Demonstrators picketed Chase Bank in downtown San Diego on Friday, calling for relief from foreclosure.
The activists were made up of homeowners and mortgage brokers who have struggled to modify loans with Chase.
Dave Van Waldick, the founding director of the Homeowners for Hope Foundation, said the group hoped to be a voice for the millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
"In some cases, the prices have dropped substantially, and it may be appropriate to actually reduce the loan balances," Van Waldick said. "This is the mandate that the current administration has given to the banks, and they've been very slow to come to the table."
Among the demonstrators was former Chase client Julie Nielson. She said she tried to modify her loan before and after losing her job two years ago but found the bank unresponsive.
"I could never talk to the same person, I could never get anybody's last name, I couldn't even get their extensions when I would call," Nielson said.
In a statement, Chase said it has made great efforts to help struggling homeowners. The company said it has already helped 598,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure since 2007 and has approved more than 170,000 modifications since April of this year. Gary Kishner, a spokesman for the company, said modifications depend on an ability to pay.
"We don't want to put them in a loan where three months later they're going to be in the same situation," Kishner said. "That doesn't help them."
SDSU lecturer Mark Goldman said banks may not have incentive to help all struggling homeowners.
"No matter how bad they mess things up on this side to mitigate loss and save as much money as they can on their own assets -- which is their loans -- there's really no motivation for them to do that," Goldman said. "The government will just bail them out."
