Predatory Lending

Illinois AG Subpoenas Countrywide, Wells Fargo Over High-Cost Loans 

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan subpoenaed Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. and a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co. on Thursday, to determine whether the lenders unfairly steered African American and Latino borrowers into what her office characterized as “inappropriate home loans in violation of fair lending and civil rights laws.” Madigan becomes the latest state AG to pry into subprime lending at the state level, joining New York’s Andrew Cuomo, Ohio’s Marc Dann, and Massachusetts’ Martha Coakley.