Statement from the Benham Brothers Website:
SunTrust Statement
David and Jason Benham today confirm that SunTrust Bank® has pulled all of its listed properties with the Benham brothers and several franchisees across the US. This came without warning or explanation from SunTrust and took place over a 15 minute period on May 15, 2014. The Benhams, as well as several of their franchisees, have enjoyed a mutually productive working relationship with SunTrust for many years, even holding “preferred broker” status. SunTrust was contacted but declined to explain why they fired these brokers.
David Benham explained, “We were caught off-guard with this one. Keeping us off television wasn’t enough, now this agenda to silence wants us out of the marketplace.”
The Benham’s recognize SunTrust’s right to hire or fire any real estate broker they choose, but do not support the decision of SunTrust to fire independent franchisees that are associated with the brothers, many of which do not hold the same beliefs the brothers do.
David went on to say, “As Americans we find ourselves at a crossroads and are forced with a decision to either stand up or sit down. Evidently, SunTrust’s longstanding commitment to diversity must not include our historic Christian values. ”
Jason Benham added, “If our faith costs us our HGTV show and our business, then so be it.”
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Benham Real Estate is a full service real estate company that specializes in selling bank owned properties. The real estate division, Benham REO Group, has about 100 offices in 35 states across the US.
SunTrust, Member FDIC, is a federally registered service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc.
http://benhambrothers.com/suntrust/