California Supreme Court Tosses Tighter Local Subprime Lending Law

A divided California Supreme Court struck down on Monday Oakland’s landmark 2001 ordinance that sought to protect poor and elderly homeowners from high-cost predatory lending. The court said the ordinance overstepped the bounds of a milder state law that regulates many of the same practices.

Acting on a banking industry lawsuit, the court ruled 4-3 that the state law, enacted eight days after the Oakland measure, prohibited cities from enacting their own, more stringent rules. The ruling also invalidates a 2003 ordinance in Los Angeles.