Wells Fargo achieves full dismissal with prejudice of systemic fair-lending litigation

Client(s) Wells Fargo Bank, National Association

Local governments asserting class-action style fair-lending claims concerning alleged residential mortgage practices voluntarily dismissed their claims with prejudice, noting that this dismissal is not the result of any settlement, against Jones Day client, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association affiliates. This resulted in a complete victory for Wells Fargo.

Earlier in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Michael L. Brown dismissed Plaintiffs' complaint on two grounds. First, the court ruled that most of Plaintiffs' alleged theories of injury were too attenuated to be actionable under the U.S. Supreme Court's proximate cause standard and could not be repled. Second, the court ruled that the allegations were untimely under the Fair Housing Act's (FHA) statute of limitations, while allowing Plaintiffs to amend to seek to plead a timely FHA claim.

After Plaintiffs amended their complaint, the court agreed with Wells Fargo to limit discovery to alleged foreclosures and other claims within a statute of limitations' period. Following other discovery rulings for Wells Fargo, Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed all their claims.

Fulton County, Georgia, et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., No. 1:21-cv-01800-MLB (N.D. Ga.)