BB&T suspends foreclosure on Florida man facing foreclosure on his gas station

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --

It looks like Saji Mathew will get to keep his gas station, at least for now.

The 41-year-old man faced foreclosure after missing a mortgage payment to BB&T Corp. on the gas station by just one day. He made several attempts to continue paying and made a $50,000 offer in court earlier this week to settle the case that the bank refused.

On Thursday, a day after the St. Petersburg Times published an article detailing the saga, the bank, BB&T, said it would suspend the foreclosure action and work with Mathew to clear up the case.

Mathew was elated to hear the news.

"I am going to work with them," he said. "I want to resolve the issue and pay them the money. I want to get my property back and move on."

BB&T, based in Winston-Salem, has been working with Mathew for nearly three years and regrets that the situation accelerated to this point, said David R. White, vice president of corporate communications.

"This issue was reviewed at the highest level at BB&T," White wrote in a statement. "(We) are prepared to work with Mr. Mathew to resolve this. There is more to this story than we are able to discuss, due to client confidentiality."

Read on.