On March 22, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first 4-4 decision following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, thereby affirming the 8th Circuit in Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore. The Court’s per curiam opinion was a simple sentence providing: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s decision fails to provide the clarity that creditors were seeking in defending against guarantor ECOA claims and affirmative defenses.
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