Wall Street analysts praise Wells Fargo's revenue and sales growth, diversification, distribution/marketing prowess, and standout risk management. Despite Wells Fargo's success, there appear to be serious trouble spots in its subprime mortgage lending, particularly the predatory practices of Wells Fargo Financial (WFF) that victimize low-wealth consumers. While these practices have been criticized by community groups since the mid-1990s, they apparently have been tolerated by Wells Fargo management because of the unit's profitability.
Home ownership has been the primary means for most American families to build and pass on inter-generational wealth. However, government-sanctioned racial discrimination in housing and mortgage finance markets robbed many families of this opportunity, and today’s racial homeownership gap is barely changed from the levels of more than 50 years ago. Closing the homeownership gap is essential to closing the racial wealth gap. Additionally, predatory mortgage lending practices drained trillions in wealth from families, especially Black, Latino, low wealth and low-income Americans. CRL successfully advocated for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which has made the mortgage market far safer for consumers. CRL is building on this progress by working to ensure that all credit-worthy borrowers have access to fair, affordable, and sustainable mortgages. And that policy makers and market participants develop solutions that are appropriate to respond to the scale of this housing crisis.
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Prepared Testimony of Eric Stein, Senior Vice President, Center for Responsible Lending before Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Joint Hearing.
Prepared Testimony of George Brown, Senior Vice President, Self-Help and Spokesperson, Coalition for Responsible Lending before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
Testimony of Martin Eakes,Self-Help CEO and Coalition for Responsible Lending Spokesperson Before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
In 2001, the Coalition for Responsible Lending estimated that several common predatory mortgage practices cost U.S. borrowers $9.1 billion each year. For the most part, these practices were entirely legal under the law at that time. The report concludes that the solution is reforms to state and federal lending laws.
Summary of the North Carolina Mortgage Broker Licensing Law (pdf) Full Text of Mortgage Broker Licensing Law (pdf) Session Law FAQs about the NC Broker Law In August 2001, NC Governor Mike Easley signed into law the NC Mortgage Lending Act, Senate Bill 904. This law passed both houses with strong support and was endorsed by all major financial trade associations. It sets new licensing requirements for mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers and mortgage loan officers. It is the second phase of predatory lending reform in NC, following the NC Predatory Lending Act passed in 1999, which regulates the...
Testimony of Martin Eakes before the Federal Reserve Board at public hearing on predatory practices in the home-equity lending market.
In 1999, North Carolina became the first state to enact legislation to curb predatory mortgage lending. Over the many years since, the North Carolina law has proven its effectiveness in curtailing predatory lending while preserving a robust subprime lending market. Full Text of the Law Short Summary of SB 1149 Full Summary of SB 1149 During the first year after the law's passage, North Carolina's citizens saved an estimated $100 million as a result of the law. The law did not increase interest rates on subprime loans in N.C, and subprime lending continues to grow in the state (up an estimated...
Full Text of the Law Short Summary of SB 1149 Full Summary of SB 1149 In 1999, North Carolina became the first state to enact legislation to curb predatory mortgage lending. Over the many years since, the North Carolina law has proven its effectiveness in curtailing predatory lending while preserving a robust subprime lending market. During the first year after the law's passage, North Carolina's citizens saved an estimated $100 million as a result of the law. The law did not increase interest rates on subprime loans in N.C, and subprime lending continues to grow in the state (up an estimated...