Last week, Jaime Furtado protested on the Capitol steps against Wells Fargo and their “foreclosure acceleration” policy in the midst of other banks freezing foreclosures and various states calling for a freeze. After attempting to negotiate with Wells Fargo since March of this year and ultimately having his attempts refused, Furtado felt called to stand firm.
He put on a suit, hand made a protest sign and stood on the front steps of the Texas Capitol and began his hunger strike last Wednesday. Furtado had printed flyers about his and other homeowners’ plight with what he alludes to as mishandling of mortgage loans in times of crisis. When Furtado handed out his flyers, he was ignored by several state representatives and ultimately was still ignored by Wells Fargo who promised to escalate his file but continued to go unanswered.
After two days on his hunger strike protest, Furtado was instructed to submit docs for a refi that he had already been denied twice. Downtrodden, Furtado reached out to several media outlets who all declined to cover his standing up for his and other families.
On the fourth day, Furtado received a call from Wells Fargo offering new loan terms that would allow for them to stay in their home. “We can afford this new payment and don’t have to sell the house,” Furtado said, noting that he was relieved that he would not lose the $110,000 they put down on their home.
Furtado sent us an email this weekend that said, “you are doing excellent work and you made a DIFFERENCE in my family’s future!” To that, we say thank you directly to Jaime Furtado for standing tall and we believe that he has made an impact for other homeowners going through the same foreclosure acceleration plight by bringing national attention to the issue.
If you’d like to reach out to Jaime Furtado, you can find him on Twitter (@jaimefurtado).
Matt Kelly
October 11, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Good job creating awareness of this story! It’s an important social issue that we should all be aware of.
Sheila Rasak
October 11, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Sweet news! (I’m wondering if he ate chocolate first ;-0 )
Bruce Lemieux
October 11, 2010 at 3:46 pm
So to work out issues with your bank, one has to go on a hunger strike? Is that what it takes now? Unf-ing believable. The mortgage industry in this country is a screwed-up disgrace – a national embarrassment. The scope of their incompetence seems to know no bounds.
I’m very happy that the Furtado’s can stay in their home. Hard to believe this story starts with “a family in Austin, Texas”… not “a family in Russia” or “a family in China”.
We’ve been in this mortgage mess for years now, yet the big banks still can’t efficiently process a short sale, loan modification, or foreclosure. I can’t think of another segment of the US economy that’s so incompetent.
Warren Buffet – how can you continue to invest in a company that forces a homeowner to go on a hunger strike to get WF’s attention? How disgusted do you have to get until you just say “enough”? Do people need to start jumping off buildings or lighting themselves on fire?
Paula Henry
October 11, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Bruce said it best! How can I add to that!
Jim Gatos
October 11, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Although I can’t recommend to a client they go on a hunger strike should their lender not want to make favorable negotiations with them or not want to help them with a short sale. I am going to show them THIS article.. What THEY do from that point on is their business..
Isn’t it a shame what this poor guy had to resort to in order for Wells Fargo to finally stop “waffling”… ?
For shame, Wells Fargo.! For Shame!
Jonathan Benya
October 12, 2010 at 7:31 am
Great to hear that there was a happy ending! Thank you for keeping up on this one, Lani! It’s a shame that things like this aren’t considered newsworthy in this day and age.
Alex Angeles
October 15, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Lani, thanks for reporting the news that matter to us all.
I haven’t seen Jaime or Janine Furtado in 10 years, I remember them well, both respectable, honorable, hard working and devoted to their marriage. It’s sad to see them go thru difficult times. It’s sad to know thousands of hard working Americans are faced with the crude reality: in order for a few hedge fund managers to make millions, a lot of people must loose thousands. This is not America.