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Supreme Court rules in lending case

The U.S. Supreme Court has rules that states Attorneys General can bring cases against federally chartered banks for violations of state laws. The Washington Post reports:

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, disagreed. The case, Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, came about when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and his successor Andrew Cuomo, demanded that banks in the state disclose information about their lending patterns as part of an investigation into whether minorities were being steered into bad mortgages.

The banks argued that only their federal regulator had authority to demand that information. The OCC's rules, wrote Justice Antonin Scalia for the majority, "says that the State may not enforce its valid . . . laws against national banks. The bark remains, but the bite does not."

This makes North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper happy. He had filed an amicus brief in the case.

“It’s critical that states have the right to enforce their laws against unfair loans and irresponsible lending practices. Today’s ruling is a victory for consumers in states like North Carolina, where we have strong lending laws in place and success in fighting for consumers.”

You can find out more about the case from the SCOTUS Blog (second item in the entry) and from the Cornell Law School. Click here for a PDF of the opinion.

Accompanying Photos

Robert Franklin (News & Record)

Photo Caption: North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper speaks about the latest crime stats during a press conference Tuesday in Greensboro.