New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued the following statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today authorizing the New York State Attorney General and other state attorneys general to bring lawsuits to enforce state laws against national banks. 

“I am pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the State Attorney General can now take action to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. Calls to my foreclosure helpline show that banks in the City have indeed treated minorities differently.”

In March 2009, Thompson filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the New York State Attorney General’s appeal seeking the authority to take action with respect to the questionable lending practices of banking institutions in New York. Thompson provided the Court with data collected through his Foreclosure Prevention Helpline and detailed maps showing that foreclosure rates are much higher in minority communities in New York City irrespective of income levels.

Thompson’s findings illustrate that in New York City there is a clear distinction between the banks’ treatment of minority and white residents that clearly justify the Attorney General’s concerns.

“In New York City, African-American and Hispanic home buyers and owners, at all income levels, have been the victims of disparate and unequal treatment by home mortgage lenders, including national banks and their affiliates,” Thompson said in the amicus brief he filed in March. “Our information shows a clear pattern of racial disparities in the lending practices of banking institutions in the City.”

In April 2007, Thompson launched a Foreclosure Prevention Helpline – at (212) 669-4600 – to help individuals and families confronted with losing their homes. Since then, the Helpline has received more than 4,700 calls.

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