Concert promoter Patrick Rodgers has become every homeowner’s hero by turning tables on a mortgage company and foreclosing on them.

Rodgers had the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage office in Philadelphia put up for sheriff’s sale after the company refused to pay a $1,000 court judgment he’d won against them.

And he would have gone through with it, he told the Star on Friday, if Wells Fargo hadn’t suddenly couriered a cheque.

“If I stopped paying my mortgage, they would foreclose on my house. So, absolutely, no question, I’d do the same to them.”

Rodgers had balked when Wells Fargo insisted he insure his century-old house in West Philadelphia for what it considered the full replacement value of $1 million. The thirtysomething founder of Dancing Ferret Concerts said he couldn’t afford the doubled insurance payments and refused.

“Generally, we require hazard insurance that is equal to full replacement value of the property and structure,” Wells Fargo spokesman Jason Menke told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The rule is “to provide benefit to the customer” so they can rebuild or replace a loss.

Rodgers had bought the house, a three-story, six-bedroom detached, for $180,000 in 2002 and paid his mortgage on time for seven years.

“It’s a nice house but it’s never going to be worth a million dollars. It’s not far from a sketchy neighbourhood.”

Wells Fargo had ignored his repeated requests for information, which Rodgers found violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. He took them to court, against the advice of lawyers he’d consulted, and won a $1,173 judgment.

When Wells Fargo refused to pay up, he called in the sheriff. Even after they paid, he kept going with the sheriff’s sale while still waiting for his answers, which Menke said have been sent. The court stayed the sale Tuesday pending a final hearing Feb. 23.

“It’s a great felling, I tell you. I’ve had congratulations from all over from people. Others have said, ‘I wish I had known. The bank got my house.’ I hope this encourages other people to fight back.”