Settlement opens new chapter in fraud case; Eagle Valley defendants can keep building homes; suits with buyers continue

Stroudsburg,PA. -"Though Eagle Valley Homes and related companies will be forced out of the new-home construction business as part of a plea deal announced Thursday, owner Steven Parisi and former owner Donald Kishbaugh will be allowed to continue careers as home builders and developers...And state prosecutors will continue to pursue criminal allegations that two other defendants in the Eagle Valley Homes case — Mountain Valley Abstract owner Anita M. Peterson and Eagle Valley Homes employee Lauren Erb — tampered with public records and committed perjury...'Consumer complainants shall be eligible to receive restitution whether or not they continue to own the home or property in question and whether or not they are current in their mortgage payment obligations to any mortgagee or asignee of the original mortgage,' states the consent decree. 'The Office of Attorney General shall exercise due diligence to prevent any 'windfall' recovery by consumers.' But any buyer who accepts restitution — a figure that would average a little more than $18,000, if the $750,000 set aside for this was divided equally among all 41 consumers — must also agree to drop any other lawsuits or legal claims against Eagle Valley. All buyers who do accept will be dropped by Parisi as defendants in a private suit Parisi filed in Monroe County Court against 66 individuals or companies. Parisi last summer sued a group that includes disaffected home buyers, state witnesses in the Eagle Valley cases, and appraisers who conducted followup home appraisals on behalf of the buyers. He contends they conspired to defame the company in an effort to benefit financially. Homeowner activist Al Wilson,...'We're not dropping anything to get $18,000,' Wilson said. 'What's $18,000 going to do for people who lost their homes and went through divorces and heartaches and everything else to fight home fraud?'...The state's settlement puts restrictions on some but not all future activities of Parisi and Kishbaugh. Eagle Valley Homes and subsidiary P&K Developers must cease business within 60 days after all outstanding legal matters involving the company have been resolved...But the agreement allows Kishbaugh and Parisi to immediately continue to build and sell new homes or home-lot packages, either individually or as officers or owners of another business entity. Parisi also is allowed to resume a career as a developer of multiple parcels in a single development, either at the wholesale or consumer resale level. 'It does not bar them from having a construction business,' said AG spokesman Kevin Harley...The AG's Office will continue to pursue its criminal case against Peterson, 50, of Mountain Valley Abstract, who served as title agent for closings on Eagle Valley Homes purchases. She is charged with 16 counts of tampering with public records, and one count each of perjury, making false statements and hindering prosecution...But Peterson's attorney, James Swetz, says Peterson is innocent of all charges and never manipulated any records. Swetz has filed a motion seeking to throw out the 16 tampering charges, on grounds a state enforcement agency has no authority to enforce federal requirements regarding the sales settlement form."...
April 15, 2006