Middletown, PA – December 7, 2007 – Senator Arlen Specter, along with Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Tim Holden, will hold a hearing on the Lancaster and Berks area Homeowners’ mortgage crisis.
DATE/TIME: 3:00pm on Monday, December 10, 2007
**Media Availability to follow immediately after hearing, circa 4:15pm**
LOCATION: Penn State’s Harrisburg Campus
Student Center, Room 210, Capital Union Bldg.
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057
Senator Arlen Specter, in conjunction with Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Tim Holden, will hold a field hearing in Harrisburg to examine the mortgage crisis facing many Lancaster and Berks area homeowners who were defrauded in a mortgage-based Ponzi scheme.
Representatives from the loan services, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are scheduled to testify regarding what they can do to help distressed homeowners. Several victims will also speak on their experience.
Many Lancaster and Berks area homeowners were defrauded by mortgage broker Wesley Snyder when he induced them to borrow more money than necessary from a bank when refinancing their homes. Snyder then stole much of the surplus funds, using them for, among other things, to pay him and his wife millions of dollars in salary and to keep his company afloat. The homeowners only recently discovered they had large, outstanding mortgage obligations. Snyder recently pleaded guilty to one count of felony mail fraud.
