Racial bias

The actions involved are based on findings by an interagency task force first convened last year by Marcia Fudge, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown and other Democratic senators called on Thursday for regulators to investigate Wells Fargo’s treatment of Black homeowners seeking to refinance mortgages during the pandemic. 

The complaint seeks unspecified damages over the bank’s mortgage origination and underwriting practices, alleging minority homebuyers were excluded from affordable, low-risk loans.

In late July, the Justice Department notified the Houston bank of a potential lawsuit alleging violations between 2013 and 2017, according to a securities filing. Cadence said that its prospective merger partner, BancorpSouth, supports the settlement discussions.

The 2013 rule, which was weakened under the Trump administration, established a comparatively low bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

Under a plan signed into law in March, the agency will first target direct loans that it has made to socially disadvantaged farmers. Guidance that will affect small banks that have made government-backed agricultural loans is due in 120 days.

The lender will expand certain mortgage products, like its HomeRun program, which requires lower down payments and removes mortgage-insurance requirements for lower-income borrowers.

“You all will not let me breathe” is just one example in the CFPB’s complaint database where a consumer likened alleged mistreatment by a financial institution to social injustice. An artificial intelligence firm uses technology to help companies flag such language.

The agency has suggested it could go beyond enforcing fair-lending laws to urge financial institutions to help narrow the wealth gap. But those very same laws pose obstacles to achieving that goal.

Several organizations serving the industry are speaking out following a series of murders in Atlanta.