Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-529_1b7d.pdf
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CANTERO v. BANK OF AMERICA, N. A. 

Opinion of the Court 

B 
Bank of America is a national bank chartered under the 
National Bank Act.  Bank of America offers mortgage loans 
to homeowners, among other services.

In  2010,  Alex  Cantero  obtained  a  home  mortgage  loan 
from  Bank  of  America  to  purchase  a  house  in  Queens
Village,  New  York. 
In  2016,  Saul  Hymes  and  Ilana
Harwayne-Gidansky  similarly  obtained  a  home  mortgage
loan from Bank of America to buy a house in East Setauket, 
New York.  Both mortgage contracts required the borrowers
to make monthly deposits into escrow accounts, which Bank
of America used to pay the borrowers’ property taxes and
insurance premiums when those taxes and premiums came
due. 

Under New York law, when a bank “maintains an escrow 
account pursuant to any agreement executed in connection
with  a  mortgage”  on  certain  real  estate,  the  bank  “shall”
pay borrowers “interest at a rate of not less than two per 
centum  per  year”  on  the  balance.  N. Y.  Gen.  Oblig.  Law 
Ann. §5–601 (West 2022).  But Bank of America did not pay
interest  on  the  money  in  Cantero’s  escrow  account  or
Hymes and Harwayne-Gidansky’s escrow account.  Bank of 
America notified the borrowers that the New York law was 
preempted  by  the  National  Bank  Act.  Both  plaintiffs
brought putative class-action suits against Bank of America 
in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New 
York, alleging that Bank of America violated New York law 
by  failing  to  pay  them  interest  on  the  balances  in  their 
escrow accounts. 

The District Court decided the two cases together.  The 
court agreed with the plaintiffs that New York law required 

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mandatory escrow accounts, the national bank must “pay interest” to the
borrower  “in  the  manner  as  prescribed  by  [an]  applicable  State  or 
Federal law.”  §1639d(g)(3).  All parties agree that §1639d does not apply 
to the mortgages in this case.