HUD opens probe into Wells Fargo’s race-based mortgage programs

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has opened an investigation into Wells Fargo’s mortgage programs that aim to boost Black homeownership rates, saying the initiatives may violate the Fair Housing Act. HUD is focused on Wells Fargo’s 2017 and 2022 commitments to increase homeownership among Black borrowers and to advance racial equity in homeownership through a Special Purpose Credit Program (SPCP). “Even if Wells Fargo did not violate the law, its practice of dividing Americans based on race is immoral, unethical and un-American,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement. “Wells Fargo and all of its employees that engaged in race-based decision-making should be ashamed of themselves.” A Wells Fargo spokesperson did not immediately reply to HousingWire‘s request for comments. In February 2017, the bank committed to lend $60 billion to qualified African American consumers for home purchases by 2027. In 2022, it announced new efforts, including $210 million to advance racial equity in homeownership and $150 million to lower mortgage rates and refinancing costs, following a Bloomberg investigation that found the bank approved fewer than half of Black appl...