Wells Fargo Faces Federal Probe Over $60 Billion Commitment To Black Homeownership

Wells Fargo is facing a federal investigation over mortgage programs designed to increase homeownership among Black Americans, as the Trump administration expands its campaign against corporate policies that make distinctions based on race, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is examining whether the bank's lending practices gave certain borrowers advantages because of their racial backgrounds, potentially running afoul of federal housing discrimination laws.

The controversy stems from a series of commitments Wells Fargo made beginning in 2017, including a plan to provide $60 billion in financing aimed at helping 250,000 additional Black Americans purchase homes over the following decade. The bank later introduced refinancing assistance targeting minority households, partly in response to criticism of its mortgage approval record.

The WSJ writes that by the end of 2023, Wells Fargo had delivered roughly 40% of the financing it originally promised. Its refinancing initiative had also reached approximately 5,100 borrowers, reducing their monthly payments by an average of $100. The bank has since largely stopped promoting these programs publicly.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner argued that the bank's approach raises serious questions about whether Americans were being treated differently because of their race, regardless of the programs' stated intentions.

“Even if Wells Fargo did not violate the law, its practice of dividing Americans based on race is immoral, unethical and un-American,” Turner said.

The investigation comes as Washington takes a more aggressive approach toward diversity-related corporate policies that became widespread following the racial justice protests of 2020. Other major companies, including IBM and Deloitte, have already reached multimillion-dollar settlements involving allegations tied to diversity considerations in employment decisions.

Federal housing officials are reportedly looking into comparable lending initiatives at other banks as well, suggesting Wells Fargo may be only the beginning of a much wider examination of race-conscious financial programs.