Austin homeowner Jaime Furtado is nearing his 48th hour of his huger strike on the Texas Capitol steps in protest of how Wells Fargo has treated his case as well as thousands of others.
Furtado tells us that he hasn’t eaten anything and that traditional media has mostly brushed him off (although Univision is setting up a camera crew as we write). Furtado is a well dressed business man who is calmly handing out flyers about what he calls abusive practices by Wells Fargo, including “foreclosure acceleration” that Wells Fargo is imposing on him and other buyers all the while, most major banks are halting foreclosures.
Furtado has even crossed paths today and yesterday with several state Representatives and offering them one of his flyers he is”amazed to have some of our representatives refuse [them]. I hope I didn’t vote for them.”
So how is all hell breaking loose?
In Ohio, the Ohio Attorney General is suing Ally Financial for fraudulent practices and in Texas, the Attorney General has sent a demand letter (which is a lawsuit precursor) to 30 loan servicers to halt all foreclosure processes. So far, several have told the AG that they will not comply (I’m betting Wells Fargo is one of them).
UPDATE: as reported previously, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally have already halted foreclosures voluntarily to clean up their books, but today it is rumored that PNC Mortgage has halted foreclosures in multiple states as well, according to Maryland Realtor Jonathan Benya.
When the Texas AG calls for a halt on foreclosures, their documents call for a freeze of short sales, any closing pertaining to a foreclosure home, and the actual foreclosure process of homeowners going through the foreclosure process. Because of all of the pending charges nationally as hell breaks loose, banks will be forced to get their act together, but in the meantime, agents relying upon short sales or foreclosures will potentially have all income frozen during this process in Texas and likely other states to follow.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi called for a foreclosure moratorium with the AFL-CIO agreeing. In my opinion, if the Texas AG (who is a die hard Republican) and Pelosi (notoriously liberally leaning) can agree that the banks are likely behaving fraudulently, then this protest and these filings will not be the last, and all hell really is about to break loose whether traditional media wants to cover it and acknowledge it as such or not.
Ken Brand, Realtor in The Woodlands, Texas said, “I think the banks are fools for not being skin tight professional with their paperwork. In their quest for profits, they turned a blind when they made the loans, then when it all fell apart, I can only imagine to save money on staff, and protect their profits, turned turned their other eye blind as they tried to clean their mess up. In any event the Fit Has Hit The Shan, today we received a letter from one of the prominent title companies in the area, until all this is resolved they are suspending the issuance of title insurance on any foreclosure properties or short sales. I can’t imagine why they (title companies) all wouldn’t do the same. What’s the impact of that? Ugly stuff, stay tuned.”
Who got the demand letter?
It is no surprise that Ally (being sued by the Ohio AG mentioned above) and Wells Fargo (being protested by Furtado in real time) are on the list of those in Texas that got the demand letter:
- American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.
- American General Finance, Inc.
- AmTrust Mortgage Corporation
- Aurora Loan Service, Inc.
- Bank of America
- Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC
- Cenlar, FSB
- JP Morgan Chase & Co.
- CitiMortgage, Inc.
- EMC Mortgage Corporation
- First Horizon National Corp.
- Ally Financial, Inc./GMAC
- Home Loan Services
- HomeEq Servicing, Inc.
- HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.
- Litton Loan Servicing, Inc.
- MGC Mortgage, Inc.
- Midland Mortgage Company
- MorEquity, Inc.
- National City Mortgage
- Nationstar Mortgage Company
- Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC
- OneWest Bank Group, LLC
- PHH Mortgage Services Corporation
- Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc.
- Select Portfolio Sevicing, Inc.
- Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc.
- Washington Mutual
- Wells Fargo & Company
- Wilshire Credit Corporation
Sample demand letter from the Texas AG’s office:
This isn’t over, this is the beginning. The foreclosure scene is being shaken up and action will get more severe as we near election day. Fraudulent lending practices cannot be tolerated, but the unfortunate sacrifice is the Realtor who is on the ground whose business is devoted to short sales and foreclosures.
Furtado still has not been acknowledged by Wells Fargo, and wish him luck as he stands up for his family and countless others. We will keep you updated as we receive reports from him directly.
As of publication, Wells Fargo and PNC Mortgage have not responded to interview requests. Wells Fargo corporate has promised to speak to Furtado directly but as of 4:00cst still has not.
