Wells Fargo Gets Green Light on Bias Settlement

WASHINGTON (CN) - A federal judge entered a consent order that the U.S. government reached with Wells Fargo Bank over racial discrimination claims.

In its July complaint, filed simultaneously with the motion to enter the consent order, the United States said that Wells Fargo discriminated in mortgage rates against more than 34,000 black and Latino homebuyers from 2004 to 2008.

The consent order does not require Wells Fargo to admit any wrongdoing, but it does force the bank to set aside $125 million for alleged victims and pay another $50 million providing down-payment assistance to low-income borrowers in metropolitan areas hardest hit by the subprime loan foreclosure crisis.

U.S. District Judge John Bates entered the settlement as fair, reasonable and consistent with public interest on Thursday.

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