Thursday, April 12, 2012

Non-Profit Files Formal Fair Housing Complaint Accusing Wells Fargo Of Neglecting REOs In Minority Neighborhoods

The Baltimore Sun reports:
  • The National Fair Housing Alliance said Tuesday that it has filed a federal housing discrimination complaint against Wells Fargo, alleging that the bank is doing a better job maintaining foreclosed homes in white neighborhoods than foreclosures in minority neighborhoods.


  • The alliance said last week that it scored the condition of foreclosed homes in nine regions, including Baltimore, and found disparities based on the racial makeup of neighborhoods. (The Baltimore metro area was an outlier in the alliance's report: Though staffers found differences by neighborhood, the overall scores were basically equally lousy.)


  • That report didn't name names. But this week's complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, singles out Wells Fargo.

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  • HUD said Tuesday that it had received the complaint and would review it. The agency's complaint process is outlined here. "Administrative complaints can lead to a formal civil rights investigation led by HUD or similar state agencies," Shantae Goodloe, a HUD spokeswoman, said in an email.

For more, see Fair housing group files foreclosure maintenance complaint against Wells Fargo.