Lawsuit Accuses Wells Fargo Of Steering Blacks To Subprime Mortgages

New York Times:

As she describes it, Beth Jacobson and her fellow loan officers at Wells Fargo Bank "rode the stagecoach from hell" for a decade, systematically singling out blacks in Baltimore and suburban Maryland for high-interest subprime mortgages.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Roxie74]

Blacks are already steered into the crappy situations. Just like they put schools named after Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood and abortions rights in black communities across the country. Cruel joke? Imagine if that was put in a white suburb? But it's up to black people to do research and not just let life happen to them, because they know the history in this country.

[MacManLB]

I'm witcha on that. There is a book called "the hidden cost of being african-american". Google it.

[BBC9nch]

You're right, and it's nothing new. Complacency is the reason why you will find pawn shops, check cashing stores and liquor stores on every corner in black and hispanic communities. Whites won't tolerate it and they are quite vigilant about protecting their neighborhoods (working class or not) from undesirable enterprises.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

And Obama's Administration is owned by these same Banksters. Obama needs to take Geithner, Rattner and the other Wall Street Bankster sycophants and lock them in the White House Dungeon.

[Tanyars5]

could we get some cable news coverage of this subject?

[Roxanna]

I hope Wells Fargo Corruption comes out. They deserve it!

[SamKnause]

The rich swindling the poor. The oldest story in the book. It is unfair, it is sad, and it shows a terrible character flaw, and yet it continues. I hope the rich enjoy their ill gotten gains. I hope they sleep well at night knowing the heartache and devastation they have caused families. I do not understand the mindset in this country to get as much as you can, anyway you can, and ignore the harm that you cause. Greed has brought our country to her knees and weakened her almost certainly beyond repair, yet it continues.

[mzzanthrope]

Okay, I understand the civil lawsuit. BUT WHY ARE THERE NO CRIMINAL CHARGES? There was fraud involved, aside from the civil rights and racial discrimination issues. How high up the chain were these actions sanctioned and encouraged? They were falsifying records, isn't that fraud?. QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:

...."Other times,(Ms. Jacobson) she said, loan officers cut and pasted credit reports from one applicant onto the application of another customer. "

[Jtt]

If it is as charged they should be punished. As in liquidated. No more second chances.

Even if it is just true for lower income people.

[MacManLB]

Wells Fargo got me many years ago. They steered me to their subprime subsidiary called Homeside Lending. Most blacks (including me) didn't know that whites with identical or worse credit histories are given conventional loans while we are given subprime loans. At the time, they vehemently told me that I could only qualify for 8.5 per cent when they were giving white folks 6.25 to 7 per cent. I was young and believed that the bank wouldn't lie to me, an honest hard working family man.

[mayfly0]

Sorry too hear that. It shameful that they will do such things.

[trinity]

Pathetic..­.what surprise me is that these witnesses seemed to have continued to work for this company. If I heard my boss calling Blacks "mud people" and then being asked to alter documents (which is FRAUD) to cheat them, I'd be looking for a different job fast. And I'd be calling the Attorney General.

[ggmome]

More 'pending' than posted, now that too is surprising.

[ntmessage]

I think this is a mistake. Because Sub Prime was the most profitable and most unregulated, brokers steered as many people as possible to sub prime. Everyone they could. It was an equal opportunity rip off.

[ErnestineBass]

Nope. No mistake.

[ggmome]

No sh00t Sherlock! The same goes for buying cars, and any other thing that deals with blacks. And they know it and prey on it!

So this is not great revelation, but its a mighty long road that has no turn...I think 250 years is long enough!

[LilGlow]

Why is anyone surprise by this? When African Amercians try to voice what is truly happening in our community we are called whiners. Some even go as far as saying we are playing victims but then the poop hits the fans and some forge surprise.

Greed is a powerful weapon for some and they don't care who they hurt in order to make that next dollar!

[Belisarius]

Banks!!

[Ohioan730]

A nationwide coalition of community organizers and community leaders that I worked with compiled that data years ago and tried to present it to Congress, the SEC, the Senators, the House, the local offices, the state government­..etc, etc....YEA­RS AGO!

We put the dots on the map and figured out that the sub-primes were mostly being written in the hood. Other "dots on the map" and pie charts we compiled showed that higher-income blacks with a higher credit rating were being steered to sub-prime loans while whites with a lower income and lower credit rating were found to have been given prime loans in most cases.

There's a reason we called them "predatory" and "loan sharks" because they preyed on vulnerable populations--single women, the poorer elderly with 100% equity, and blacks were their biggest targets. I have marched and protested with victims of all races but it was evident to everyone who knew the data and the figures that blacks were the number 1 target of sub-prime lenders.

I hope Wells Fargo, CountryWide, CitiFinancial and all of them get the pants sued off them. Somebody needs to go to jail, but where was the crime? It was all legal. That's why we had a devil of a time fighting it. The economy had to collapse for it to stop. Shame.

[Poboy]

No it wasn't legal.

The law was not enforced.