Reverse Redlining Predatory Lending Complaint

The Associated Press, via Law.com, reports here that a Texan has brought a reverse redlining predatory lending suit suit.  According to the article, the plaintiff charges that she was "victimized by a loan with onerous terms because of her skin color. "  Baltimore City in Maryland had previously sued a lender on a similar theory.  The article doesn't indicate the authority for the reverse redlining claim (perhaps section 3605 of the Fair Housing Act?), but notes that the plaintiff is suing under HOEPA and the Texas State Constitution.

Comments

[StJoe]

If the theory is disparate treatment in the extension of credit based on race, it could be Fair Housing 3604 or 3605, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 42 USC 1981 (right to make and enforce contracts on terms equal with whites), 1982 (right to purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real property on equal terms with whites), 1985 (if there was a conspiracy to deprive of equal protection of the laws, for instance if the broker, lender, closing agent, etc. conspired to target minority communities).