About a month ago we brought you the story of a man who was willing to risk his house going into foreclosure unless the bank refunded a $25 fee it had wrongfully charged. He crossed his arms and stopped paying his mortgage. Fees mounted. The bank ignored his letters. His house was scheduled for foreclosure. It was the ultimate in real estate brinkmanship. Now, four days before the auction, the bank has blinked.

Our reader writes:

As I predicted might happen, they waited until the last minute. This past Friday, four business days before the auction, they contacted me and agreed to waive the late fees, attorney fees, and all other fees that I requested be waived and promised to reinstate the mortgage and cancel the foreclosure if I paid them the past payments that I promised I would.

He added:

Banks like this one are completely unwilling to work with customers and demonstrate no interest in trying to help homeowners save their home even when they could afford it…

…I took the actions I did with the bank not just for the sake of principle, but also because the bank had far more to lose than me if they foreclosed. It was either they took a loss amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in foreclosure or credited me what I asked so we could move on and they could get paid.

Even if the bank had gone ahead with the foreclosure, our reader was planning to buy it himself at auction, which would have meant that he would own his home outright and at a substantial discount.

I and other readers were highly skeptical of his plans, but it looks like standing up for what is right still works in this country.

PREVIOUSLY: Man Lets House Go Into Foreclosure Over $25 Fee

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