DOJ investigation of Wells Fargo stated-income loans
On August 1, 2018, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $2.09 billion penalty for its alleged origination and sale of residential mortgage loans that it knew contained misstated income information and did not meet the quality that Wells Fargo represented. The United States alleged that, despite its knowledge that a substantial portion of its stated income loans contained misstated income, Wells Fargo failed to disclose this information, and instead reported to investors false debt-to-income ratios in connection with the loans it sold. Bates White provided analysis to assist DOJ during its investigation. (See the DOJ announcement here.)