Newsroom

June 28, 2016

NAFCU, trades win bid for Supreme Court review of Fair Housing Act case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the petitions for certiorari, which were supported by NAFCU, in the city of Miami suits against Bank of America and Wells Fargo regarding alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act, allowing the case to proceed.

In April, NAFCU participated with other trade associations in filing an amicus brief in support of the petitions asking the Supreme Court to take up the matter.

In this case, the city of Miami sued Bank of America and Wells Fargo under the Fair Housing Act, alleging that the banks' discrimination against city residents entitled the city to damages for indirect harm. The city said the banks offered unfavorable mortgage-loan terms to minority borrowers, which led to foreclosures and thus injured the city in the way of lost property taxes and added municipal resources to address blight.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an initial dismissal of these suits and held that third parties, like the city of Miami, are allowed to sue under the Fair Housing Act.

Amicus briefs supporting Bank of America and Wells Fargo are due Aug. 19 unless an extension is granted.

NAFCU is concerned about the potential impact this case, and others like it, could have on its credit union members.