In 1978, Plaintiff-Associations filed a declaratory suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California requesting the court to find that California's Housing Financial Discrimination Act was pre-empted by federal regulation. The California Act required Savings & Loans to post notices explaining fair lending rights under state law. Plaintiff-Associations had refused to comply with the Act's notice requirements, and state courts had held the Plaintiffs liable for statutory damages for non-compliance. People v. West Coast Federal Savings and Loan Ass'n, No. 220012 (Cal. Super. Ct. Feb. 28, 1978).

U.S. District Court Judge Philip C. Wilkins granted Plaintiffs' requested declaratory relief and held that federal law pre-empted state law. On September 26, 1979, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Judge Wilkins's ruling, holding that the "broad regulatory authority over the federal associations conferred upon the Bank Board by HOLA does wholly pre-empt the field of regulatory control over these associations." Conf. of Fed. Sav. and Loan Ass'ns v. Stein, 604 F.2d 1256, 1260 (9th Cir. 1979). The United States Supreme Court affirmed without an opinion. Stein v. Conference of Federal Savings and Loan Associations, 445 U.S. 921 (1980).

Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008


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