Cleveland has filed a lawsuit against 21 big banks arguing that financial institutions created a public nuisance in the city's neighborhood that hurt property values and city tax collections. 

The city, which has been a hot-zone for foreclosures, is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, including city money spent demolishing and boarding up abandoned houses.

According to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson: “To me, this is no different than organized crime or drugs. It has the same effect as drug activity in neighborhoods. It’s a form of organized crime that happens to be legal in many respects.”

The city of Baltimore filed a federal lawsuit against Wells Fargo on Tuesday alleging that the bank intentionally sold high-interest mortgages more to blacks than to whites in violation of federal law.

This wave of litigation is all part of a trend that has been catching everybody's attention.  That is, ominous warnings of a recession.

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