Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's Troubling Record
Area's Largest Home Lender Should Invest in Our Community
While thousands have lost their homes in Minneapolis alone in the last few years, Wells Fargo has made billions in profits.
As the largest financial institution and second largest employer in Minnesota, Wells Fargo has a responsibility to invest in our community by encouraging stable homeownership and creating good jobs.
Wells Fargo is the largest home mortgage lender in the area - with 15% of the market, they are twice as big as the next largest lender - and there are some troubling trends in their lending practices:
- Wells Fargo makes up 15% of the low-income mortgage market and 16% of the minority market in the Twin Cities.
- Minorities and low-income people in the Twin Cities were almost twice as likely to receive a loan from Wells Fargo Financial, where more subprime loans are issued, than by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
- Wells Fargo was sued by the City of Baltimore for targeting minorities with subprime loans.
- Wells Fargo and other subprime lenders were also sued by the City of Cleveland for the public nuisance created by the wave of foreclosures.
- The Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul are exploring options for action against Wells Fargo and other subprime lenders for discriminatory lending practices.
A recent study of ten major metropolitan areas in the country found that:
- Wells Fargo is 10 times more likely to give high interest rate loans to African Americans than to white people. The next closest bank, Washington Mutual, was 4 times more likely.
- Wells Fargo is 3.3 times more likely to give high interest rate loans to Latinos than to white people.
As a union of predominantly low-wage people of color, SEIU Local 26 has a direct interest in ensuring that we can continue to afford housing for our families in the Twin Cities. We also want Wells Fargo to be a responsible employer and support good jobs that can raise a family and allow for homeownership. Unfortunately, Wells Fargo has established a troubling record of attacking workers' rights here in the Twin Cities in addition to their troubling mortgage practices.
SEIU Local 26 calls on Wells Fargo to stop their attacks on working families and act as a leader in our community.