Fargo

Lawyers for the city of Baltimore have prepared a new complaint in their reverse-redlining lawsuit against Wells Fargo, which alleges that the bank steered black borrowers into subprime loans and then foreclosed on hundreds of city houses, leading to blight and high public safety costs in low-income neighborhoods. The city suffered an embarrassing setback in January when U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz dismissed the historic lawsuit -- which was the first time a municipality had sued a bank for discriminatory lending practices since the national foreclosure crisis -- saying that the connection between the Wells Fargo foreclosures and urban problems were "implausible when considered against the background of other factors leading to the deterioration of the inner city."

A federal court judge on Friday granted Baltimore more time to file a new discrimination complaint against mortgage-lender Wells Fargo Bank, which city leaders had asked for in the hopes that they could instead reach a deal "without the need for further litigation." An earlier lawsuit, alleging that the bank targeted minority borrowers for bad loans, was dismissed in January as too broad and "not plausible." U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz left the door open for the city to file a narrower suit by March 12, however.

A federal court judge on Wednesday dismissed Baltimore's landmark lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co., saying it was "not plausible" that the mortgage giant triggered millions of dollars in damages, as the city claimed, by causing increased foreclosures through racist, predatory lending. "The alleged connection is even more implausible when considered against the background of other factors leading to the deterioration of the inner city," U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz explained in a six-page memorandum opinion accompanying the dismissal order.

A federal court judge on Wednesday dismissed Baltimore's landmark lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co., saying it was "not plausible" that the mortgage giant triggered millions of dollars in damages, as the city claimed, by causing increased foreclosures through racist, predatory lending. "The alleged connection is even more implausible when considered against the background of other factors leading to the deterioration of the inner city," U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz explained in a six-page memorandum opinion accompanying the dismissal order.

Baltimore City has uncovered some disturbing evidence in its lawsuit against Wells Fargo. The city alleges that the California-based lender steered African-American mortgage applicants into subprime loans, even when they qualified for cheaper mortgages, and it has depositions from former company employees describing what they say was a pervasive practice of discrimination. They claim their former company encouraged them to give loans to black borrowers at rates they knew they couldn't afford, leading to widespread default.

A federal judge raised doubts Monday about the city's ability to prove huge financial losses from houses left vacant by Wells Fargo foreclosures, the latest development in a landmark civil suit alleging a pattern of racially based, discriminatory lending by the mortgage broker. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz said he might pare the case, if not outright dismiss it. "Should we go down that road? ... It's going to cost a lot of people a lot of money, including the taxpayers," said Motz, who took over the case in August after the previous judge discovered a conflict of interest.

Wells Fargo must turn over electronic data on its Baltimore loans and make company officials available for depositions, a federal judge ruled Thursday at a hearing on the city's lawsuit accusing the bank of targeting minority communities with unfair lending practices that led to costly foreclosures. Attorneys for Baltimore City said they will analyze the data for patterns of racial discrimination. They argue that bad loans by the bank led to scores of foreclosure-induced vacancies that drain millions from city coffers in lost property taxes and extra police and sanitation services.

A federal judge on Thursday denied Wells Fargo's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Baltimore over what city officials said were racially discriminatory lending practices that led to a wave of foreclosures that cost the city millions. The courtroom victory means the city, whose lawsuit is being closely watched by other municipalities, could gain access to the inner workings of one of the largest mortgage providers in the region. U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg wrote in a memo Thursday that the city had produced enough evidence to continue its claim and is entitled to discovery.