Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City Case Study

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

Citation: Certiorari to the United States court of appeals for the eleventh circuit

Facts of the Case: This was a suit filed by the Miami City against the Bank of America and Well Fargo Bank based on the allegation of violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). One of the main objectives of the FHA is to prohibit racial discrimination about real estate business transactions and allow the aggravated party to file a suit for damages.

The complainants alleged that both banks intentionally targeted African-American and Latino neighborhoods by offering discriminatory mortgages to the minority borrowers and induced ridiculous defaults. The City charged that the Banks’ discrimination practice not only impaired the City’s efforts to ensure racial integration but also crippled its property tax revenue while at the same time raising the need for municipal services.

Major Issues Discussed

The main issue was whether Miami City allegations fell under the FHA and whether the banks knowingly caused unrest in the real estate in Miami leading to financial injuries to the city.

Appellant and Position

The city of Miami was the appellant. The City accused the Bank of America and Well Fargo Bank of racial misconduct which led to financial injuries. According to the court, foreseeability could not establish a clear connection between the alleged financial harm and the statute conduct concerning the FHA.

However, the court declined to draw clear boundaries of proximate cause. This was based on the facts deduced from the Hemi Group LLC v. City of New York case.

Appellee and Position

The appellee was the Bank of America and Well Fargo Bank. The banks did not deny the meaning of “aggrieved person” as defined by the FHA but argued that those words set boundaries that unfortunately are not clearly defined by the law.

They further stated that the court’s language in Gladstone, Havens Realty, and Trafficante was an exaggeration and unworthy to affect the final court decision, Legal Information Institute (2017).

Synopsis of Majority Opinion

The City of Miami did not allege that the defendants caused injury to it within the FHA statute nor did it represent any of the residents. Instead, the City theory claims were that from 2004 to 2012, the discriminatory mortgage-financing practices caused loan defaults, which led to loan terminations, which in return resulted in vacation of residents decreasing property values and that reduced property tax.

The court thus cleared that Miami’s alleged injuries were too remote to satisfy the proximate cause requirement of the FHA.

Justices in Majority: Justice Breyer and Justice Thomas.

Justices in Concurrence: Justice Kennedy and Justice Alito.

Synopsis of Minority Opinion

The minority argued that based on the Gladstone of the village’s asserted injury of reduced tax revenues, Miami’s case fell within the interests protected by the FHA. In Gladstone, the village plaintiff sued for a budget-related injury in addition to its racial injury.

As such, a financial related injury might be useful in establishing concrete evidence of injury by Article III but not to establish FHA’s interest boundaries.

Justices in Minority in part: Justice Kennedy and Justice Alito.

Reference

Legal Information Institute. (2017). . Web.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2020, September 6). Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fair-housing-act-a-suit-by-the-miami-city/

Work Cited

"Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City." IvyPanda, 6 Sept. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/fair-housing-act-a-suit-by-the-miami-city/.

References

IvyPanda. (2020) 'Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City'. 6 September.

References

IvyPanda. 2020. "Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City." September 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fair-housing-act-a-suit-by-the-miami-city/.

1. IvyPanda. "Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City." September 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fair-housing-act-a-suit-by-the-miami-city/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Fair Housing Act: A Suit by the Miami City." September 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fair-housing-act-a-suit-by-the-miami-city/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1