VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- President Obama helped create the federal loan modification program so families could stay in their houses. However, a Volusia County father, who took advantage of the plan, lost his house to a bank Thursday morning.

The man said he blames a local judge. Thursday morning a home in foreclosure was scheduled to be sold on the courthouse steps, even though the man who owned it worked out a way to pay his lender and stop it from happening.

Jerry Gomez sent a cancelled check to his lender, which has already been cashed. Gomez made a last minute, desperate appeal to save his home, the only one his wife and three kids have ever known. Judge John Doyle answered the plea with a stamp and a signature, denying Gomez's request.

"We were in the right position, but he didn't listen to me," Gomez said.

Gomez's home went into foreclosure last year. His loan payment ballooned and his painting business died. Gomez, however, had new hope when he was accepted into the Federal Loan Modification Program.

"I was so happy. I sent my first payment when I had the agreement," he said.

"This should not happen. He's been approved. The lender wants to stop it," loan consultant Jan Brinsley said.

Brinsely said Gomez did everything right. But an email from his lender's attorney claims Volusia County judges won't allow them to ask for foreclosures to stop. When Gomez tried to stop it himself, complete with proof of his new loan agreements, Judge Doyle didn't think it was enough.

"The lender worked with him. The lender wants to stop the foreclosure and the judge refuses to do it," Brinsely said.

Judge John Doyle and attorneys for U.S. Bank did not return WFTV's calls for comment on the case.