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Admitted Drug Money Launders HSBC are going back to court. This time the firm will not be apologizing for helping Mexican Drug Cartels or 9/11 Hijackers evade the law but for predatory lending targeted at minorities.
From the Associated Press:
Three Atlanta-area counties have filed a lawsuit claiming that British bank HSBC cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in extra expenses and damage to their tax bases by aggressively signing minorities to housing loans that were likely to fail.
The Georgia counties’ failure or success with the relatively novel strategy could help determine whether other local governments try to hold big banks accountable for losses in tax revenue based on what they claim are discriminatory or predatory lending practices. Similar lawsuits resulted in settlements this year worth millions of dollars for communities in Maryland and Tennessee.
Focusing predatory lending practices on minorities – a.k.a redlining – is nothing new but if this lawsuit succeeds it could not only ignite a wave of similar suits to help local governments make up lost revenue due to the financial crisis and resulting recession but could also instigate changes in how banks operate in minority communities.
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It’s a Christmas miracle. The message is finally getting out and the tide is turning. I also saw an article about Florida Homeowners associations filing foreclosure actions against banks who have foreclosed on homeowners and then failed to pay the common charges. Banks are getting hit for failure to pay those charges.
FINALLY, banks are being forced to play by the same rules as everybody else. This may be the end of the pump and dump mortgage model.
Definitely. It will be interesting to see how this case make its way through the justice system.
Interesting to check out the FDIC’s failed bank list and note the number of institutions in Georgia that have gone under in the past four years, give or take. Plenty of damage was done to that state’s economy.
The user can sift the data by clicking at the top of a given column, in this case “State.”
It’ll die a slow death as it fades from memory. It’s been 5 years since we found out about this stuff and 15 since it started. Other than Madoff, which was a fluke, no one has or will go to jail for any of this. Too big to fail, too big to jail.
It’s a damm shame were the justice dep.on this shit,I know better Mr. Obama = Wall st,and K st….I vote for the guy,ya u know poor and over 50…
I wouldn’t want to be in them Limey’s shoes. People in Georgia can be pretty vindictive. In a word……..”Deliverance“.
See my #6.
Jail may be too good for them. If you catch my drift.