Wells Fargo forecloses on Florida man for paying his mortgage early

Etienne Syldor of Orlando, Florida was never late with paying his mortgage and even sent his bank more money than he owed every month. That’s why he’s outraged that Wells Fargo has informed him that they’re foreclosing on his home.

Syldor, a Haitian immigrant who works as a bus driver at Disney World to make pay his mortgage every month, has hired a real estate attorney to fight the foreclosure. 

Speaking to WFTV News, Syldor explained that he could lose his house for being too punctual with his payments.

"And you didn't miss any payments?" reporter Kenneth Craig asked Syldor.

"I didn't miss any," Syldor responded.

"And you overpaid?" Craig asked.

"I overpaid," Syldor said.

The root of the problem appears to be exactly the opposite of what Syldor — or any other homeowner — would expect: the foreclosure proceedings actually got off the ground because Wells Fargo was receiving the payments before they were expecting them.

Syldor said to WFTV that he was offered a temporary mortgage modification by Wells Fargo last year and was told that it would become permanent if he made four monthly payments during that time. According to the bank, though, being overly eager to pay up could have caused the problems. 

Even though Syldor wrote his checks in time, in doing so he acted outside of the payment guidelines, essentially risking his house because he failed to abide by the fine print.

"For some loans, completing trial payments is a significant step toward a permanent modification; however, in this instance, the loan was part of a mortgage-backed security and in a protected pool, with specific payment guidelines,” Wells Fargo said in a statement to WFTV.

LaMya Henry, an attorney retained by Syldor, told the network that "When he came in and showed me all of the documents, it was just unbelievable."

"Who gets foreclosed on when they've made all payments on time?" she asked

In a statement sent to WFTV, the banks wrote, “We are working with Mr. Syldor to explain the guidelines and explore options that may help."

This isn’t the only time as of late that Wells Fargo found itself in trouble for foreclosing on a home. The bank recently became targeted with a lawsuit filed after a 62-year-old Navy veteran died during a hearing over his home’s foreclosure. Wells Fargo foreclosed on Delassus’ California home after a typo had the bank thinking he owed tens of thousands of dollars more than he did. He was suing the bank for negligence and discrimination against a disabled person when he died in court last year. His friends have since filed a wrongful death suit.