A class-action lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank alleges accusations of discriminatory residential mortgage policies and lending practices against its Black customers.

The lawsuit states Wells Fargo approved more white borrowers for a mortgage loan compared to Black applicants in 2020 when the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act also known as the CARES Act created by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted historically low interest rates.

It also alleges that Black clients, including those with high credit scores, were charged a higher interest rate. On average, Blacks were charged an interest rate of 3.34% compared to 3.23% for white borrowers.

Plaintiffs are seeking $5 million in damages, the lawsuit states. They are being represented by Ben Crump, who is well known for representing families of victims of police brutality. He has now joined the lawsuit against Wells Fargo. The suit alleged the bank has engaged in racial discrimination in their home-lending practices.

“Wells Fargo says its mission is helping customers succeed financially,” said Crump. “They’re not helping Black Americans succeed financially when they engage in a pattern of practice of corporate behavior that denies financial opportunities to customers and charges more for the same services than they charge white customers.”

Wells Fargo is the largest bank mortgage lender in the U.S. The lawsuit also alleges that Wells Fargo denies home loans to Black borrowers at a higher rate and charges higher interest rates to Black borrowers.

New York City announced that it would no longer deposit money with Wells Fargo and cited the alleged disproportionate denials of mortgages to Black loan applicants. There is no word if the governing body of Trenton might do similar.

In 2020, Wells Fargo agreed to a $3 billion settlement that included the bank admitting to opening millions of fake accounts.

A criminal investigation into the company's actions found that from 2002 to 2016 Wells Fargo pressured employees to meet unrealistic sales goals, which led to millions of accounts being created by "thousands" of employees without consent from customers.