Wells Fargo faces lawsuit over mortgage discrimination

The lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo systematically discriminated against minority loan applicants, leading to denials, delays, and less favorable loan terms. It references a Bloomberg report from March 10, 2022, which highlighted disparities in loan approvals between White Americans and minority groups, based on data Wells Fargo disclosed under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

Read next: Two of Canada’s largest banks pledge racial equity audits

Ellis further criticized Wells Fargo’s request for additional time.

“Wells Fargo had ample opportunity to address the effect of its lending practices and the harm it was causing as a company to hundreds of thousands of minorities but chose to do nothing to alter its policies… The fact that Wells Fargo years after instituting the discriminatory policies that have caused so much damage to its minority mortgage loan applicants still has no answer for its actions is appalling,” Ellis said.

This lawsuit comes on the heels of scrutiny from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which identified “statistically significant disparities” in how Black borrowers received mortgage rate discounts compared to others last year. The CFPB’s findings led to Wells Fargo being ordered to pay over $2 billion to consumers and a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its product lines, including mortgage lending.