Illinois Sues Wells Fargo Over Mortgage Discrimination - WSJ.com

online.wsj.com - 15 weeks ago - 342 views

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Wells Fargo, alleging the lender illegally discriminated against minority borrowers. The suit cited data analyzed by the Chicago Reporter, revealing racial disparities in sub-prime loans from Wells Fargo in 2007 in the Chicago area.

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by BradFlora 15 weeks 6 days ago

The gist: Madigan filed a lawsuit Friday against Wells Fargo alleging they gave worse deals to minorities than to white people.

Apparently the lawsuit makes mention of original reporting from the Chicago Reporter, which is pretty cool.

WSJ is too cool to link out to the Reporter but here's the graph in question:

The suit cited data analyzed by the Chicago Reporter, a bimonthly magazine, that showed Wells Fargo in 2007 sold high-cost, subprime loans more often to its highest-income African-American borrowers in the Chicago area than to its lowest-income white borrowers. In that year, about 34% of African-American customers earning $120,000 or more received high-cost mortgages from the lender, compared with less than 22% of white borrowers who earned less than $40,000, according to the magazine.

Original press release about the filing: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2009_07/20090731.html

Original Chicago Reporter story by Kelly Virella (I think this is the one in question): http://www.chicagoreporter.com/index.php/c/Web_Exclusive/d/Refinance_Blu...

by qstrian 15 weeks 6 days ago

Duplicate news story? How does this contribution follow-up on the earlier report of Attorney General Lisa Madigan's indictment press conference?

As an affirmative defense, might borrowers have preferred alternative sub-prime lenders whose employees were recruited for their ability to build relationships with prospective customers who, in turn, failed to scrutinize the fine print?

Or might one office holder look upon generous coverage as if it were another campaign press release? Be mindful that State constitutional officers begin circulating their political nominating petitions August 4th.

P.S. This contributor once worked for Wells Fargo Alarm Service, no relation to the bank.