[DOWNLOAD] "Lum V. Bank Of America" by United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Lum V. Bank Of America
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Release Date : January 11, 2004
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
The meaning of the term "prime rate" lies at the heart of this appeal. Plaintiffs, Hing Q. Lum, his wife Debra, and Gary Oriani have borrowed money from defendant banks pursuant to lending agreements with "prime plus" interest rates. Plaintiffs claim in their Amended Complaint that the defendant banks, in setting "prime plus" interest rates, have violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), § 1962(d). The banks allegedly violated the Sherman Act by agreeing to misrepresent that "prime rate" is the lowest rate available to their most creditworthy borrowers, when in fact they have offered some large borrowers financing at interest rates below prime rate; they allegedly gave false information about their "prime rate" both to consumers who were seeking credit and to leading financial publications, such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which publish independent indices of the prime rate. The banks allegedly violated RICO by making these misrepresentations about "prime rate" through the mails and over interstate wires. Plaintiffs claim that the fraudulently inflated "prime rate" has resulted in their being charged higher interest than permitted by the terms of the "prime plus" loan agreements.