A Lancaster County couple is among eight mortgage consultants ordered to pay restitution as the result of a $28 million class action lawsuit. Cheryl Ann and Kenneth Roger Bennetch, 180 N. Cocalico Road, Denver were among the employees of the former OPFM Corp., a Berks County-based financi......

A federal appeals court says mortgage scammer Wesley A. Snyder's jail time sounds just right. Rejecting Snyder's bid for leniency, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed his sentence of 12 years and two months. "In sum, it is clear that the District Court properly......

The aughties started with all the promise of the a millennium. We had survived the Y2K scare, the economy was rolling right along and everyone thought things could only get better.We were wrong.This decade in Lancaster County has been marked by perhaps the worst tragedy in its histo......

Wesley A. Snyder was able to keep his $29 million mortgage brokering scam hush-hush, for a time, by withholding crucial information — namely account statements — from his clients.Such a practice soon will be illegal.Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday signed into law a measure tha......

Wesley A. Snyder has decided not to fight his 12-year prison sentence. But others are continuing to fight over the millions of dollars he stole. The attorney for the Berks County mortgage broker, who bilked 800 customers out of $29 million, had filed preliminary paperwork for an appeal of ......

About 300 victims of a $26 million Ponzi scheme operated by a jailed mortgage broker received some good news Wednesday.A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Reading ruled that those victims of Wesley A. Snyder's scheme may remain in the arbitration process they sought against Mutual Service......

State Sen. Mike Brubaker is taking another crack at reforming the mortgage industry.Brubaker, a Warwick Township Republican, intends to reintroduce a pair of bills that together would protect whistle-blowers and prevent mortgage brokers from withholding key information from their customers......

The year 2008 will be remembered as one in which the word "staycation" entered our vocabulary, layaway came back in style and we looked past food expiration dates if it meant saving a buck or two at the grocery store. Times were tough. By the same token, though, the year gave ......

State Sen. Mike Brubaker introduced two bills Thursday that he said were inspired by a mortgage broker whose actions cost local homeowners millions of dollars.The bills are intended to protect consumers against unscrupulous lenders and employees of mortgage companies who report illegal act......

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter remembers mortgage lenders saying they couldn't help Wesley Snyder's victims very much because the costly loans were held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That should no longer be an obstacle, says Specter. Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been taken......

A year ago today, more than 800 customers of Wesley A. Snyder got a sinking feeling when the mortgage broker filed for bankruptcy.Today, Snyder is in jail, his mortgage firm, Personal Financial Management Inc., is shuttered, his customers are shocked, sick, angry and confused.A fede......

A mortgage broker recently sentenced to more than 12 years in state prison for perpetrating a scam that affected more than 800 Pennsylvanians, including many in Lancaster County, has appealed his sentence.Wesley A. Snyder's attorney, Kurt B. Geishauser, said Thursday he filed a motion ......

Gov. Ed Rendell signed five mortgage-reform bills Tuesday near the former offices of a loan broker jailed for defrauding more than 800 mortgage customers of millions of dollars.The bills strengthen oversight of mortgage companies, tighten regulation on employees, increase fines for miscond......

The victims of mortgage scammer Wesley Snyder, seated on one side of the courtroom here, smiled slightly with satisfaction. On the opposite side, his family broke into tears. When a federal judge Wednesday sentenced Snyder to 12 years and two months in prison, his victims got the long-awai......

A federal judge sentenced Wesley A. Snyder on Wednesday to 12 years and 2 months in prison for perpetrating a mortgage scam that hurt more than 800 Pennsylvanians — robbing them of a cumulative sum of more than $29.2 million.U.S. District Chief Judge Yvette Kane showed no mercy for S......

Heather Keens of Narvon was the first witness today to tell a federal judge what Wesley Snyder did to her family. As she rose in a crowded courtroom to offer her testimony, others waiting their turn grimly urged, "Go get him." She did. At turns angry and tearful, Keens un......

Stephanie Glick has no sympathy for Wesley Snyder. The New Holland woman and her husband are among the more than 800 victims of Snyder, whose mortgage scam cost borrowers and investors nearly $40 million. Glick, whose mortgage payment doubled due to Snyder's fraud, hopes a federal judg......

Mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder, who pleaded guilty to running a mortgage scheme that left hundreds of customers in financial peril, has asked the court to consider his advanced age and other factors when it hands down his sentence Wednesday.•••...

A Berks County judge has turned up the heat on the employees of a bankrupt mortgage business accused of defrauding more than 800 customers and investors of about $40 million.Judge Albert Stallone Friday ordered the business owner, Wesley A. Snyder, his wife, Sydney, and seven employees to ......

Some homeowners swindled by convicted businessman Wesley A. Snyder will continue to get help so they can afford to make mortgage payments. Four mortgage companies have agreed to extend forbearance agreements for hundreds of homeowners affected by the Sept. 18, 2007 bankruptcy of Snyder's mo......

The state Attorney General's Office today sued failed mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder, his wife and seven employees, including a Denver couple, accusing them of violating state consumer-protection laws. The civil lawsuit — the first legal proceeding to allege that some of Snyder&#......

A local lender has offered to rescue victims of the Wesley A. Snyder mortgage scandal, weeks before a temporary reprieve expires. Fulton Mortgage Co. is proposing several refinancing options to the 811 affected borrowers, including 300 in Lancaster County. Among the options are low-rate l......

An appeal filed Tuesday calls for the reinstatement of a class-action lawsuit seeking relief for more than 800 victims of Wesley A. Snyder's mortgage Ponzi scheme.The appeal was filed in federal court in Philadelphia by the Berks County couple who filed the original suit, which sought ......

A federal judge has dismissed a suit aimed at forcing 24 mortgage companies to provide relief to more than 800 victims of Wesley A. Snyder's mortgage Ponzi scheme.Michelle Weaver, a Manheim Township resident who was a customer of Snyder's OPFM Inc. — a consortium of six mortg......

A Florida brokerage firm that sold securities through Personal Financial Management should have flagged the fraud in its other line — mortgages. That's the contention of six Berks County residents who want Mutual Service Corp. of West Palm Beach, Fla., to repay the $1.2 million they l......

Justice must wait for more than 800 customers and investors duped of millions of dollars in what prosecutors labeled a Ponzi scheme operated by mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder.Snyder's scheduled sentencing hearing has been postponed from Tuesday until May 20, Laurie Reiley, of the U.S......

The victims of bankrupt mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder may get a bit of their own back: a share of his personal assets.A motion has been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that would allow bankruptcy trustee Lynn Feldman to liquidate Snyder's assets. The funds would be placed in an accou......

The topsy-turvy legal maneuvering surrounding an alleged $29 million Ponzi scheme affecting more than 800 customers of mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder took another twist Friday.Two lawsuits were filed Friday against Snyder and SunTrust Mortgage Co. by two Berks County couples — each......

Homeowners swindled by convicted businessman Wesley A. Snyder will continue to get help so they can afford to make their mortgage payments, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking announced Thursday that.Secretary of Banking Steve Kaplan said in a statement that 13 lending institutions have......

The biggest business stories in Lancaster County last year often were unfinished business stories. Attached to them were ominous questions, unsettling thousands of area residents, that might remain unanswered for years. Will I be able to pay my mortgage? Will I be able to pay my electric b......

Lancaster County appears insulated from the mortgage meltdown created by subprime lending, which has sent foreclosure rates through the roof across the country.The number of sheriff's sales of foreclosed properties in Lancaster County is the lowest in nine years, according to courthous......

Another year. Another cable-news spotlight on Lancaster County. In 2005, it was David Ludwig killing his teenage girlfriend's parents in Lititz. In 2006, it was Jesse Dee Wise killing six family members in Leola — followed by Charlie Roberts killing five Amish schoolgirls in......

Lancaster County residents looking back on 2007 will remember this year as being particularly violent, considering the notorious slayings of the Haines family and popular businessman Ray Diener. They will recall a community on edge as the killers remained on the loose. But they might also recal......

Thirty-five homeowners stung in a mortgage scheme operated by bankrupt mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder have voluntarily withdrawn their claims in a class-action lawsuit filed against a group of banks with which Snyder did business.But attorneys who are seeking to have a federal judge revo......

Three high-ranking lawmakers have followed up on a hearing they conducted last week that examined how 811 victims were defrauded by a local mortgage broker.U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, along with Rep. Tim Holden, wrote to the chief executives of six banks, Fannie Mae and Fred......

Attorneys who filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of customers defrauded by Wesley A. Snyder's defunct mortgage businesses will be in court again Thursday. This time, the lawyers will seek to move their case from federal court in Philadelphia to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reading. An atto......

When: 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 Where: Penn State's Harrisburg Campus Student Center, Room 210 Capital Union Building 777 W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown For more information, go to www.pahomeownersne......

Wesley A. Snyder was visibly shaken and his voice cracked Wednesday as he waived his rights in federal court here, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and admitted to engineering a mortgage scheme that defrauded more than 800 clients and investors of an estimated $29.2 million.About ......

Looking for answers, about 300 victims of mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder packed a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday in Berks County. Instead, they just encountered another frustrating question: Where's Snyder? Snyder skipped the required hearing on the advice of his attorney, the crowd was ......

About 300 customers victimized by Wesley A. Snyder's multimillion-dollar mortgage scam were disappointed Tuesday when the broker failed to show up at a bankruptcy hearing in Berks County.Snyder, who is due in federal court in Harrisburg today to plead guilty to one count of mail fraud,......

State Rep. John C. Bear didn't take the calls lightly."I really feel for them," Bear said. "It really throws those families into havoc."Those families include at least 53 of his Lititz-area constituents who were victims of the Personal Financial Management mo......

Wesley A. Snyder has admitted telling lies for nine years, burning borrowers and investors for millions. He faces years in prison and a heavy fine. Now, if Snyder doesn't switch to telling the truth, and nothing but, he'll get in even deeper trouble. The Berks County mortgage ......

The attorney for a bankrupt local mortgage broker who agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud last week said Wednesday his client is an honest man who has been unfairly vilified. To the bitter end, businessman Wesley A. Snyder thought he could preserve his customers' money through fresh ventur......

Victims of a bankrupt Pennsylvania mortgage business call the owner's guilty plea to mail fraud Friday a "shallow victory." Wesley A. Snyder, 71, signed a plea agreement that requires him to cooperate with the investigation into his tangled business operations and make restitution. The maximum ......

Owner of bankrupt mortgage business admits to fraud involving more than 800 customers and faces paying up to $32 million in restitution.•••Wesley A. Snyder pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg Friday to a mail-fraud schem......

A hearing scheduled for Thursday in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg concerning the personal assets of bankrupt mortgage broker Wesley Snyder was delayed.Snyder is the Berks County man at the center of a multimillion-dollar failed mortgage business. That failure affected about 300 Lancast......

About 430 property owners who face significantly higher mortgage bills due to the Sept. 18 bankruptcy of a local mortgage broker squeezed into the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater Monday for a fourth informational meeting.There, attorney Joseph O'Keefe told them the judge handling the lawsuit fi......

A mortgage brokerage firm that has left more than 800 homeowners and investors on the hook for about $40 million finally opened its books Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.Six companies related to Wesley A. Snyder's bankrupt Personal Financial Management Inc. reported assets of nearly $83 ......

A help center. A class-action suit. A bill in the General Assembly. A series of public meetings. In the wake of Personal Financial Management's collapse, attention naturally has focused on assisting the largest group of victims. That's the 800 people who borrowed money through the......

State Rep. John Bear has seen it once. He doesn't want to see it again. After watching a mortgage scandal devastate more than 50 families in his district, Bear wants to prevent a recurrence. Bear will propose amending state law so it's clearly illegal for a mortgage lender ......

Some homeowners who owe much more than they thought they did due to alleged mortgage broker fraud by OPFM Inc. lost one form of temporary relief Wednesday but gained another.A federal judge in Philadelphia Wednesday took charge of the case and tossed a temporary injunction that had shielde......

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirmed Monday that it has raided the home of Wesley A. Snyder, the president of a bankrupt mortgage-brokerage business that has saddled 800 homeowners with tens of thousands of dollars of additional, unexpected mortgage debt.Oriey Glenn, the acting ins......

A federal prosecutor finally said Friday what customers of Wesley A. Snyder having been saying for weeks: Snyder committed fraud. In a six-page filing in Harrisburg federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel publicly accused the Berks County mortgage broker for the first tim......

A central hub and help center to assist families facing possible foreclosure due to the collapse of mortgage broker OPFM Inc. will open at Lancaster Farm & Home Center.Also, a rally is planned in Harrisburg next week to prod state officials into doing more to assist those families.......

About 500 people forced into a financial quagmire by the collapse of OPFM Inc. commiserated Tuesday at Highland Presbyterian Church about the mortgage broker's alleged duplicity.Some were desperate, many were sad, a few cried, others yelled, and most were angry. But everyone showed up look......

The September collapse of a mortgage broker created financial distress in homes across Lancaster County, documents released this week reveal.The documents, filed in Berks County Court, show almost 300 homeowners in 35 Lancaster County municipalities were stung when OPFM Inc. filed for bank......

A judge Wednesday provided a measure of relief for 800 homeowners whose monthly mortgage bills jumped as much as 50 percent when Personal Financial Management Inc. collapsed Sept. 14.Berks County Judge Jeffrey K. Sprecher issued a temporary injunction that allows the homeowners to pay the ......

Hundreds of residents facing up to $100,000 of additional mortgage debt due to the bankruptcy of Personal Financial Management Inc. will have to wait until next month to learn if the company has assets left to distribute.Bankruptcy Judge Richard E. Fehling granted an extension until Nov. 2......

Nearly 600 people affected by the collapse of a local mortgage brokerage company attended a meeting Tuesday night at Highland Presbyterian Church, revealing the depth of the financial crisis.Customers of Personal Financial Management Inc. learned in a letter dated Sept. 14 that they owe te......

A couple who say they were stung by a mortgage "Ponzi Corporation" is suing the lenders that bankrolled Personal Financial Management Inc.'s alleged $40 million fleecing of 800 customers.The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Berks County court, seeks to void 800 mortgage loans that skyrocketed for......

Michelle Weaver's phone started ringing a few days after 800 families learned their finances had been fried by the collapse of mortgage broker Wesley A. Snyder.It hasn't stopped.Weaver, of Manheim Township, isn't a therapist, a financial expert or an attorney. She's simply one of hu......

The collapse of an area mortgage broker will have serious repercussions locally, an attorney representing the company said in an interview last week."This is going to be a major disaster," Dexter K. Case, the attorney for Personal Financial Management, said.The company'......

Creative refinancing contracts devised by a Reading-based mortgage broker have unraveled, leaving 800 customers on the hook for higher payments and possible foreclosure on their homes.Wesley A. Snyder filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Tuesday for OPFM Inc., which he operated as Per......