Federal Judge Could Decide Today Whether To Allow Baltimore "Ghetto Loans" Case To Continue

In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:

• Baltimore City will attempt to show a federal judge on Monday that it has lost millions of dollars because of what it contends were racially biased predatory lending practices by Wells Fargo. In what will amount to a mini-trial before U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg, attorneys for Baltimore and Wells Fargo will present evidence and call witnesses, as the city fights the California-based bank's motion to dismiss its lawsuit. It is a critical juncture in the city's suit against the lender, because if Legg allows the case to continue, Baltimore could gain access to Wells Fargo documents and subpoena its employees.(1) That potentially could shine a light on the practices of one of the largest mortgage providers in the region. [...] Legg has said he could rule immediately after the hearing.

For more, see City to make case against Wells Fargo (Lawsuit claims Baltimore harmed by predatory lending practices).

(1) Reportedly, two former Wells Fargo employees have claimed in depositions that the company's prime loan officers reaped rewards for steering customers who qualified for regular lending to subprime loans. Tony Paschal, a loan officer from 1997 to 2007, also said employees used racial slurs to describe minority customers and referred to subprime loans as "ghetto loans."