| Insurers Win at US Supreme Court on Credit Law (Update4)
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court limited the rights of consumers under a federal credit-reporting law in a victory for insurers Safeco Corp. and Geico Corp. and other financial services companies. The justices today said the Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn't require insurers to notify every consumer who is offered something short of the lowest premiums when seeking a rate quote or applying for a policy. ``Notices as common as these would take on the character of formalities, and formalities tend to be ignored,'' Justice David Souter wrote for seven of the court's nine justices. The court also unanimously limited the applicability of a provision that permits damage awards even when consumers don't suffer any injury. Although the justices didn't go as far as the insurance industry had sought, they said Safeco wasn't subject to the provision because it didn't recklessly violate the law.
Whitney Tilson's Notes From Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Meeting
Whitney Tilson submits (via Value Investor Insight): Note: This is not a transcript. No recording devices were allowed at the meeting, so this is based on many hours of rapid typing, combined with my memory. All quotes are Buffett's, unless otherwise noted. Words in [brackets] are my comments/edits or, when I missed something, my best guess of what was said. This is an excerpt from my full notes from this year's meeting, which are available here; comments from previous Berkshire and Wesco meetings are available here. • Berkshire's Next Chief Investment Officer Buffett: I mentioned in the annual report that in looking for an investment manager to succeed me, we're looking for someone who doesn't only learn from things that have happened, but can also envision things that have never happened.
YOUR PLACE TO CALL HOME: Don't let your dream become a nightmare
We all have hopes and dreams for the future of our families. We all have dreams of happiness and success for our children and grandchildren.We may have dreams of money, job or romance for ourselves. For many of us, the future of our dreams includes a home of our own or perhaps a bigger or newer home.We all can take pride in the fact that America is the land of opportunity. Millions of people from all over the globe have come to our nation in search of their dreams. One of the main components of the American Dream is a home of our own. Today, nearly 70 percent of all American families can call themselves homeowners. Realtors are proud of the role we have played in making the American Dream a reality for our customers and clients. .
For a price, company will improve your credit score
Only a low credit score stood between Alipio Estruch and a mortgage to buy a $449,000 Spanish-style house in Weston, Fla., a few miles west of Fort Lauderdale.
Instead of spending several years repairing his credit rating, which he said was marred by two forgotten cell phone bills and identity theft, the 37-year-old real estate agent paid $1,800 to an Internet-based company to bump up his score almost overnight.
The result was a happy ending for Estruch, but the growing practice is sending shivers through the mortgage industry. Federal regulators are also reviewing the practice. And after being contacted by The Associated Press for this story, Fair Isaac Corp., the developer of the widely used FICO score, said it will change its credit scoring system beginning later this year in a way it contends will end this little-known but potentially high-impact mortgage loan loophole.
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