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Wells Fargo to Pay $125 Million Lending Discrimination Settlement
By Mike Holter
Mortgage lender Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $125 million and set up a $50 million assistance fund to resolve allegations it discriminated against minority borrowers. This is the second Wells Fargo lending discrimination settlement reached in two years. The bank reached a $3.25 million class action lawsuit settlement in 2011 to resolve allegations it knowingly discriminated against borrowers in minority neighborhoods, resulting in those borrowers paying more for their loans than borrowers in non-minority areas of Los Angeles County.The latest Wells Fargo lending discrimination settlement will resolve government accusations that the bank put creditworthy Hispanic and African-American borrowers into more expensive subprime loans from 2004 to 2007, and that mortgage brokers added charges through 2009 that caused minority borrowers to pay higher fees, costs and interest than similar white borrowers.
“Wells Fargo’s internal documents reveal that senior officials were aware of the numerous tactics that subprime originators employed to keep loans in the subprime division,” when they could have qualified for prime loans, the Justice Department alleged in the lending discrimination lawsuit.
Wells Fargo denies it engaged in illegal discrimination and said it agreed to the class action settlement to avoid the cost of ongoing litigation. The bank also agreed to stop using outside brokers to create mortgages and to provide $50 million in direct payments for down-payment assistant in eight U.S. regions where the Justice Department alleges Wells Fargo’s lending discrimination practices had the most impact.
The Wells Fargo lending discrimination settlement is part of the Obama administration’s effort to crack down on lending discrimination to reduce loan defaults during the housing bust. The Wells Fargo settlement is the second largest reached by the Justice Department. In December 2011, the DOJ reached a record $335 million settlement with Bank of America after it found the bank’s Countrywide unit assessed higher fees and interest rates on more than 200,000 black and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2007.
Updated July 18th, 2012
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22 thoughts onWells Fargo to Pay $125 Million Lending Discrimination Settlement
I need contact info on filing claim. Thank you in advance.
How can i join this lawsuit? i feel Wells Fargo over charged me on my mortgage
I beliieve Wells Fargo Financial charged me more intrest because im hispanic
They illegally foreclosed on my home in Texas in 2009 without proper notice and after promising modification. How can I join this lawsuit?
helllo
can you please send me more information about it
thank-you .
what is the website to fill out a claim form
what is the website to fill out a claim form I am in the same boat as everyone else
We had lived in our home 37 years. My husband had a light stroks & heart attack and was on disability. We got behind and tried for months to work out something with them…only to be told they never received paperwork etc etc one line after another. Then they foreclosed! Kids & grandkids raised there…what can we do? My niece who sent all the faxes and had the proof we had sent req. paperwork, passed in June, so I have no record.
I have a mortgage with Wells Fargo and in 2004 I was having serious financial problems,and tried to work out a mortgage modification with wells fargo . They gave me the run around for 6 mos. And flat out just lied to me for another 4 mos. To make a long story short a year passed and when all the smoke cleared, I was in the same rut as before I started the process.
I had my mortage with Wells Fargo and had my home foreclosed on after trying for 18 months to work out different options with them , Because of the constant stress and run around and all the issues, this drove me to contenpplate suicide. Eventually do to all the issues, I was forced into bankruptcy. I lost everything, I had lived there for 30 years, raised a son in that home, all gone. I now live in a small apartment – forced to give or sell off everything. I would like to know how to get into this lawsuit. I received a paper at one time asking if I wanted to be considered, but do to all the packing I lost that form. Please contact me and provide the form necessary to file.