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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Special Alert: Supreme Court Holds Cities Have Standing Under FHA, But Limits Potential Claims

Courts Fair Lending Fair Housing U.S. Supreme Court

Courts

On May 1, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that municipal plaintiffs may be “aggrieved persons” authorized to bring suit under the Fair Housing Act against lenders for injuries allegedly flowing from discriminatory lending practices. However, the Court held that such injuries must be proximately caused by the alleged misconduct—rather than simply a foreseeable result. Some commentators suggest that the Court’s zone of interest analysis will result in the filing of new claims. Our view of this decision is that it will reduce such litigation efforts as prospective municipal plaintiffs recognize that it will be more difficult to survive early dispositive motions focused on whether the damages claims bear a direct relationship to the conduct alleged.

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Click here to read full special alert.

If you have questions about the ruling or other related issues, visit our Fair Lending practice page for more information, or contact a Buckley Sandler attorney with whom you have worked in the past.