Plaintiffs, an auto repair shop and its owner, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging that the Defendant-lender's practice of requiring loan applicants to disclose their criminal histories violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. 1691 ...
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Plaintiffs, an auto repair shop and its owner, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging that the Defendant-lender's practice of requiring loan applicants to disclose their criminal histories violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. 1691, and a federal civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. 1981, because this practice had a disproportionate impact on African-American men. Defendant-lender had denied plaintiffs' application for a $230,000 loan based on five arrest incidents that did not lead to criminal convictions.
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Claire Williams granted the Defendant's motion for summary judgment on March 26, 1997. A.B. & S. Auto Serv. v. South Shore Bank, 962 F. Supp. 1056 (N.D. Ill. 1997). Judge Williams found that the Defendant-lenders' use of general population statistics did not violate the ECOA and was a lawful business practice.
Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008
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