Video by Jacob Wheeler“You don’t have to give up.” That’s the message a single mom who has been fighting foreclosure has for other homeowners in a similar situation. Colleen Mckee Espinosa didn’t give up and 20 hours before her home was to be sold at a sheriff’s auction, Citibank cancelled the sale and agreed to a loan modification.

She had some help in her battle from her son Nick Espinosa. He has been helping Occupy Homes MN fight the banks and lenders on behalf of several Minneapolis homeowners.

Espinosa’s mother was reluctant to accept help from the group because she felt “humiliated” not being able to make the payments on her Minneapolis home. She said she overcame that shame when she came to realize it was the banks, not homeowners that should be ashamed for the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

“I realized that that’s exactly how they want you to feel. They want you to be ashamed. ”

How did the deal come about… and why did it take so long?

Occupy Homes MN says the agreement allows her to stay in her home and reduces her monthly payments by one-third. Citibank says it needed to get permission from the owner of the loan, in this case Fannie Mae, and Espinosa has been given a trial period of three months.

The younger Espinosa credits pressure from the public and letters from Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison for persuading Citibank to negotiate. Colleen says support from the nurses union, which she belongs to, also made a difference.

“It feels so good to know that I was able to help my mom stay in her home,” Nick Espinosa told The UpTake’s Jacob Wheeler. “She’s sacrificed so much throughout my entire life, for me and my brother and sister, to give us a better life than she had, to put us through college — and it just feels incredible that knowing she’s going to keep this home.”

“We try very hard to help customers experiencing financial difficulty,” Citibank’s Public Affairs Director Mark Rodgers told The UpTake. “We are pleased to have arrived at an amicable solution for this borrower’s situation.”

But why did it take so long?

Nick Espinosa asked Citibank that question today when they called to tell him the good news.

“I asked why they didn’t just solve this originally a year ago when this whole thing started and they said ‘well things change over time. The policies change and now you qualify for a modification.’

“It wasn’t until they made the offer, Citibank, that Fannie Mae was put in a position to modify or go along with the deal. Just like in Monique (White)’s case US Bank offered her a modification and in that case Freddie Mac was willing to go along with it.

“So really we see the original lender seem to be the correct target to pressure in these cases, to hold them accountable to fix what they did wrong and not modify with the family in the first place. At the same time, we do need to keep the pressure on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who are blocking homeowners from getting principle reduction at all.

“Edward DeMarco, President of Freddie Mac has repeatedly said in public that he’s not going to allow homes to be modified and give principle reduction. And so we need that to happen as well. They need to change their banking policy to allow for some flexibility.”

Related: Profile on Colleen and her son Nick

Press release from Occupy Homes MN: