SAN DIEGO, Oct. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The following notice is being issued by the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C. and has been authorized by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, in Richard Winters and Jake Gruber, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Two Towns Ciderhouse, Inc. (No. 3:20-cv-0468-BAS-BGS).

Consumers filed a class action lawsuit against 2 Towns Ciderhouse, claiming that it manufactured, marketed, advertised and sold hard apple cider products as containing “Nothing Artificial: No concentrates or refined sugars; No essences or artificial flavors; No velcorin or sorbate”, when in fact some of 2 Towns hard apple cider products use DL-Malic Acid—a synthetic version of Malic Acid found in fruit, and commonly used to adjust acidity in fruit juices.

2 Towns Ciderhouse denies all of the claims in the lawsuit and any wrongdoing, and denies that all of its products contained DL-Malic Acid or that DL-Malic Acid was added to any of its products as an artificial flavor.  The Parties have reached an agreement to settle on a nationwide basis however the Court has not ruled on the merits of the claims and the Parties have agreed to settle to avoid the costs and uncertainty of litigation.

Are you included?

You are included in the Class if you bought certain 2 Towns Ciderhouse hard cider products as a consumer between March 12, 2016 and October11, 2020 and the product was labeled as containing “Nothing Artificial: No concentrates or refined sugars; No essences or artificial flavors; No velcorin or sorbate.”

What does the settlement provide?

The Defendant has agreed to establish a Settlement Fund of $985,000 to pay settlement class members who make valid, timely claims; pay Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees of up to 25% of the Settlement Fund; pay Class Counsel’s actual costs up to $20,000; pay a service award to the Class Representatives Winters and Gruber up to $7,500 and $5,000, respectively; and pay costs and expenses of the Claims Administrator.

After the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, each Settlement Class Member who submitted a Valid Claim Form will receive a check in the mail, or through electronic payment, for a pro rata share of the Settlement Fund. For more details on how pro rata values are calculated, please visit the Settlement Website, www.CiderSettlement.com, to see a copy of the Settlement Agreement.

What are my rights and options?

File A Claim: To receive Settlement benefits, you must complete and submit a Valid Claim Form, either online at www.CiderSettlement.com or by mailing it to 2 Towns Ciderhouse Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 1228, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.  A Valid Claim Form must be submitted online or postmarked by January 9, 2021.  Your failure to timely submit a Valid Claim Form will forfeit your right to receive your portion of the Settlement Fund.

Do Nothing: If you do nothing, you will be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement and Final Judgment.

Exclude Yourself: You can exclude yourself (“opt out”) of the settlement by submitting a Valid Exclusion Request to the Claims Administrator no later than December 28, 2020.  If you do so, you will not be eligible to receive a settlement payment.  But you will retain the right to sue on your own regarding any claims that are part of the settlement.  Details on how to opt out are available at www.CiderSettlement.com.

Object: You may also object to any part of this Settlement.  Objections must be must be mailed to the Clerk of the Court and postmarked on or before March 26, 2021.  Details about how to object are available at www.CiderSettlement.com.

Has the court approved the Settlement?

No, the Court has set a hearing for May 10, 2021 to determine whether to approve the settlement and what attorneys’ fees, expenses, and incentive payments to award.

Who represents me?

The Court has appointed the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C. to represent you and other Class Members as Class Counsel.  You do not have to pay Class Counsel or anyone else to participate.  If the Court approves the Nationwide Class settlement the Parties agreed to, then Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees and costs, which would be paid out of any money recovered for the Class.  You may hire your own lawyer to represent you at your own expense.  Richard Winters and Jake Gruber are Class members like you, and the Court has appointed them to serve as the “Class Representatives.”

Getting More Information?

If you want detailed information or other documents about this lawsuit and your rights, visit the website: www.CiderSettlement.com, 1-833-343-1076, write to 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Class Action Administrator, P.O. Box 1228, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 or call Class Counsel at 1-877-619-8966

SOURCE Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C.

SEATTLE, Oct. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Remarkable growth this half-decade has boosted the share of Latinxⁱ households in the U.S. that own their home to its highest since the housing bustⁱⁱ. While recent signs are encouraging, a new Zillow^® analysis reveals remaining roadblocks on the path to equitable housing. 

Latinx Americans are a massive and diverse group, with more than 200 unique ancestriesⁱⁱⁱ among the 60 million^iv who live in the U.S., and their homeownership gains in recent years have far exceeded those of other groups. About 18% of the U.S. population identifies as Latinxⁱⁱⁱ, yet they have accounted for more than 60% of new U.S. homeowner gains over the past decade^v. That growth has brought the Latinx homeownership rate to 48.9%, the highest level since 2008. 

This growth is even more striking when considered in the context of the housing bust during the Great Recession, when Latinx households took a disproportionately large blow. Less than 10% of all U.S. homes are in largely Latinx communities, yet 19.4% of all homes foreclosed upon between 2007 and 2015 were in these neighborhoods. After gains in the 1990s and early 2000s, this contributed to the Latinx homeownership rate falling to 44.1% in 2015 — the lowest since 1998ⁱⁱ. 

“While Latinx households have made recent gains in ownership, longstanding inequities in intergenerational wealth and other systemic barriers continue to impede Latinx Americans from reaching parity with the U.S. population as a whole,” says Manny Garcia, population scientist at Zillow. “Latinx home buyers are more likely to face challenges during the process, with financing the purchase often reported as a primary concern. Even within the Latinx community, wealth inequality could help explain the varying homeownership rates of people of different origins.”

Despite recent gains, the Latinx homeownership rate continues to lag more than 10 percentage points behind the rate for Asian, Native, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households, and nearly 25 percentage points behind non-Latinx white householdsⁱⁱ. A disparity in household wealth is likely a major contributor. The typical Latinx household earns about 75% of the typical white household as of 2018, but that typical white household held more than eight times the amount of overall wealth. That means Latinx households carry a far greater share of their wealth in their homes, adding to the pain caused by the Great Recession. 

Those who more recently moved to the U.S. are less likely to own a home — perhaps explaining why the homeownership rate among first-generation Latinx Americans (46%) is lower than among other generations (50%) — as are those coming from less wealthy backgrounds. Latinx Americans of Spanish descent have the highest homeownership rate at 63%, while households headed by someone of Dominican descent have the lowest at 29%ⁱⁱⁱ. 

Latinx buyers overall are more likely to be first-time home buyers — 56% report buying their first home, compared to 43% of buyers overall^vi. First-time buyers face greater financial hurdles because they don’t have access to equity from a previous home purchase to help with a down payment and almost always (80% of the time) finance their purchase with a mortgage. Latinx buyers are denied by mortgage lenders at a higher-than-average rate and 65% say they are concerned about qualifying for a mortgage at all^vi. 

To reach homeownership, Latinx buyers more often put other life milestones on hold because of the financial burden. More Latinx buyers than average report that the cost of housing delayed marriage plans (28% said so, versus 18% of all buyers), having children (29% versus 19%) and retiring (26% versus 19%)^vi. 

*Source: American Community Survey, 2014-2018
**Survey participants were given the option to select “South American” or “Central American” rather than an individual country

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ⁱIn this analysis, “Latinx” refers to people and heads of household that identify with at least one Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin
ⁱⁱU.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey, April 2020
ⁱⁱⁱU.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2014-2018
^ivU.S. Census Bureau, Population and Housing Unit Estimates, 2019
^vU.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey, February 2019
^viZillow Consumer Housing Trends Report, 2020

SOURCE Zillow