Court affirms ruling that stymied Ridpath plans
A Spokane builder remains barred from turning the top floors of the historic Ridpath Hotel back into luxury accommodations, after a state appellate court ruled this week an agreement penned by disgraced developer Greg Jeffreys was invalid.
Art Coffey, the principal member of Ridpath Revival LLC, was sued by a consortium of condominium owners including Dave Largent and Ron Wells after his hotel plans became public. The owners said Coffey’s purchase of the floor space in the former hotel on West Sprague Avenue, which closed in 2008, was invalid because a majority of property owners hadn’t agreed to Jeffreys divvying up units in the building twice in 2008.
Jeffreys, who is in prison on unrelated matters, sold off portions of the building in complicated agreements that have taken courts years to settle.
Spokane Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen found in favor of Largent and Wells, vacating Coffey’s rights to the top floors and shelving his plans for the hotel. Coffey appealed, but a three-member panel of state appellate justices on Tuesday confirmed Eitzen’s ruling.
Coffey declined comment on the decision. An attorney for the condominium owners did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Wells plans to convert the Ridpath into apartments.
$22M settlement reached in credit-score scam case
NEW YORK – A company that promised customers free credit scores has agreed to pay $22 million to settle charges that it billed customers for monthly credit monitoring that they did not sign up for.
Most of the money, about $21.9 million, will be used for customer refunds. The settlement was made with the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in Illinois and Ohio.
The FTC said Dallas-based One Technologies LP, and two related companies, ran at least 50 websites that advertised free credit scores, including FreeScore360.com, FreeScoreOnline.com and ScoreSense.com. The FTC said that after customers signed up for a free credit score, the company asked for credit card numbers to verify their identity. Customers would then be charged $29.95 per month for a credit-monitoring program.
Building permit numbers boost new-home outlook
New U.S. home construction fell unexpectedly in October, but a surge in future building plans suggested a wobbly housing recovery found firmer footing.
Building permits, a gauge of future construction, hit a six-year high last month, climbing 4.8 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million. Single-family permits rose 1.4 percent, while permits for multifamily buildings surged 10 percent, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. New home construction dropped 2.8 percent from an upwardly revised September figure.
VW recalls 442,000 cars over suspension issue
DETROIT – Volkswagen is recalling 442,000 Jettas and Beetles to fix a problem that can cause rear suspension failure if the cars aren’t fixed properly after a crash.
The recall covers 2011 through 2013 Jettas and 2012 through 2013 Beetles.
Volkswagen says in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators Wednesday that if rear trailing arms are damaged in a crash and not repaired correctly, they can fracture suddenly. That can cause loss of control and possibly a crash. Trailing arms connect the axle to the frame. The company said there have been no crashes or injuries in the U.S., but there were reports of fractured trailing arms mainly in Asian countries.
Dealers will inspect trailing arms for damage and install sheet metal to help prevent a loss of vehicle control. The sheet metal will be installed at no cost to customers, but customers will have to pay for repairs if their suspension was damaged, the company said. Parts currently aren’t available, but Volkswagen will notify customers to take their cars to dealers for a free inspection.