The NAACP is suing Wells Fargo and HSBC, alleging that the banks forced black borrowers into subprime mortgages while whites with equal qualifications received lower rates, the Associated Press reports.
The lawsuits are being filed today in Los Angeles, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People told the Associated Press.
Black homebuyers have been 3 1/2 times more likely to receive subprime loans than white borrowers, and six times more likely when refinancing, the association’s co-lead counsel Austin Tighe told the news service.
“This is systematic, institutionalized racism,” Tighe said. “Once you take out factors relative to income and credit risk, the only difference between the borrowers is the color of their skin.”
A study last year found Wells Fargo was 10 times more likely to give African-American borrowers subprime loans, the Minnesota Independent reported then.
