Plaintiff, a home developer, filed suit against Defendant-lenders in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619. Plaintiff alleged that Defendant-lenders refused to lend to Plaintiff because Plaintiff developed properties in predominantly minority neighborhoods. U.S. District Court Judge Jean C. Hamilton granted the Defendants' motion to dismiss after finding that Plaintiff had failed to state a cause of action under the FHA because Plaintiffs' allegations were too generalized.

On January 28, 1993, the Eighth Circuit reversed, finding that the Plaintiff's Complaint contained enough allegations to survive a motion to dismiss, and that the District Court should not have considered the likelihood of Plaintiff's ability to prove his claims at trial when ruling on a Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion. Ring v. First Interstate Mortg., Inc., 984 F.2d 924 (8th Cir. 1993).

On September 5, 1997, the Eighth Circuit affirmed District Court Judge Hamilton's grant of summary judgment to Defendants on Plaintiff's Amendment Complaint. Ring v. Fannie Mae, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 23517 (E.D. Mo. Sept. 5, 1997). The appellate court held that the Defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the Plaintiff had not actually applied for a loan from any of the Defendants.

Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008


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