the breach hadn’t been seen in previous attacks and was designed to evade detection by anti-virus software, the company has said. The vulnerability has been closed off, and Home Depot has eliminated the malware from its systems.

A third-party vendor was also the root of Target Corp.’s breach last year, when hackers stole about 40 million payment- card numbers at the height of the holiday season.

So far, Home Depot has weathered its breach more smoothly than Target, which suffered a decline in sales and was reprimanded by lawmakers. Home Depot today reiterated its financial targets for 2014, saying sales will grow about 4.8 percent and earnings will climb 21 percent to $4.54 a share.

The shares rose 1.6 percent to $97.29 today in New York before it made the statement. The stock has climbed 18 percent this year, outpacing the Standard & Poor 500 Index’s 9.9 percent gain.

The company is bolstering the security in all its U.S. stores, including encrypting more data and adding chip-and-PIN technology. Home Depot has almost 2,300 retail stores.