Wells Fargo Bank, .A. 318 Diablo Road WELLS Danville, CA 26 FARGO 945 wellsfargo.c0m Via Email March 28, 2018 Councilman Kenyatta Johnson Room 580 City Hall Philadelphia, PA 19107 Re: March 29, 2018 Hearing on Racial Disparities in Home Lending Dear Councilman Johnson: On behalf of Wells Fargo, I am writing in response to your letter of March 23, 2018 and welcome the opportunity to provide information on Wells Fargo?s efforts to serve the home loan needs of diverse communities in Philadelphia. Please be advised that this letter serves as Wells Fargo?s statement for purposes of the Philadelphia City Council?s hearing on racial disparities in home lending, currently scheduled for March 29, 2018. Wells Fargo is committed to advancing minority homeownership and works with many local partners to achieve this goal. Wells Fargo is also proud to be the leading provider of home loans to ethnic minority borrowers nationwide and in the Philadelphia area. In 2016?the most recent year for which comparable data is available?Wells Fargo was the largest originator of home loans in the Philadelphia MSA overall, and in lending to borrowers representing all races and ethnicities. In fact, we had a higher market share among ethnic minority borrowers than we did among white, non?Hispanic borrowers. That demonstrates that we continue to work hard to serve diverse borrowers in Philadelphia. In addition, Wells Fargo continues to focus on outreach to diverse communities in the Philadelphia area. Our retail market share performance loans made by Wells Fargo) in minority census tracts was higher than our share in white census tracts in 2016 (the most recent year for which data is available). Speci?cally, in 2016 our retail market share was 7.5% in high minority census tracts minority), 7.1% in medium minority census tracts (50%?79% minority), and 6.6% in low minority census tracts minority). While there is still more work to be done to expand homeownership to minority communities, we believe that ?gures such as these demonstrate Wells Fargo?s commitment to this important goal. As you know, reports prepared for the City by Econsult reach the same conclusions about Wells Fargo?s mortgage lending compared with other city depositories. In fact, Wells Fargo has achieved?by far?the highest composite score for prime home purchase lending among city depositories. And this is based on a formula that rates performance using 13 different factors related to lending to African?American, Hispanic, and low? to moderate?income borrowers, and in low? to moderate?income and minority neighborhoods. Together we?ll go far Councilman Kenyatta Johnson March 28, 2018 We are committed to continuing our lending leadership to diverse groups, and over the past two years have announced signi?cant initiatives to expand home ownership opportunities for minority and low? and moderate?income people, including residents of Philadelphia. These efforts include: - Bringing two of our LIFT initiatives to Philadelphia?in 2012 and 2016. These initiatives helped more than 1,000 homeowners by providing them with over $16 million in down payment assistance grants, grants to advance locally driven housing priorities, and program support. - In 2017, providing nearly $780,000 in grants to support affordable housing, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention, and financial education efforts by more than 60 organizations in the state, including Nueva Esperanza, Urban League of Philadelphia, Congreso, and the Affordable Housing Center of 0 Supporting 3O nonpro?ts with more than $1.4 million through the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation to improve the quality of life for children and families living in low?income communities in Eastern - Since 2010, completing 34 foreclosure prevention outreach events, which have impacted 3,590 customers, across the state of - In 2015, Wells Fargo announced its support of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals? (NAHREP) Hispanic Wealth Project Blueprint, which seeks to triple household Hispanic wealth over the next decade. Our commitments include $125 billion goal in mortgage - originations to Hispanic households, increasing the size of our Hispanic Home Mortgage Consultant, and $10 million from the Wells Fargo Foundation in support of ?nancial education and counseling for Hispanic homebuyers. - Likewise, in 2017, we announced a commitment to positively impact the declining homeownership rate among African Americans through lending a projected $60 billion to African American homebuyers, increasing the number of African American Home Mortgage Consultants and dedicating $15 million to support a variety of initiatives that promote ?nancial education and counseling. Additionally, we know that our long?term success is directly linked to the success of our customers and the communities we serve. To that end, we are committed to strengthening economic opportunities in underserved communities by empowering individuals and small businesses with the products, services, knowledge, and tools needed to ensure ?nancial self?suf?ciency, income mobility, and ultimately, improved well-being and quality of life. We work with a wide range of nonpro?ts and community organizations to achieve these goals, and last year we provided nearly $5.9 million to 1,691 nonpro?ts and schools through Wells Fargo corporate and foundation giving. Our team members have also made signi?cant contributions to their local communities. In 2016, they contributed more than 31,000 volunteer hours, including teaching ?nancial education classes to 9,643 residents during April?s Teach Children to Save and October?s Get Smart About Credit campaigns. They also made $1.3 million in team member contributions to nonpro?t organizations that are meaningful to them through our annual Community Support Campaign. There?s been a great deal of discussion and evaluation of the many factors that impact housing opportunities in Philadelphia, as well as the possible solutions to housing challenges. Many of these 20f3 Councilman Kenyatta Johnson March 28, 2018 challenges involve issues that venture beyond what a home lender like Wells Fargo can address-? including well recognized factors such as differences in wealth (which can present a major barrier to making a down payment) and in legitimate credit factors, many of which are required by the federal government in order satisfy ability?to?repay requirements?but we remain committed to doing what we can, where we can. We believe that solving these challenges will take unique approaches, and we encourage the city council, real estate and housing organizations, and lenders to look at how we all might ?nd new ways to work together to achieve our shared objective of expanding home ownership opportunities. You have taken positive steps toward addressing the challenges facing home buyers in Philadelphia and we applaud your efforts in that regard. We are committed to helping you solve these complex challenges, so please consider Wells Fargo your ally in this process. Sincerely, (a a1 may? Bradley W. Blackwell EVP, Housing Policy Homeownership Growth Strategies Wells Fargo Home Lending 3 of3