Monthly Archives: January 2015

Credit Repair Companies. A shameful scam.

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If I ran the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), there are a number of businesses that I would shut down immediately on the grounds that they are in business simply to defraud people. Near the top of my list would be credit repair companies. These companies claim that they can get negative information out of your credit report, regardless of how it got there. They companies advertise on TV all the time, claiming that they can ‘clean up’ your credit report and raise your credit score.

The truth is this. If there is negative information in your credit report and that information is accurate, there is nothing that you or anyone else can do to get that information out of your credit report. It really is just that simple. If you didn’t repay your student loan, make payments on your credit cards, or if you got evicted from your apartment for nonpayment of rent; and that information is in your credit report, then you are just going to have to live with that. Giving money to a credit repair company to get accurate information out of your credit report is a complete waste of money. You would do just as well spending your money on Alien Abduction Insurance.

UFO Abduction Insurance. There actually are a number of companies, mostly in England, that sell UFO Abduction Insurance. There is also a company in Florida that sells UFO Abduction Insurance, but in order to collect on their policy, you have to have the space creature that kidnapped you sign a notarized statement acknowledging the abduction. I think that could be hard to get. If you become pregnant as a result of your alien abduction, the insurance policy pays double. However – I digress.

If there is negative information in your credit report, and that information is incorrect, then that is a different kettle of fish. You can get that information out of your credit report, and you can do it yourself. It isn’t hard. Many years ago, my credit report showed that I owed a bank $200,000 on a mortgage on a house in Oakland and that I had not been making payments on the mortgage for over a year. The truth was that I had sold the property, and the bank failed to inform the credit bureau that the loan had been paid off. That happens all the time. Lenders frequently forget to tell credit bureaus when loans are paid off. I sent a letter to the credit bureau explaining what happened along with a xerox copy of my payoff letter from the bank. The credit bureau quickly took the erroneous information out of my credit report.

To get erroneous information out of your credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com and print out your credit report. This service is free. Be careful typing in the name of this web site. Other companies have similar names but charge for credit reports. Highlight any information that is wrong and e-mail or write to the credit bureau with your side of the story. Include copies of documents that back up your case. Credit bureaus will respond to letters like this and make corrections. They don’t want to get sued for giving out erroneous information, and credit bureaus have to compete with each other. If a credit bureau develops a reputation for having a lot of inaccurate information in their reports, they will lose business, so they do have an incentive to make sure that their reports are accurate.

Credit repair companies often claim to have special relationships with credit bureaus, but that isn’t true. They also claim to have secret methods for getting negative information out of credit reports, but that isn’t true either. None of the 3 major credit bureaus have any relationship with any credit repair company. As I said earlier, if there is negative information in your credit report, and it is accurate, then you are stuck. There is nothing that you or a credit repair company can do about it.

Berkeley’s Soda Tax.

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In November, 2014; Berkeley became the first city in the U.S. to pass a soft drink tax. The tax is 1 cent an ounce, a high rate as a percent of the wholesale price of the product The Berkeley soda tax is collected in an unusual way. It is not paid like sales tax. Instead, the tax is paid by wholesale soft drink distributors. I think that method of collecting this tax will become a problem for Berkeley.

Wholesale vs. Retail. Taxing wholesalers has largely disappeared in America. That is because club stores and the internet have blurred the line between wholesale and retail. My father owned a furniture store back in the 1960s. In those days, you couldn’t buy furniture directly from a furniture manufacturer or distributor. Only retailers could buy furniture from the big manufacturers. Today, you can buy furniture at Costco at nearly the same price that retail stores pay for the stuff.

Costco. A lot of stores and restaurants in Berkeley were already buying their soft drinks at Costco even before this tax was passed. Now, more of them are driving to Costco for their soft drinks. Costco does not and will not pay the Berkeley soft drink tax because they are not located in Berkeley.

Dollar Tree. Other stores in Berkeley have just stop selling soft drinks. Dollar Tree stores in Berkeley used to sell a lot of soft drinks. Now as a result of this tax, Dollar Tree has stopped selling soft drinks. They are not alone. A number of other stores in Berkeley have also stopped selling soft drinks. This soft drink tax was supposed to raise money for the city of Berkeley, but if enough retailers decide to stop selling soft drinks, the city could wind up with a net loss of revenue instead.

The University. However, the big question is this – will the university pay the tax? U.C. Berkeley is, by far, the largest vendor of soft drinks in Berkeley. There are over 200 soft drink vending machines on campus, plus there are self-serve soft drink dispensers in nearly all the dining halls, and bottled soft drinks are sold in stores around campus. The university says that according to the state constitution, a city cannot force a state agency to pay a city tax and that the university will not pay the Berkeley soda tax. The people who wrote this law claim that the city can make the university pay the tax.  I don’t know how that will play out, but in the past, whenever the city of Berkeley tried to tax the university, the city of Berkeley lost in court.

What Rich Dot-Comers Are Buying These Days.

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The latest toy that rich dot-comers are buying these days is big houses in ritzy neighborhoods in San Francisco. The price of these houses is going up astonishingly fast. A house in Pacific Heights just sold for $39 million, the highest priced house listed on the MLS in the U.S. This house sold for $27 million just 3 years ago, which shows just how rapidly high-end houses in San Francisco are appreciating. There are several other houses for sale in Pacific Heights and on Russian Hill for $30 million or more. The property tax in San Francisco on a $39 million house is about $1 million a year. To see what $39 million gets you in San Francisco, go to: $39 Million House.

Madame de Florian’s Apartment

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deFlorianMadame de Florian was a wealthy French socialite in the 1930s. She lived in a large and lavish apartment in the fashionable Opera Garnier district of Paris. In 1942, Madame de Florian moved from Paris, which was under Nazi occupation, to the south of France, which was not under occupation, but she continued to pay the rent on her Paris apartment. Madame de Florian intended to return to her Paris apartment after the war was over, but she never did. She liked life on the French Riviera. Madame de Florian died in 2010. After her death, an auctioneer hired by her heirs entered her Paris apartment. It was the first time that anyone had entered the apartment since 1942. When the auctioneer unlocked the door to the apartment, he was astonished. He found a perfectly preserved time capsule of what life was like for the French aristocracy in the 1920s and 1930s. The apartment was full of treasures. It took weeks to catalog everything. Some items in Madame de Florian’s apartment have already been sold, including a framed portrait of Madame de Florian herself by Giovanni Boldini. The painting sold for over 2 million Euros. Many other valuables in the apartment are still awaiting sale.

Chocolate Fondue Anyone?

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fondueIf you would like to serve chocolate fondue at your next party, come and see me. I will lend you my chocolate fondue pots and forks and give you the fondue chocolate. All you will need is cream and stuff to dip in the fondue, like strawberries and bananas.

Chocolate fondue is very easy to make. You just put chocolate and cream in an electric fondue pot and turn the thermostat on ‘low’. When the chocolate is melted, stir it up, and you’re done. It’s as simple as that. This isn’t a simplified recipe. This is the way dessert professionals make it. Chocolate fondue is great for parties! And it is easy and fun to do!