Cook County suits allege predatory lending by HSBC, Bank of America

Cook County has launched a pair lawsuits against two major banks, alleging that they helped cause the Chicago region’s foreclosure crisis by deliberately marketing predatory loans to black and Latino borrowers.

HSBC, Bank of America and its subsidiaries including Countrywide and Merrill Lynch all badly hurt black and Latino neighborhoods when they disproportionately targeted minority homebuyers for subprime loans with higher interest rates and fees, the county claims…Please click here to read Kim Janssen’s story in the Sun-Times.