While we’ve seen many a story during the last few years of people stuck chasing their tail in an attempt to get a mortgage modification from their lender, some Chase customers are now finding out they’ve gotten a loan adjustment without ever having to lift a finger.

It all goes back to February’s $25 billion settlement between the states and the nation’s largest lenders.

Chase agreed to $4.2 billion in mortgage relief for affected customers. So at first the bank attempted to contact people who could possibly be eligible, but only received responses from about half of them.

And since the settlement rewards lenders who complete these adjustments within one year, Chase decided not to wait for everyone.

A rep for the bank tells CNN Money that it identified customers who fit the criteria — loan held only by Chase and not backed by either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae; delinquent on payments and/or with a home worth significantly less than the remaining value of the loan — and simply notified them of their new, lower interest rates. All the borrower has to do is sign.

CNN talks to one Washington state couple who had been in danger of losing their house when they received a FedEx-ed document from Chase letting them know the interest rate on their mortgage had been slashed from 6.5% to 2.8% for the next five years, followed by an increase to 3.9% for the remaining 18 years left on the loan.

In all this, cut their monthly payments by $229 and has allowed them to keep the house.

Quips the homeowner, “I’ve stopped buying lottery tickets.”

To quote Consumerist reader Trireme32, “Banks doing the right thing?? Is this a sign of the apocalypse?”

Surprise! Chase Is Refinancing Your Mortgage [CNN Money]

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