Sarah Buduson
Reporter

KPHO

POSTED: 8:25 pm MST November 10, 2009

UPDATED: 10:21 am MST November 11, 2009

PHOENIX -- Despite being up-to-date on their modified mortgage payments, a Valley couple found Chase foreclosing on their home.

"You work so hard. Put a lot of money down on your house. You pay your taxes. You pay your mortgage, and it's all stolen from you,” said Jeff Zerner, the homeowner.

He and his wife, Yanthy, found out about the foreclosure when the new owner posted a notice on their door Nov. 4.

“I get this notice that says you have five days to vacate the property,” he said. “So I called the number (on the notice) and I say, ‘Who are you?’ and they say, ‘We're the legal owners of this house. It went up for foreclosure."

Just days before, the Zerners thought their home was safe. They had finished their trial modification with Chase and were led to believe they would qualify for a permanent modification.

“We paid Chase several hundred dollars, which they accepted in good faith,” said Zerner. "I feel extremely ripped off.”

Chase officials admit they made an error by selling the house.

They sent CBS 5 News a statement saying, “We apologize for the confusion over the modification actions and the parallel foreclosure steps Chase takes as a precaution. We have reached out to Ms. Zerner to discuss where we go from here.”

Loan modifications and foreclosures are parallel processes. In the Zerners case, the sides failed to communicate with each other to halt the foreclosure until it was too late.

Banks can buy back homes they’ve sold in foreclosure or rescind the sale. They can also pay to relocate a family to another home.