Emigrant Bank’s 15-year Dispute Against Jury Award Ends At The Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by New York-based Emigrant Bank and Emigrant Mortgage Company, leaving in place a $722,000 jury award to eight homeowners who alleged they were targeted with discriminatory and predatory mortgage loans.

The court declined to grant certiorari, leaving the lower court’s ruling intact and ending a legal dispute that has lasted nearly 15 years. The damages award, plus post-judgment interest, was issued by a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York and was affirmed in 2025 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The case, dubbed a “reverse redlining” case, stems from loans Emigrant issued between 1999 and 2008 under its STAR NINA mortgage refinance program. According to evidence presented at trial, the program targeted borrowers with poor credit but substantial home equity and did not consider their ability to repay.

The loans carried an automatic 18% default interest rate that was triggered after a single missed payment, significantly increasing monthly obligations and leading many borrowers toward foreclosure or forced sales.

Jurors found that Emigrant disproportionately marketed the loans to Black and Latino homeowners in New York City. The 2016 verdict marked the first time a jury held a bank liable for reverse redlining related to the mortgage lending practices that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.

Legal Services NYC and Relman Colfax PLLC represented the homeowners.

“Through the persistence of our Plaintiffs and their bravery to stand up against a major New York lender for what is right, justice is finally being served,” said Tara Ramchandani, co-managing partner at Relman Colfax, in a press release. “While we are saddened that some of the victims fighting for fairness are no longer with us after this nearly fifteen-year-long David vs. Goliath battle, we honor their legacy, knowing they had a critical part to play in ensuring injustice was exposed and history has been made.”

The press release continued, “Beyond delivering justice to the eight homeowners targeted by Emigrant, the decision marks a major victory against predatory lending and a clear warning to financial institutions. It establishes critical precedents for proving systemic discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the New York City Human Rights Law, including the use of equitable tolling to extend civil rights statutes of limitation.”

Emigrant did not respond to HousingWire’s request for comment at the time of publication.