The Trump Administration is looking to investigate Wells Fargo regarding programs and commitments the longtime bank has made to increase homeownership for Black Americans.
Per a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf a letter stating that it would examine whether the bank violated fair-lending laws in its programs to assist potential minority homeowners. Per HUD, it could be considered a violation of the Fair Housing Act.
“Even if Wells Fargo did not violate the law, its practice of dividing Americans based on race is immoral, unethical and un-American,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote. “Wells Fargo and all of its employees that engaged in race-based decision-making should be ashamed of themselves.”
In 2017, during the first Trump Administration, Wells Fargo announced a commitment to lend $60 billion to help at least 250,000 African American homeowners by 2027. Five years following that announcement, the bank expanded the program to put the company’s own money to work refinancing minority homes.
“These efforts are an important next step and will help close the homeownership gap between white and minority families created by decades of systemic inequities,” Wells Fargo said in 2022.
Despite Wells Fargo scaling down its mortgage business in 2023 and removing its diversity, equity and inclusion references shortly after Trump took office in January 2025, HUD states the company’s obligations “rise or fall based on actual practices, not buzzwords or website aesthetics.”
The effort is part of a widespread attempt by the administration to curtail all diversity, equity and inclusion programs, from federal and local governments to colleges, businesses and more.
Housing statistics continue to remain low regarding Black homeowners compared to their white, Asian and Hispanic counterparts. According to LendingTree, only 43.6% of Black households owned the homes they lived in, compared with 70.1% of white households. Atlanta has the highest population of Black households who own the home they live in at 55%, followed by Birmingham, Alabama (54%) and Richmond, Virginia (52.8%).
