Plaintiff, a municipal civil rights commission, filed suit in state court against the Defendant-lenders, alleging that Defendant-lenders discriminated against a married minority couple who sought a home improvement loan in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619, and the Pittsburgh city code. Defendant-lenders removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, which dismissed the Plaintiffs' FHA claim on standing grounds but remanded the claim based on violation of city code back to state court.

Defendants appealed the District Court's refusal to dismiss the city code-based claim for lack of standing. On January 24, 2006, the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court's ruling, holding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion when remanding the remaining city code-based claim to state court instead of dismissing it outright. City of Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations v. Key Bank USA, 163 Fed. Appx. 163 (3d Cir. 2006).

Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008


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