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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-3 Monday that under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) municipalities can sue lenders whose predatory lending practices harm them.

The city of Miami sued Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup for targeting minorities with risky loans that ultimately lead to widespread foreclosures in the 2000s. The resulting loss of property tax income resulted in huge city budget shortfalls, lower property values and blighted neighborhoods.

The trial court judge threw out the case in 2014, saying the city didn’t have the standing to bring the case in the first place. An Appellate Court judge overturned that decision and, on Monday, the Supreme Court opened the door for other municipalities to bring action against lenders for the FHA.

“We hold that the city’s claimed injuries fall within the zone of interests that the FHA arguably protects,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the majority opinion. “Hence, the city is an ‘aggrieved person’ able to bring suit under the statute. We also hold that, to establish proximate cause under the FHA, a plaintiff must do more than show that its injuries foreseeably flowed from the alleged statutory violation. The lower court decided these cases on the theory that foreseeability is all that the statute requires, so we vacate and remand for further proceedings.”

Supreme Court Rules Municipalities Can Sue Lenders

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 1 min
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