While a great deal of attention has gone to homeowners with subprime mortgages who are in danger of foreclosure, the lack of response from banks to work with homeowners who wish to modify their loans has not received similiar attention. For months, leaders fom Holy Rosary Church – a member of PICO affiliate Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) in Antioch, CA – have been trying to arrange meetings with various banks to discuss their home loan terms. Despite numerous attempts, they have yet to receive a face-to-face meeting with any of the banks.

In response, CCISCO leaders organized a rally last week to bring attention to this lack of response from banks as community residents face foreclosure on their homes. Over 50 people gathered in front of Bank of America Bank, Bank of the West, Wachovia Bank, and Washington Mutual Bank to bring to light the inactivity and disregard for the concerns of homeowners—a concern that has led to frustration.

"A lot of us are going into foreclosure, or in danger of going into foreclosure," said Luis Flores, who could no longer keep up with the $4,000 monthly payment on the home he's lived in for seven years. "It came down to paying the bank or buying food."

The ratings agency Moody's recently released the results of a survey it conducted of the modification practices of subprime mortgage servicers regarding borrowers that have or will experience an interest rate reset on their loans in either 2007 or 2008. The California Reinvestment Coalition described the findings from this survey, stating "the survey showed that most servicers had only modified approximately 1% of their serviced loans that experienced a reset in the months of January, April and July 2007."

Washington Mutual claims to have held foreclosure workshops and to have hired a new employee to begin addressing the foreclosure issue in Antioch.  Bank of America, Bank of the West and Wachovia declined to comment.

The Holy Rosary Organizing Committee has been working to develop solutions to the foreclosure crisis in Antioch for the past five months. Leaders organized a foreclosure prevention workshop with over 200 participants in March and have surveyed over 100 community members to identify barriers to saving their home. Leaders are targeting these institutions based on the results of those surveys and the difficulties that community members have had in getting their loans modified.

Media Coverage
Interfaith groups protests banks
A foreclosure protest took to the streets

Click here to watch TV coverage of the march

More information
"The Chasm between Words and Deeds: Lenders Not Modifying Loans as They Say To Avoid Foreclosures," California Reinvestment Coalition