January 2004

Internal Wells Fargo documents and whistleblowers revealed officers calling Black clients 'mud people' and loans 'ghetto loans.' Qualified Black borrowers were steered from prime to subprime products. A 2012 DOJ settlement required $175 million — the largest fair-lending settlement at the time.

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.

Internal Wells Fargo documents and whistleblower testimony revealed loan officers calling Black clients 'mud people' and their loans 'ghetto loans.' Officers were trained to steer qualified Black borrowers away from prime mortgages toward higher-fee subprime products. A 2012 DOJ settlement required Wells Fargo to pay $175 million — the largest fair-lending settlement in U.S. history at the time — for discriminating against Black and Latino borrowers between 2004 and 2009.

Countrywide placed Black and Latino borrowers in subprime ARMs at higher rates than equally qualified white borrowers. DOJ found Black borrowers 2-3 times more likely to receive higher-cost loans. Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide in 2008, settled for $335 million in 2011.

Countrywide Financial — the nation's largest mortgage lender — systematically placed Black and Latino borrowers in subprime adjustable-rate mortgages at higher rates than similarly qualified white borrowers. Internal data cited in a 2011 DOJ complaint showed Black borrowers were 2–3 times more likely to receive higher-cost loans. Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide in 2008, settled for $335 million in 2011.