MARICOPA, AZ (CBS5) -
An Arizona man is accusing his bank of stealing his house and he wants it back.
The homeowner was on the verge of foreclosure when he paid off all the money he owed, but the bank sold the house anyway.
David Reed told CBS5 that he thought he had nothing to worry about when his home and 5-acre property in Maricopa was scheduled to be sold at auction, because he fell behind on his mortgage payments.
"I called their payment line and asked them what is the total amount I owed to stop my house from going into foreclosure," said Reed. "They told me $21,573."
The 52-year old, who's spent the past year battling health problems, sent the full amount straight to Cenlar Bank, which acknowledged receiving the money March 5.
Reed was convinced his home was safe, but it wasn't.
"I came home one day and had a notice on my door that somebody else owned my property and I either had to get out immediately or rent it back from them."
Cenlar Bank had gone ahead with the trustee sale, March 23, even though Reed was now up to date on his mortgage and had paid all his interest and late fees.
"I believe they just figured it was an easy way to make another $20,000," said Reed. "Let me make my payment, then turn around and auction it off and make more money."
Reed hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit after Cenlar failed to reverse the trustee sale.
David Williams is the homeowner's attorney.
He said that Arizona law is very clear that if you get your mortgage up to date, before it's sold at auction, you get to keep your house.
"He could have walked away from his loan, which a lot of people do in these situations, but Mr. Reed did the right thing," said Williams. "He stepped up and paid a large amount of money, $21,000, and that bank had absolutely no right to go forward with the sale of that property."
Reed is now left in limbo wondering whether he'll be forced to find a new place to live.
"I don't know when its going to settle," said Reed. "It's been over six months now and I still don't know if it's my house."
Reed said that he was only able to pay off what he owed because of money he inherited recently following a death in the family.
CBS5 made several calls and sent a number of emails to the attorney for Cenlar Bank to get their side of the story, but have not heard back.
Copyright 2012 KPHO. (Meredith Corporation) All rights reserved.
David Reed
