美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court Revisits 2008's Housing Collapse With Banking Test Cases

Supreme¹ Court Revisits 2008's Housing Collapse² With Banking³ Test Cases

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On this Election Day, as Americans decide their country's future, the U.S. Supreme Court examines a case about the not-so-distant past. This case dates back to the time around the housing market collapse in 2008. The city of Miami wants to sue Wells Fargo and Bank of America under the Fair Housing Act. The city claims racial discrimination in the way that people were given mortgages and in the way they lost their homes. Here's NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁵: The city of Miami alleges⁶ that the banks discriminated⁸ against black and Latino homeowners in terms in fees that made mortgages more expensive than they otherwise would have been. And when these homeowners ran into trouble, the suit says, the banks refused to refinance mortgages on terms equal to those offered to white borrowers in similar economic circumstances. It is a novel lawsuit⁹, brought not by individual homeowners but by the city of Miami, which was ground zero in the housing foreclosure crisis.

Supported by two dozen other cities, Miami contends that local governments are in the best position to enforce the Fair Housing Act against large lending institutions that discriminate⁷ against certain borrowers. The city claims that the bank's foreclosures were racially disproportionate. They also say the foreclosures resulted in a dramatic drop in property values, which in turn resulted in a drastic drop in property tax revenue at the very time the city needed to spend more to deal with the resulting urban blight¹⁰. A federal appeals court based in Atlanta ruled in favor of the city, allowing it the chance to prove its claims at trial.

The banks appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that Congress never authorized¹¹ such suits. They also contend the city has not shown that the bank's discriminatory practices were the proximate cause of the drop in property tax revenue. There's little doubt that foreclosures lead to empty houses, blight and lower property values, but the banks argue that economic downturns can be just as responsible as the terms of any loan or series of loans, whether those terms are discriminatory or not.

If Miami can sue over declining property taxes in this case, they ask, what will be next - a lawsuit over declining property values brought by a neighbor or a store? Miami replies that municipalities differ from private individuals, such as neighbors or private enterprises such as stores, because municipalities have an interest in promoting fair housing. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

7 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

8 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

10 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

11 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。