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."

The reduction of 350-400 roles comes weeks before the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based lender is set to report its fourth quarter earnings.

Virginia and Montana both introduced new bills in the past month, potentially joining several other states in enacting policies that would increase business opportunities for lenders.

The California-based wholesale lender also known as RMK Financial Corp. had hired close to a dozen account executives in December but stopped doing business on January 31.

The layoffs were a result of the bank's decision to exit the channel, a spokeswoman confirmed.

The Texas-based company is adapting to "members' needs and changes in the marketplace," which resulted in a scale down in some divisions, a spokesman said.

Wells Fargo kept Chief Executive Charlie Scharf's pay at $24.5 million for 2022, a year in which both profit and stock tumbled and the bank continued to grapple with the fallout from a raft of scandals.

Since new policies were implemented following findings of improper influence by employees, some have neglected reporting, but corrective actions still met their intended goal because students and recent grads disclosed ties.

Despite the reduction from last year, "there are some signs that that production is coming back" in mortgage, the bank's CEO said.

Its "enhanced" oversight procedures now include a multilayered review process and if discriminatory bias is confirmed, an appraiser "will be subject to removal," the department said

The layoff round, which a spokesperson said represents "less than one quarter of one percent of the roles in the company," comes after Rocket announced a 20-person reduction in the marketing team in early January.