Nick and Maria Fushazi still hadn’t put up their Christmas lights last week at their SeaTac home.

Their two children, --Katherina, 8, and Peter, 16 months—certainly would have enjoyed them.

But the Fushazi family didn’t even know if they would still be in their home by Christmas. They were facing imminent eviction.

An auction was held for their home on Nov. 28. There were no bidders so it reverted to the federal agency that holds the loan. The real estate agent has tried to change the locks on the doors, Maria Fushazi reported.

The holiday outlook might be brighter now following a rally Dec. 6 in front of their home by OUR Washington (Organization United for Reform Washington,) a grassroots group that advocates for middle and low-income people.

After the rally with about 30 OUR Washington members and media on the front lawn of the Fushazi’s home in the 14200 block of 31st Avenue South, members made about 20 phone calls to the Fushazi’s loan servicing company.

The next day, the Fushazis reported that they have been now able to talk to the company chief executive and he committed to working with them on a loan modification, He also agreed to discuss with Freddie Mac, which owns the loan, about forestalling eviction.

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“We feel like this is a huge victory for our family and families facing foreclosure but our battle is not over. We need a housing counselor and/or lawyer,” the Fushazis wrote in an email.

At the event, Maria Fushazi said the couple bought the house for $200,000 in 2005 and made payments on time for five years. Then her husband’s work hours were cut and it became harder and harder to make payments on the “predatory loan.”

She said they applied for a loan modification three times and were denied.

She claims that after the third try, the loan representative told her, “We don’t need to modify your loan because we have insurance on the loan and we will get your money whether we help you or not.”

The house went up for auction last month, but there were no bidders, she said.

“We are not freeloaders,” Fushazi declared. “We are hard-working people.”

Both of them are employed.

Fushazi said she wants the loan company to reverse the mortgage, modify and restructure the loan and not evict the family before the holidays.

“Now they are likely to sell the house for $140,000 to someone else. We owe $250,000. They could have just worked with us,” Fushazi added.

She also called for a statewide foreclosure moratorium and said lenders should be forced to work with homeowners to reduce principals on loans.

Jane Mair, an immigrant from China, also spoke at the rally.

She said her family members pooled their money and bought a home in Kirkland for her mother in 1995. Her mom had a stroke and the family tried to refinance the loan to make the house wheelchair accessible.

The bank refused to work with the family and the house was foreclosed on, according to Mair.
Mair is now facing foreclosure on her home in Seattle after she got into an auto accident, couldn’t work and was unable to make the payments.

Mair said she came to the United States right after the Chinese government cracked down on its residents at Tiananmen Square.

“I still love America. It is way better than China. But America can be better,” Mair declared.

She decried “predatory lenders” that sign up people for home loans that they know can’t repay them. The loan then gets sold and resold.

Asked why a prospective homeowner would sign up for such predatory loan, Mair replied, “People want to have the American dream.”

Speaking about herself, Mair added, “Even though I am careful with spending and don’t buy new clothes or a car, I am still in trouble.”

Joshua Watler, OUR Washington executive director, noted, “Life can change.”

Many people can make their payments but then get sick or the national economy collapses.
Sate Rep. Tina Orwall (D-Des Moines) sponsored a bill that was passed in the last Legislative session that calls for voluntary mediation between homeowners and their lenders before foreclosure.

While the law is a “great framework,” Watler said OUR Washington favors a system of mandatory mediation in those cases. The homeowners could opt out if they wanted, he added.