In Court

The Department of Justice continued its crack down on fair lending violations in a lawsuit it filed April 2. The lawsuit alleges that GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc. violated the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by charging African-Amer

In a surprise move just weeks before a scheduled oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, the City of St. Paul pulled the rug out from under a fair lending case that appeared to have the potential to significantly reshape, if not eliminate, th

The Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development have filed, and simultaneously settled, a civil fraud lawsuit against CitiMortgage, Inc., a subsidiary of Citibank, N.A. The government’s complaint sought damages and civil penalties u

In an odd coincidence, the same day Perez made his comments, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Magner v. Gallagher, that poses the question of whether disparate impact claims can be brought under the Fair Housing Act.

The Magne

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) filed lawsuits, on September 2, against 17 financial institutions, certain of their officers and various unaffiliated lead underwriters. The suits, which FHFA filed as conservator for Fannie Mae and Fredd

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) filed lawsuits September 2 against 17 financial institutions, certain of their officers and various unaffiliated lead underwriters. The suits, which FHFA filed as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review First American v. Denise P. Edwards, a Ninth Circuit decision on standing under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The Supreme Court will review one issue from the circuit court — whether the p

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC reached an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whereby the firm will pay $153.6 million to settle charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed two suits against securities firms on June 20 alleging the firms — J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC, and RBS Securities, Inc. — violated federal and state securities laws in the sale of resident

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on May 5 that Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. (CRBC) and Citizens Bank of Flint, Michigan, will open a loan production office in an African-American neighborhood in Detroit and invest approximately $3.6 mill

The United States filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG and its wholly owned subsidiary, MortgageIT, Inc., seeking damages and civil penalties for repeated false certifications made to HUD in connection with the residential

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts state laws that invalidate class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements. This means businesses — including banks and credit card issuers — can escape th

Eleven defendants, including the founders of the three largest Internet poker companies operating in the U.S., have been indicted for bank fraud, money laundering, and various gambling-related offences. The poker companies, which were located offs

In a case stemming from the biggest U.S. bank failure to date, the FDIC has sued three former officers of Washington Mutual (WaMu) for negligence in mortgage lending. The suit names ex-CEO Kerry Killinger, ex-COO Stephen Rotella, and head of home

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) filed suit, January 12, against the U.S. Department of Labor to block an Administrator’s Interpretation that abandoned the department’s previous conclusion that typical loan officers are exempt from Fair

The Department of Justice announced that it settled an antitrust lawsuit challenging rules that MasterCard and Visa have in place to prevent merchants from offering consumers discounts, rewards, and information about card costs. American Express w

Despite a federal judge’s stinging criticism of the deal, Barclays PLC has avoided a money laundering prosecution by agreeing to forfeit $298 million to state and federal authorities. The payment — half to be made to the U.S. Justice Departmen

One bank learned the hard way that if the regulators tell you to implement an anti-money laundering program, you need to do it, even if it costs your bank some money.

Some loans were omitted from the register.

The banking industry is shocked by the decision narrowing federal preemption and upholding state enforcement authority over national banks.