Cleveland Fair Housing Lawyer Files Predatory Lending Class Action Lawsuit

The Cleveland Free Times recently featured fair housing attorney Ed Kramer and his firm, Housing Advocates Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio. Regarding Kramer's predatory lending, foreclosure clients, the report states:

• "[T]here was an unmistakable pattern: Nearly all were poor people of color, and all had been locked into unaffordable loans, with high interest rates and exorbitant broker fees."

Kramer determined that there was no way to represent everyone in need, and that the problem wasn't going away and couldn't be solved on a piecemeal basis. According to the story:

• "So, after 32 years of applying state and federal fair housing statutes to defend clients against unfair housing providers, Kramer decided it was time to use the same laws differently. In April, Kramer turned plaintiff and filed a class-action complaint that goes past individual brokers and at the banks and mortgage companies that, he says, paid the brokers to target African Americans. The suit represents a tectonic shift in how predatory lending cases are handled. Case-by-case approaches have left attorneys and investigators unable to detect larger patterns of racially motivated lending. But now, Kramer's new approach, and pricing data available only since 2004, has emboldened a host of players - all separately coming to the conclusion that it's time to switch targets: to the banks and investment firms."

Kramer's firm itself filed the suit against Argent Mortgage Co., reputed to be the biggest subprime lender in Cleveland, in addition to Wells Fargo Bank. Reportedly, the Fair Housing Act allows organizations to file complaints if the discrimination in question is taxing their resources.

The article also describes the efforts of Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who is pursuing both criminal and civil actions through the statewide Predatory Lending Task Force which he created. He is also using Ohio's racketeering statutes and working with other law enforcement agencies and coordinating cases around racketeering charges.

For more, see Sue The *astards! (What To Do About Mortgage Brokers And Lenders Who Don't Play Fair?)

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