Wells Fargo is facing a federal investigation into programs it introduced to increase homeownership among Black Americans, with US housing officials examining whether the initiatives may have breached fair-lending laws.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has reportedly written to Wells Fargo Chief Executive Charlie Scharf seeking to determine whether the bank gave preferential treatment to Black or other minority borrowers through its homeownership programmes. Reuters reported that the investigation was based on a Wall Street Journal report and could not independently verify the details. Wells Fargo declined to comment, while HUD had not immediately responded.
Wells Fargo announced in 2017 that it would commit $60 billion in lending to help create at least 250,000 Black homeowners by 2027. The bank expanded those efforts in 2022 to include refinancing programmes for minority homeowners.
The investigation comes as the US government under President Donald Trump intensifies scrutiny of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
The case could have wider implications for banks that have developed targeted lending or housing initiatives aimed at addressing racial disparities in access to credit and homeownership.
Wells Fargo had reached about 40% of its original $60 billion lending commitment and refinanced about 5,100 customers by 2023, according to the report.
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