Wells Fargo (WFC) Responds to Discrimination Allegations

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today issued the following statement responding to comments made at a press conference by plaintiffs’ attorneys Ben Crump, Linda Friedman, and Suzanne Bish.

“We are deeply disturbed by allegations of discrimination that we believe do not stand up to scrutiny. We are confident that we follow relevant government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) guidelines in our decision making and that our underwriting practices are consistently applied regardless of a customer’s race or ethnicity. These unfounded attacks on Wells Fargo stand in stark contrast to the company’s significant and long-term commitment to closing the minority homeownership gap.

In 2020, Wells Fargo was the largest bank lender for home mortgages to Black families and this is consistent with our performance over the last decade (2011 – 2020), in which the company helped as many Black families purchase homes as the next three largest bank lenders combined.

In addition:

• Wells Fargo helped more Black homeowners refinance their mortgages in 2020 than any other bank.
• The 83% increase in the company’s refinance loans to Black homeowners in 2020 compared with 2019 also was by far the biggest gain among the largest banks.
• In 2021, Wells Fargo increased that total by 106% compared to 2020.

Minority homeownership and access to financing is a significant problem in this country, and Wells Fargo has been and remains committed to taking action to help close this and other racial equity gaps. In fact, earlier this month, the company announced a $210 million commitment to help minority families realize their dream of homeownership, including $150 million to lower mortgage rates and reduce refinancing costs for eligible homeowners who could benefit from a refinance product. This program goes beyond the usual lending programs and puts the company’s own money to work refinancing Black families’ homes.”

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