U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz of Maryland has again dismissed a lawsuit filed by the City of Baltimore against Wells Fargo alleging the company's lending practices led to foreclosures that harmed the city, Wells Fargo says. This is the second time that Motz has dismissed the suit, which was originally filed in 2008.
‘We have contended from the beginning that the challenges Baltimore faces cannot be attributed to the small number of loans Wells Fargo foreclosed in the city,’ says Cara Heiden, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. ‘Even the city has acknowledged that long-standing crime, unemployment and socioeconomic issues have contributed to the city's problems.’
Heiden says the company remains committed to addressing issues related to abandoned properties.
The court dismissed Baltimore's lawsuit for the first time in January but provided the city with an opportunity to file a narrower, amended complaint that addressed only the economic impacts associated with Wells Fargo's foreclosures in Baltimore.
In its original complaint, the city disclosed that Wells Fargo was responsible for less than one-half of one percent of the 30,000 vacant properties in Baltimore.
SOURCE: Wells Fargo