Newsroom

August 26, 2016

NAFCU, trades to file amicus brief in Wells Fargo case

NAFCU and eight other financial trade associations will file an amicus brief today to raise concerns about a Supreme Court case involving interpretations of the Fair Housing Act.

Wells Fargo petitioned the Supreme Court in March to consider whether the city of Miami has the legal right to sue banks for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Miami in September 2015; Wells Fargo is appealing. NAFCU and the other financial trades filed an amicus brief in April in support of a petition for a writ of certiorari, which was granted.

Miami had been suing banks over the alleged targeting of minorities for predatory loans, according to the Miami Herald. The trades' amicus brief raises concerns about a municipality representing itself as an "aggrieved person" under the Fair Housing Act.

NAFCU joined the American Bankers Association, Financial Services Roundtable, CUNA and the Independent Community Bankers Association, among others, to raise the concerns in an amicus brief about the potential long term impact of the case on its members, as many similar suits are ongoing and increasing across the country.