Lawsuit Charges Wells Fargo With Creating Subprime Crisis In Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) — The city of Baltimore has filed a federal lawsuit against Wells Fargo over the subprime mortgage fallout.

The suit charges that the bank acted as a predatory lender in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, leading to foreclosure rates that nearly double the city-wide average. Baltimore is looking to recoup costs of maintaining the predominantly black neighborhoods reeling from the foreclosures.

A lawyer for the city says the foreclosures destabilize the communities and decrease tax revenue. The city solicitor says the cost of the foreclosures is in the tens of millions.

The lawsuit alleges the San Francisco-based bank targeted black neighborhoods and engaged in deceptive lending practices, such as tacking on fees and surcharges to low-cost homes.

Wells Fargo says it doesn’t “tolerate illegal discrimination against, or unfair treatment of, any consumer.”