Lawsuit over Poconos home prices put off

STROUDSBURG, Pa. - A six-year-old federal lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to sell homes in the Pocono Mountains at fraudulently inflated values will not go to trial until June.

The case was scheduled to go to trial in February, but U.S. District Judge Christopher Connor rescheduled it to June 1. He acted after a mediation session was scheduled for Jan. 28.

Connor ordered the mediation after an October order in which he rejected for the second time Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp.'s motion to dismiss it as a defendant.

The lawsuit accuses Chase of conspiring with developer Gene Percudani to fraudulently sell homes in excess of market value through inflated appraisals. Chase Manhattan Mortgage has denied the allegations, alleging it was duped into making the loans. Percudani also has denied the allegations.

- AP