The City of Miami recently secured a major victory in its lawsuit filed against a number of commercial the banks who the city claimed practiced predatory lending methods that was largely responsible for hundreds of Miami residents losing their homes to foreclosure when the housing crisis erupted in 2008 and thereafter.
In what has been described as a historic 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities like Miami have standing under the Fair Housing Act to sue banks that employ discriminatory lending practices.
This ruling opens the door for the City of Miami to proceed with its lawsuit, which alleges that Bank of America and Wells Fargo discriminated against African American and Hispanic homeowners in their mortgage terms and fees, leading to excessive foreclosures and loss of property tax revenue collected by the City.
City of Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, who spearheaded the City’s decision to sue the banks, said the court’s decision makes it possible for the City’s case against the banks to proceed.
“We are extremely pleased that the Supreme Court ruled in our favor,” said Commissioner Suarez. “These lending practices unfairly targeted minority homeowners, and they ended up creating a budgetary crisis for Miami, making it impossible to address our residents’ needs. Our goal in filing this lawsuit was to help redress the damage that was done to the City of Miami and our residents, and today the Supreme Court’s decision gets us one step closer to our goal.”
