One by one, homeowners walked into the San Jose Convention Center hoping today will bring a turn around. For the first time, the Help For Homeowners Community Event was held in the South Bay. The national event goes only to regions hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.
San Jose homeowner Vicki Foshay said she felt sick to her stomach when she arrived and was desperately hoping her lender would modify her loan. She has already been denied once, but after a face to face meeting, she came back with good news.
"He said, 'Actually, you are in the process of approval for [your] home loan,' which they also have dropped our interest rate and put us on a fixed interest for the rest of the loan," said Foshay.
The Obama administration co-sponsored the event, which brought together major banks and lenders -- like Wells Fargo, Chase and Sun Trust -- for one on ones with their struggling clients.
"About a third of the people that do come will be told it looks like you qualify for a program today, which is a huge win for the homeowners," said Eric Selk from Hope Now Alliance.
On the spot answers is what the homeowners want, but say they haven't gotten since the crisis started.
"I talked to my loan agent, he says call customer service. I called customer service, he says talk to your loan agent and I get the run around. It's ridiculous," said Campbell homeowner Tracie Spehar.
That's why many admit trusting anyone, even this program, is hard and the program is having problems of its own.
The economy has impacted this event as well. Last year, Helping Homeowners traveled to 33 cities nationwide, but this year it only has the budget to visit 12. Next month's stop will be in Phoenix.
