A guy who deserves no breaks at all, a speculator who jumped onto the house-flipping craze just before the music stopped, just got a huge one. Instead of making the final stroke to finish foreclosing on his house, the bank decided to write off the loan and just give it to him for free instead.

“The investor on the loan, the bondholder on the trust, decided to write off the loan balance,” a Wells Fargo spokesman told The Florida Times-Union, “because of the significant decreased value of the property.”

The man had bought the house for $80,000 back in 2006, putting $8,000 down and taking out a $72,000 ARM for the rest at 9.5%. By 2008, the higher payments had kicked in and he stopped making payments. When he lost his foreclosure case, he had made under $1,000 in payments towards the principal on his loan.

The 1,200 sq ft two bed one bath is now appraised at $46,000. The man plans to mow the lawn, repaint, and try to sell it. One thing he’ll have to contend with is the prolific amount of mold inside. The mold grew after the coils to the air conditioner were stolen while the house was vacant.

Bank gives man foreclosed Jacksonville house for free [The Florida Times-Union] (Thanks to Lee!)

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