Bank of America accused of discriminating against minority borrowers

The city of Los Angeles has added Bank of America to the list of banks it is suing over alleged discrimination mortgage lending practices against minorities, according to news reports.

The Charlotte-based bank was sued Friday in federal court. On Thursday, the city filed similar federal lawsuits against San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and New York-based Citigroup.

Since at least 2004, the three banks have practiced discriminatory lending to minority borrowers, placing them in loans they could not afford, which resulted in large numbers of foreclosures in minority areas, Los Angeles said in the complaints, according to Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg, a spokesman for Bank of America said the bank’s record shows there’s no basis for the city’s claims. A Citi spokeswoman said the bank reviews its mortgage applicants based on the same objective criteria. A Wells Fargo spokesman called the accusations baseless.