Cleveland Loses Predatory Lending Decision

The whole reason Cleveland city officials enacted their own law to fight predatory lending practices is that they felt the state law was too weak. And one the reasons the state legislature has been passing statewide rules for lending or gun ownership has been that industry groups have complained that city laws were too strict. A court of appeals had ruled that Ohio's law served only to bar local regulations and that Cleveland's ordinance did not ban any practices that were explicitly permitted by the state law. But Supreme Court justice Terrence O'Donnell, writing for the majority, said any local ordinances that seek to prohibit conduct that the state has authorized are in conflict with the state statutes. The two liberal leaning justices, Alice Robie Resnick and Paul Pfeifer, dissented. This summer the state legislature passed a new law that allows a few more protections for home buyers. It takes effect January 1st. Mark Urycki, 90.3.