The Pennsylvania defective product lawyers at Reiff and Bily call your attention to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announcement involving a voluntary recall of the following consumer products: Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag, and Crosely brand refrigerators. Approximately 456, 000 additional units recalled. Please note in March 2009 1.6 million units were recalled. The units are manufactured by the Magtag Corporation of Newton, Iowa and the hazard was noted to be an electrical failure in a relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor which can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard. According to the USCPSC announcement Magtag received 23 additional reports of fire relay ignition including 4reports for property damage ranging from smoke damage to extensive kitchen damage. The units were sold by department appliance stores and by homebuilders nationwide from September 2000 through May 2004 in the price range of $350 to $1,600.

We recommend that consumers immediately contact Maytag to determine if their refrigerator is included on the recall and if so, to schedule a free in home repair. You can visit Maytag’s website at www.repair.maytag.com.