The NAACP filed lawsuits on Friday against HSBC and Wells Fargo, two of the largest mortgage lenders in the country. The suits, which were filed in U.S. District Court in central California, allege that the lenders gave subprime rates to African-Americans who qualified for better rates, and gave better rates to Caucasian customers with similar credit histories.
The lenders are accused of “systematic, institutionalized racism” in their sub-prime lending. The lawsuits are not seeking damages, rather they just want to see the books and have the problem fixed.
As expected, both companies are denying the allegations.
HSBC spokeswoman Kate Durham said the company …read more

The big reason behind WaMu’s failure is no surprise: Its home-loan business sunk the bank. WaMu had way too much in mortgage-related losses.

From early on in this presidential campaign, I’ve been hoping for some substantive debate on the problems of the housing industry. What plans do Barack Obama and John McCain have to make sure that our country doesn’t suffer another mortgage and foreclosure crisis like the one it’s suffering through now? Unfortunately, the recent housing debate between the two candidates has been far from enlightening.

The Miami Herald newspaper during an eight-month investigation found that the state of Florida allowed from 2000 to 2007 more than 10,000 ex-convicts work in the mortgage business. Of course, these people with criminal records had access to borrowers’ key personal financial information.

Each day, I stumble across another story that illustrates just how serious the mortgage crisis has become in this country.

As housing foreclosures across the country continue to rise, a small, but growing, number of homeowners are turning to their employers for help.

The Justice Department is spending a lot of time and resources these days going after those who have committed mortgage fraud. In fact, the department has issued more than 400 indictments since March.

A new study by Washington, D.C.-based First Focus, a children’s advocacy group, puts some frightening numbers to the foreclosure and subprime mortgage-lending crises. According to the study, which you can read about here, an estimated 2 million U.S. children will be directly impacted as their families lose their homes to foreclosure.

We’ve all wondered about it: Just how bad can this current housing slump get?

Another high-profile major bank has fallen victim to the nation’s mortgage crisis.