Business in brief: Washington sees fewer home sales

Home sales in Washington state decreased by 5.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, when compared to the first quarter, and were 11.6 percent below last year’s sales.

The statistics were included in a news release sent Wednesday by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

While numbers of home sales were down in Washington, they declined by less than many other metropolitan areas, according to Glenn Crellin, director of the center. In the release, Crellin said that while the state is reflecting a nationwide trend of declining real estate sales, its comparative resiliency showcases “stronger underlying economics.”

The release pointed out that while national median home prices had modest declines, Washington’s median price was 8.1 higher than a year ago.

Detroit

Injuries linked to car’s floor mat

The federal government has upgraded an investigation into the 2007 Lexus ES 350 sedan after at least 12 people were injured when vehicles accelerated without warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a report issued this week that an all-weather floor mat can trap the throttle pedal when it’s not properly secured, resulting in unwanted acceleration. The all-weather floor mat has been found in a majority of the vehicles that reported the problem, it said.

Toyota Motor Corp. told NHTSA it sent a mailing to ES 350 owners in late April warning them about improper installation of the all-weather floor mat. The mat should be secured with clips and shouldn’t be placed over the standard floor mat. Toyota also said it changed the labeling on the floor mat.

San Jose, Calif.

HP sued over records release

A group of reporters and their family members whose private telephone records were secretly obtained as part of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s boardroom surveillance scheme sued the technology giant and two former executives on Wednesday, claiming they engaged in “illegal and reprehensible conduct” and are liable for damages.

Five separate lawsuits were filed in San Francisco Superior Court against Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard, the world’s No. 1 seller of PCs worldwide, and former Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and Kevin Hunsaker, the ethics chief.

Both executives were ousted last year because of their roles in HP’s probe of unauthorized leaks to the media. The probe turned into a national scandal for HP and led to criminal investigations and congressional hearings over investigators’ use of Social Security numbers and other personal information to trick phone companies into handing over confidential call logs.

The plaintiffs include three reporters from online media company CNET Networks Inc.’s News.com – Dawn Kawamoto, Stephen Shankland and Tom Krazit – and one reporter from the Associated Press, Rachel Konrad. Other plaintiffs are Kawamoto’s husband, Jon Kawamoto, and Stephen Shankland’s parents, Thomas and Rebecca Shankland.