Filed Date: July 8, 2002
Closed Date: 2005
Clearinghouse coding complete
On July, 8, 2002, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against a bank, alleging that it engaged in discriminatory lending practices.
The plaintiffs alleged that as a result of the defendant's policies and practices, service providers harassed Hispanic borrowers and engaged in abusive debt collection services. The complaint asked the court for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.
More specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant entered the subprime credit card market and finalized agreements with four service providers to market its subprime credit cards without ensuring that the service providers complied with fair lending laws. These allegations were discovered during routine compliance examinations completed by the Office of Thrift Supervision on June 15, 1998 and May 17, 1999.
The plaintiff filed a proposed consent order on July 18, 2002 that was signed by the court (Judge Gershon) on July 25, 2002. Under the consent order, the defendant is permanently enjoined from engaging in any act or practice that violates the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or Regulation B and agrees to practice lending standards in compliance of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B.
Both parties filed a motion for a settlement extension of ninety days on June 24, 2005, which was signed by the court (Judge Gershon) on July 8, 2005.
Summary Authors
Megan Richardson (3/15/2014)
Gershon, Nina (New York)
Go, Marilyn D. (New York)
Aronowitz, Michelle M. (District of Columbia)
Ashcroft, John (District of Columbia)
Boyd, Ralph F. Jr. (District of Columbia)
Gershon, Nina (New York)
Go, Marilyn D. (New York)
Last updated March 27, 2024, 3:08 a.m.
State / Territory: New York
Case Type(s):
Fair Housing/Lending/Insurance
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 8, 2002
Closing Date: 2005
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
The plaintiff is the United States Department of Justice Housing and Civil Rights Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division.
Plaintiff Type(s):
U.S. Dept of Justice plaintiff
Attorney Organizations:
U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Fidelity Federal Bank, Private Entity/Person
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. § 1691
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Content of Injunction:
Develop anti-discrimination policy
Issues
General:
Discrimination-area:
Discrimination-basis:
National origin discrimination
National Origin/Ethnicity: