Wells Fargo faces federal investigation over black homeownership programs

The Trump administration on Wednesday revealed it is investigating one of the country’s largest banks over whether it illegally favored minorities through DEI initiatives encouraging “racial equity” in homeownership.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development informed Wells Fargo in a letter that it would examine whether the bank violated fair-lending laws, such as the Fair Housing Act, by offering certain programs to black people. Wells Fargo has for years offered such initiatives, including a 2022 program that allocated $210 million as part of an effort to help black clients lower their mortgage rates and reduce their refinancing costs because of “systemic inequities” the bank said have “prevented too many minority families from achieving their homeownership and wealth-building goals.”