Wells Fargo is facing a potential investigation by the Trump administration’s housing authority over programs and commitments the bank made to increase homeownership among Black Americans, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The report cited a letter from the Department of Housing and Urban Development sent to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf on Wednesday. The agency will examine whether the bank violated fair-lending laws by favoring Black or other minority homeowners.
Wells Fargo has announced a series of measures over the years to increase lending to minority communities. This includes a 2017 commitment to lend $60 billion to help add at least 250,000 Black homeowners by 2027.
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The letter accused the bank of “sorting” homeowners and offering different products or terms based on their race, according to the Journal.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner plans a full investigation into Wells Fargo’s statements, the report said, citing a senior official. The agency will also review other banks conducting similar initiatives.
“Even if Wells Fargo did not violate the law, its practice of dividing Americans based on race is immoral, unethical, and un-American,” Turner told the Journal. “Wells Fargo and all of its employees that engaged in race-based decision-making should be ashamed of themselves.”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal contractors and their subcontractors to eliminate DEI practices, drawing a lawsuit from Democratic state officials. The reported probe is being viewed as part of the Trump administration’s broader anti-DEI actions.
The investigation comes amid an anti-DEI push across corporate America, with numerous companies scaling back diversity goals and removing related language from websites and investor disclosures since Trump’s election in 2024.
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Wells Fargo has previously faced scrutiny over its treatment of minority mortgage borrowers. In 2012, the bank reached a settlement with the Justice Department over allegations that it charged Black and Hispanic borrowers higher rates and fees than similarly qualified white borrowers and steered some qualified minority borrowers into subprime loans while similarly qualified white borrowers received prime loans.
The bank scaled back its overall mortgage operation in early 2023, focusing on existing customers while pledging to support racial equity in housing.
“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,” the bank said at the time.