Tag Archives: Wells Fargo

On Monday, the City of Philadelphia sued Wells Fargo & Co for predatory lending and violations of the Fair Housing Act. This suit comes just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities may sue lenders for alleged discrimination, according to Reuters. Two weeks before this case, the Supreme Court had ruled that Miami could sue Bank of America for predatory lending practices that allegedly increased segregation.

This week, the National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo will release their latest Housing Market Index (HMI) for May, a measure of market conditions based on three factors, with a range of zero to 100. While the March HMI was unusually high, reaching 71, April stayed steady at 65. All three individual components (present single family sales, next six-month single family sales, and prospective buyer traffic) reported losses month over month, but were still strong.

According to an executive at Wells Fargo, the bank will begin issuing private-label bonds—the first time it's done so since 2008. Backed by non-government guaranteed mortgage loans, these bonds offer lower risk to banks and, therefore, lower interest rates for borrowers. JPMorgan and Redwood Trust have also begun issuing these types of bond as of late.

Housing affordability is finally starting to improve. According to a new index, affordability is up from Q4 of 2016. More than 60 percent of all homes sold in Q1 were affordable for the nation's median income of $68K.

Warren Buffett weighed in on the recent Wells Fargo scandal, which saw its sales reps create fake accounts in order to meet quotas, at a recent Q&A with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. According to the billionaire, the bank incentivized the "wrong kind of behavior," and CEO John Stumpf should've acted sooner. Buffett also covered the firm's recent earnings report and expected corporate tax cuts.

The FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board found that in December 2016, Wells Fargo had not yet remedied two of the three deficiencies the agencies had previously identified. Subsequently, the agencies imposed restrictions on the growth of Wells Fargo’s international and non-bank activities. The revised plan submitted by Wells Fargo in march adequately repaired the two deficiencies. Wells Fargo has remedied the deficiencies and will no longer be subject to the growth restrictions which were imposed.

On the backs of an independent investigation of its sales practices, Wells Fargo has reclaimed a total of $180 million from its former CEO and Head of Community Banking. The organization has also changed bylaws, appointed new board members, and replaced other various executives. The investigation was conducted after a lawsuit alleged the bank had opened accounts in its customers’ names without their consent.

With the housing market seeing impending issues with affordability and supply, an index from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo displays data that shows success and also recognizes areas that are in need of improvement.

Data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act shows that local lenders are the preferred lender in 60 percent of cases.

The African American community was the hardest hit during the housing crisis. Black homeownership grew by six percent when the Fair Housing Act passed, but that growth was stunted between 2000 and 2015. Now, Wells Fargo is working to spur homeownership within this demographic.