Wells Fargo Internal Documents Reveal Racial Targeting of Black Borrowers for Subprime Loans

Internal Wells Fargo documents and whistleblower testimony, later surfaced in DOJ litigation, revealed loan officers used racial slurs including 'mud people' and referred to subprime products as 'ghetto loans.' Black borrowers were steered into high-cost subprime mortgages even when they qualified for prime rates. These practices were most aggressive in Baltimore and other majority-Black cities between 2004 and 2008.