A New York judge has given a homeowner a clean slate, completely eradicating $525,000 in mortgage payments in a foreclosure settlement court proceeding. His reasoning – because the conduct of the mortgage holder, OneWest Bank which was formed from what was left of the failed IndyMac Bank, was “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious, and opprobrious,” the judge said.

According to a story by the New York Post, Justice Jeffery Spinner of Suffolk County berated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a loan restructuring with the homeowner, for misleading him about the dollar amounts of the loan during the settlement proceedings, and for the bank’s treatment of the homeowner and his wife over months of hearings.

Judge Spinner was scathing in his decision. He wrote, “Plaintiff’s conduct is wholly unsupportable at law or in equity, greatly egregious and so completely devoid of good faith that equity cannot be permitted to intervene on its behalf. Indeed, Plaintiff’s actions toward Defendant in this matter have been harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive to the extent that it must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against Defendant.”

OneWest says it will appeal the decision. The bank said in a statement, “In this particular case, we spent nearly four years working with the borrower to resolve the situation and the law does not authorize a judge to cancel a borrower’s loan obligation because he did not like the way loan modification discussions were handled. We believe the [ruling], if allowed to stand, has sweeping and dangerous implications for the entire mortgage lending industry.”

Many lawyers agree the ruling won’t stand, and that Judge Spinner was simply trying to send a message to lenders, albeit one that could encourage other homeowners to follow the same path to eliminate their own mortgage debt.

OneWest faces a separate case in California where, according to multiple media reports, the bank is attempting to foreclose on a home despite two court orders instructing it to halt proceedings.