Wells Fargo loan customers in minority communities in Los Angeles filed a class action lawsuit against the lender on Friday, August 5, charging Wells Fargo with discriminatory loan practices. The complaint says Wells Fargo consistently and knowingly discriminated against borrowers in minority neighborhoods resulting in borrowers paying more for their loans than borrowers in other parts of Los Angeles County.
After leaving the Santa Barbara City Attorney's Office for private practice, A. Barry Cappello began noticing that few people would bring lawsuits against big banks - particularly when it came to lender liability. Cappello realized it was a potential niche for his firm, Cappello & Noel (https://cappellonoel.com/). "Nobody was suing the banks because they were hiring the biggest lawyers in the world, and I didn't think that was right," Cappello said in an interview.
Lender liability, which first gained prominence in the mid-1980s, has gained acceptance as a substantive body of law. Briefly, lender liability law says lenders must treat their borrowers fairly, and when they don't, they can be subject to borrower litigation under a variety of legal claims. The evolution of lender liability has resulted in most cases now involving breach of contract and/or fraud claims.
After an 11-month trial, a Santa Barbara judge ordered subcontractors to pay $3.7 million to a condominium association because of shoddy workmanship to its Santa Barbara-area complex.
