Justices say accident victims can sue Ford in state courts

WASHINGTON >> The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Ford Motor Co. can be sued in the state courts of people who were killed or seriously injured in accidents involving Ford vehicles.

The justices unanimously rejected the Michigan-based company’s argument that its ties to Minnesota and Montana were too tenuous to allow it to be sued in those states by accident victims.

The ruling could make it easier to bring state court lawsuits against other car makers and companies that do business nationwide.

Ford argued that because the cars were originally sold elsewhere and were resold as used cars to people in Minnesota and Montana, the company shouldn’t have to face civil lawsuits in either state.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote the court’s majority opinion holding that “the connection between the plaintiffs’ claims and Ford’s activities in those States ... is close enough” to allow the lawsuits to proceed.

“By every means imaginable — among them, billboards, TV and radio spots, print ads, and direct mail — Ford urges Montanans and Minnesotans to buy its vehicles,” Kagan wrote. “Ford cars ... are available for sale, whether new or used, throughout the States, at 36 dealerships in Montana and 84 in Minnesota. And apart from sales, Ford works hard to foster ongoing connections to its cars’ owners.”

Six weeks of increases have put the 30year fixed-rate average at its highest level in nine months. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average jumped to 3.17% with an average 0.7 point. It was 3.09% a week ago and 3.5% a year ago. The 30-year fixed-rate average hasn’t been this high since June.

Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage investor, aggregates rates from around 80 lenders across the country to come up with weekly national average mortgage rates. It uses rates for high-quality borrowers with strong credit scores and large down payments. Because of the criteria, these rates are not available to every borrower.

The survey is based on home purchase mortgages, which means rates for refinances may be higher. The price adjustment for refinance transactions that went into effect in December is adding to the cost. The adjustment, which applies to all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinances, is 0.5% of the loan amount. That works out to $1,500 on a $300,000 loan.