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Wells Fargo agrees to $175 million settlement in pricing discrimination suit - Baltimore Sun
While people try to blame the Minorities by claiming they were just being greedy wanting homes they couldnt afford. The facts tell a different or at least alternative story that gets ignored
The city alleged Wells Fargo steered minorities into subprime loans, gave them less favorable rates than white borrowers and foreclosed on hundreds of Baltimore homes, creating blight and higher public safety costs. Wells Fargo is the largest residential home mortgage originator in the United States.
The settlement provides $125 million in payments to borrowers, including an estimated $2.5 million in the Baltimore area. Minority borrowers who were steered into subprime mortgages will receive an average payment of $15,000 each, Perez said. Blacks and Hispanics who paid higher fees and rates than white borrowers because of their race or national origin will receive smaller payments that will be determined based on what they were charged.
The Justice Department's lawsuit alleged the bank discriminated against African-American and Latino borrowers between 2004 and 2009. The federal government said that black and Hispanic residents were more likely to be placed in a subprime loan than their white counterparts even if they qualified for a better loan.
"That's called discrimination with a smile," Perez said.
At a news conference at City Hall, he told a story about an "80-year-old African-American resident of the Baltimore area with a 714 credit score and a rock-solid credit file who received a subprime loan instead of a prime loan, and who was not told that she may have qualified for a prime loan with better terms."
"By the time she realized she had an adjustable-rate mortgage, and not the fixed rate she thought, it was too late," Perez said. "The damage was done."
While people try to blame the Minorities by claiming they were just being greedy wanting homes they couldnt afford. The facts tell a different or at least alternative story that gets ignored