On July 12, 2007, four black homeowners filed this lawsuit, individually and on behalf of a class of all others similarly situated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Countrywide Bank and its two wholly-owned subsidiaries (Countrywide), alleging violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 (ECOA), and the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq. (FHA).

The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, disgorgement, and restitution of monies disparately obtained from black borrowers, claiming that Countrywide's home financing policies and practices were discriminatory. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that Countrywide's policy authorizing unchecked, subjective surcharge of additional points and fees to an otherwise objective risk-based financing rate had a discriminatory impact on black home mortgage loan applicants, making them more likely to pay higher interest rates and charges than similarly situated white applicants.

On September 10, 2007, Countrywide filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the plaintiffs did not allege a sufficiently specific discriminatory policy to support a disparate impact claim under ECOA or FHA. The District Court (Judge Nancy Gertner) denied this motion on July 30, 2008, allowing the case to proceed. Miller v. Countrywide Bank, N.A., 571 F. Supp. 2d 251 (D. Mass. 2008).

In June 4, 2008, the plaintiffs moved for consolidated or coordinated pre-trial proceedings with two other actions against Countrywide (Garcia v. Countrywide Financial Corp., C.A. No. 5:07-1161 (C.D. Cal.); Jenkins v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., C.A. No. 1:08-2935 (N.D. Ill.)). On August 4, 2008, The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a transfer order to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Judge John G. Heyburn II). Information about this case after its transfer may be viewed here: FH-KY-0002.

Robert Lake - 06/09/2015


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