California Court of Appeal

In an Unruh Civil Rights Act , Civ. Code section 51, dispute involving whether the declination of a commercial lending institution to make a mezzanine loan to a limited liability company on the basis that one of its members was a felon violates the Act, judgment of the trial court is affirmed because: 1) being a felon is not a personal characteristic similar to those enumerated in the Act; 2) the lending institution had legitimate business reasons justifying its decision -- the repayment of the loan and making a return on its investment; and 3) the potential consequences of allowing such a claim would improperly involve the courts in second-guessing a lending institution's expertise in determining loan and investment criteria.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/06/2011
• Published 05/06/2011

Judges

• MALLANO

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel