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ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 127 nation's largest residential mortgage lender of predatory lending practices. e complaint filed by Cook County, which is home to Chicago and has a popula- tion of about 5 million, accuses Wells Fargo of violating the Fair Housing Act by engag- ing in a practice known as "equity stripping." e county alleges that Wells Fargo targeted minorities, particularly Latinos and African- Americans, for high-cost mortgage loans in order to maximize the bank's profits and assets without regard to the borrower's ability to repay the loan. e county alleges in the complaint that this practice led to a large number of foreclo- sures in the area, which in turn contributed to the spreading of blight. e complaint says that as many as 26,000 loans may have been affected. e county is believed to be seek- ing more than $300 million in damages in addition to a court order that requires Wells Fargo to stop the alleged predatory lending practice. "e county's accusations are baseless and it's disappointing they chose to pursue a lawsuit against Wells Fargo rather than collaborate together to help borrowers and homeowners in the county," Wells Fargo spokesman Tom Goyda said in an email. "Wells Fargo's team members live and work in the Chicago area, and we stand behind our record as a fair and responsible lender, which includes an $8.2 million down payment as- sistance grant program that helped create 547 new homeowners in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs over the past two years. We will vigorously defend ourselves and con- tinue to focus on helping customers succeed financially and expanding homeownership in Illinois and across the United States." Similar lawsuits were filed against Wells Fargo throughout last year by Los Angeles and Miami in regards to the bank's mort- gage lending practices. e Miami suit was dismissed in July and is being appealed, while Wells Fargo lost a bid for the dismissal of the Los Angeles suit. Indiana RANK: 19 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 2.57% 1.79% 5.7 YEAR AGO 2.80% 2.45% 6.9 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -8.3% -26.7% -1.2 Top County BENTON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 1.67% 4.21% YEAR AGO 2.56% 5.20% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -34.5% -19.1% Top Core-Based Statistical Area FRANKFORT, IN 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 4.33% 3.09% YEAR AGO 4.03% 3.61% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 7.6% -14.6% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the September 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary September 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS Two Indiana Municipalities Receive Funds to Eliminate Blighted Properties Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann an- nounced that two of the state's municipali- ties were recipients of a combined total of approximately $2.9 million in awards from the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program (BEP). In what was the second out of six rounds of funding for the BEP, the city of Fort Wayne and the town of Arcadia were the successful applicants for the funds to help eliminate blighted, vacant, and abandoned homes in their respective communities in an effort to decrease foreclosures in the areas. "e Blight Elimination Program is al- lowing communities throughout Indiana to address longstanding problems with blighted and abandoned homes," Ellspermann said. "is second round of funding provides an even larger impact, providing communities with an opportunity to obtain and remove structures that would otherwise continue to negatively impact neighborhoods." Fort Wayne received $2.8 million of the money recently awarded in order to acquire, demolish, and facilitate an end use for 122 blighted, abandoned residential properties. City officials in Fort Wayne believe the demolition of the blighted properties will facilitate investment and growth as well as prevent avoidable foreclosures. Arcadia received $18,000 for the acquisition, demoli- tion, and end use of one abandoned, blighted property located on Main Street in Arcadia. "Cities across Indiana have been strug- gling with the damaging effects caused by vacant and blighted properties and will soon see the benefits of these federal funds," said Sarah Bloom Raskin, Treasury deputy secretary. "Removing blighted properties is important in the fight to reduce foreclosures, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the State of Indiana to help stabilize hardest hit communities." Ellspermann announced the BEP for Indiana in February 2014. In the first round of funding in May, successful applicants to receive a combined total of approximately $15 million in funding were East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Indianapolis, and Lawrence. e U.S. Department of Treasury approved the use of $75 million for the BEP to help eliminate blight, drawn from the $221.7 mil- lion allocated to Indiana for the Hardest Hit Fund. Illinois ranked third among states behind California and Florida in cumulative bankruptcy filings year- to-date in 2014 through the end of October with 51,884, according to Epiq Systems. KNOW THIS Indianapolis had the fifth-highest year- over-year increase in home flips among U.S. metro areas in Q3 2014 with 35 percent, behind Louisville, Kansas City, Boston, and New Orleans, according to RealtyTrac. KNOW THIS

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