In three decisions issued simultaneously, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of lawsuits for violations of the federal Fair Housing Act brought by the city of Miami, Florida against Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The Center for Constitutional Litigation represented Miami in the appeal, with CCL President Robert S. Peck and Valerie Nannery writing the bulk of the brief as part of a larger litigation team. Peck argued the case in the Eleventh Circuit.
The case stems from lawsuits brought by Miami over lending practices that steered minority borrowers to more expensive loans than they otherwise qualified for, which, according to the complaint’s allegations, disproportionately resulted in foreclosures, eroding the city’s tax base and engendering added police, fire and other expenses in the newly blighted neighborhoods. A federal district court judge had dismissed the actions, claiming that the city lacked standing to initiate the lawsuit, had failed adequately to allege that the banks’ actions were a proximate cause of the city’s injuries, and did not allege any of the predatory loans taking place within the statute of limitations. On all three conclusions, the Eleventh Circuit held that the district court was wrong. Relying on U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the Court found that the city was an appropriate plaintiff who fell within the “zone of interests” contemplated by the FHA. It further held that, because the FHA sounded in tort law, the city’s allegations were sufficient to show that the banks’ loan practices would foreseeably cause the alleged injuries. Finally, it held that the city had demonstrated that it was not futile to permit the city to file an amended complaint capable of meeting the statute of limitations.
While the case was pending in the Eleventh Circuit, other federal district court judges presiding over similar allegations filed by the City of Miami Gardens had stayed the cases. Those cases will now likely move forward. CCL is part of the legal team in the Miami Garden cases, as well as in cases brought by the city of Los Angeles, California, where it is handling appeals from summary judgment in the Ninth Circuit.
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