People of the State of California, ex rel. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General v. Federal Housing Finance Agency, Edward DeMarco, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Charles E. Haldeman Jr., Federal National Mortgage Association, Michael J. Williams
Published: Oct. 6, 2012 | Result Date: Aug. 9, 2012 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 4:2010-cv-03084 Bench Decision – For Plaintiff
Court
USDC Northern
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Sally Magnani
(Office of the Attorney General)
Defendant
Thomas P. Brown
(Brown Gitt Law Group ALC)
Randall W. Edwards
(O'Melveny & Myers LLP)
Heather B. Hoesterey
(California Dept. of Justice)
Facts
The California Attorney General, Sonoma and Placer Counties, the City of Palm Desert, and the Sierra Club sued the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and their directors in 2010 for discrediting Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs in a series of letters and statements. State PACE law authorizes local governments to fund energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects using their assessments powers. The FHFA, a federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, concluded that PACE programs would pose a risk to homeowners and lenders and directed the regulated entities not to buy mortgages on properties involved in the program. The plaintiffs alleged that the FHFA violated federal law by prohibiting PACE without going through a notice and comment rule-making process.
Result
The Court ruled on summary judgment that FHFA should have gone through the required notice and comment process and ordered the agency to engage in a rule-making on PACE.
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