"We've been told the reason we're going through this is because I've paid the bills," Rick Brooks says.

A family is facing foreclosure, even though they're trying to pay off their mortgage.

"We felt that we did the right thing," Janice Brooks says.

Instead, they could become part of startling new statistics: 125 homes a day here going into foreclosure. Almost one in four homeowners in Fort Myers and the Cape are now 90 days behind on their mortgage. They're your neighbors on your street, and it's hurting your property value.

A couple that has cut every expense to make their bills and keep their home may loose it even though they're paying on time.

Rick and Janice Brooks say they made a bargain to sell to avoid foreclosing on their home.

"Jobs are gone, the economy is gone, everything is gone," Rick Brooks says. "I didn't control this, we didn't make this happen, and now we're stuck."

They thought they found their way out -- a buyer who could satisfy all of their mortgage debt.

"$221,892 is what everyone will get once this is all over," Brooks says.

But, that doesn't account for an additional $9,000 they now owe the bank -- a penalty for paying their mortgage before it's due. Something neither of them realized they were contractually obligated to do.

"It's not like we're asking them to forgive any part of our loan," Janice Brooks says. "We're asking them to waive an unjust fee that was given at a more economically sound time. It's not stable now."

They've already borrowed money from family. Now, everything in their Charlotte County home is for sale since it looks like their lender won't budge on the fees.

"It means we're going to be homeless," Janice Brooks says.

Teal estate tracker First American Corelogic discovered 22 percent of homeowners in Fort Myers and Cape Coral are more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment.

Lender Vince Patti thinks a lot of it might be on purpose.

"Most lenders have this policy that you have to be three months behind before they'll even talk to you," Patti, president of First Capital Lending, says.

The Brooks say they're being penalized for doing the right thing.

"We've been told the reason we're going through this is because I've paid the bills," Rick Brooks says.

Rick and Janice have just one week to try to get their lender to waive the penalty fee. If not, they say they'll have to cancel the contract on their home, which could result in a lawsuit.

WINK News has calls into the brooks' mortgage company for comment.

Here's the bottom line: the number of new foreclosure filings is up from about 70 a month a year ago to 126 a month now, but the number of foreclosures finalized has gone down over the last three months. That could mean more lenders are working with delinquent buyers, and the rocket docket court system is clearing the foreclosure backlog.