The cuts amount to less than 1% of Citigroup's 240,000-person workforce, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Ohio-based bank concentrated most of its lending branches in majority-white neighborhoods and did nothing to compensate for its lack of physical presence, the DOJ claims.

The filing is the most recent accusation of discrimination in the field, an issue that has drawn attention from the White House last year.

While Black-owned residential properties increased in value by 42.5%, compared with 38.2% for all houses, Nicole Bachaud, senior economist with the company noted that "we're still a long way from housing equity."

Companies like Guild Mortgage, Union Home Mortgage, American Pacific Mortgage and Go Mortgage have been expanding their footprint during a time of great upheaval.

The cuts add to thousands across the home-lending industry in recent months after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and cooled what had been a red-hot housing market.

The biggest gaps are in cities with the largest concentrations of people in this demographic, a LendingTree study of the 50 largest metro areas found.

Approximately 2,350 full-time employees and contractors — some of whom did mortgage-related work — were let go, according to the credit reporting agency.

The bank was already mulling headcount and compensation reductions in early September.

The bank's delay in investigating the case forced the plaintiff to resign from the bank in July 2021, according to the complaint. Wells said that it takes allegations of misconduct "very seriously."