Mortgage Broker

A Las Vegas man who once worked in West Chester was charged today by the U.S. Attorney here in a $7-million mortgage fraud scheme. Authorities said John C. Lucidi Jr., 30, who formerly worked as a mortgage broker for companies in West Chester and Newtown Square, defrauded at least seven financial institutions as part of a scheme that lasted from May 2005 to October 2008. The court filing alleged that Lucidi found buyers, including family members, to purchase homes-primarily located in North Wildwood for inflated prices so that buyers could get kickbacks of of between $30,000 and $50,000 at closing.

In the Region Bank completes business purchase Bryn Mawr Bank Corp. completed the purchase of the Hershey Trust Co.'s private wealth-management business, which has $1.1 billion in assets under management, the Bryn Mawr company said. The deal, announced in February without a price, was valued at $18.5 million. At closing, Bryn Mawr paid $8.5 million in cash and $6.5 million in stock. The remaining $3.55 million will be paid over the next 15 months, subject to certain conditions.

Biker killed in Center City An unidentified motorcyclist was killed last night when he lost control of his bike in Center City and struck a pole, police said. The accident occurred about 8 p.m. on 23rd Street near Walnut, police said. The victim was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital and pronounced dead about 8:30 p.m. Police said the man was likely in his mid-30s and was not wearing a helmet. 30 years for armored-car job A Philadelphia man was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in federal prison for the armed robbery of an armored car in September 2009.

The owner of Invictus Financial Group in Havertown was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $3.9 million for operating a real estate investment scheme that caused $6 million in losses to lenders, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said. Kirk H. Kirby, of Capital Heights, Md., pretended to be a licensed mortgage broker and ran what the government said was similar to a Ponzi scheme in 2006 and 2007. An accomplice, Sholanda Y. Johnson, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 30 months and ordered to pay back $2.4 million.

The road to retirement can be paved with good intentions - such as paying down the mortgage faster so that, by the last day on the job, your house really is all yours. With millions of homeowners struggling to make even regular mortgage payments these days, an accelerated payoff goal may seem beyond reach. Yet many financial planners still advise debt-free retirement - including freedom from mortgage payments. Why? So you'll require less income to support yourself during retirement, says certified public accountant and financial planner Jacquelyn M. Basso, of Jacquelyn M. Basso & Associates of Downingtown.

Man guilty in fatal stabbing A Camden man was convicted yesterday of killing a girlfriend with whom he had two children. Ernest Lawrence, 29, was arrested for the stabbing death of Jennifer Lane, 19, on Jan. 8, 2008. Prosecutors said he stabbed and slashed her 17 times. He allegedly stabbed himself and then said Lane attacked him. After being released from the hospital he tried to flee to Jamaica but was arrested before he was able to, prosecutors said. He could receive life in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 19. Man shot in Chester bar Two men walked into Bill's Tavern on 3rd Street near Thurlow, Chester, Monday afternoon and opened fire, critically injuring a 35-year-old man, according to police.

An acquaintance told me that he was taking an offer to modify his mortgage, and that changing his loan from a 30-year to a 15-year fixed rate would cost him just $800. I make it a habit not to pry into the financial affairs of friends, but I was astounded by this one's use of the word modify , since it's become synonymous with desperate borrowers. Permanently modifying a loan can forestall foreclosure, which is a good thing. But the downside is it affects your credit detrimentally.

In the beginning, the six-story, 10-unit condo project at 257-59 N. Second St. was to be called Blu, for the color of its exterior panels. Architect Jay Tackett was hired by 257-59 Development L.L.C., and "they even built a scale model of it and had pictures of what the units would look like," said Realtor/mortgage broker Fred Glick, the original listing agent. But completing the project was a hurdle the developer - hamstrung, observers say, by a general contractor who went out of business midstream - couldn't clear.

Nothing short of a miracle, it seems, will keep Melissa Miller in the house in Honey Brook, Chester County, that has been part of her family for more than a century. Despite her best efforts, it goes to sheriff's sale Thursday. The house is Miller's home, but she has not owned it since 2006, when she tried to save it with an "unconventional refinancing" and ended up being scammed out of the legal title to the property. Miller, 40, is one of 350 victims of a complicated mortgage-fraud scheme federal prosecutors have dubbed "Operation Homewrecker.

Edward S. Bardzik Jr. of West Chester has been following my columns about homeowners who are unable to refinance or modify their mortgages, and keeping tabs on other media reports that say much the same thing. So when Bardzik and his son, Edward S. Bardzik 3d, decided to refinance the mortgage on a rental property they own jointly, as well as the loan on his son's house, "I wasn't sure that we were ready to go down what might be an arduous path," the elder Bardzik said. Let me tell you some things about the Bardziks.