City of Miami sues JPMorgan, claims mortgage discrimination

(Reuters) - The city of Miami has sued JPMorgan Chase & Co, accusing the bank of predatory mortgage lending in minority neighborhoods that allegedly caused a wave of foreclosures during the last decade's housing crisis.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in federal court in Florida, said the country's largest bank engaged in a continuous practice of discriminatory mortgage lending since at least 2004, violating the U.S. Fair Housing Act.

After issuing high-cost loans to minorities in the years before the housing crisis, JPMorgan later refused to refinance the loans on the same terms as it extended to whites, leading to defaults and foreclosures, the complaint said.

Loans in predominantly minority neighborhoods in Miami were about 4.6 times more likely to result in foreclosure than loans in neighborhoods with a majority of white residents, the lawsuit said....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/16/us-usa-jpmorgan-chase-discrimination-idUSKBN0ER20R20140616