According to testimony delivered Wednesday morning, it took three attempts by three different contractors to put a new roof on a Mount Union home and the property owner is still out $11,000, paid up front to the first contractor who is now facing a felony charge of home improvement fraud.
Corey Snyder, 43, Allenport, requested a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning in front of Magisterial District Judge Rufus Brenneman on charges related to the alleged scam perpetrated against 81-year-old Ethel Brown at her home on East Water Street.
At the start of the hearing, Huntingdon County District Attorney asked the court to amend the charges in the case by withdrawing a felony 3 theft of services charge and adding felony 2 home improvement fraud.
Daughter Donna Brown, who holds power of attorney over her mother’s affairs, testified at Snyder’s hearing about how it took her mother two years to save enough money to cover Snyder’s $14,500 quote for a new metal roof. She said that after hiring Snyder June 15, 2021, and paying $11,000 up front, he never appeared to complete the project and stopped returning phone calls.
“I thought he was legit,” she said.
Brown testified that the materials for the roof were delivered but said the only work done to her mother’s house was the placement of “nailer” boards on the roof by another worker, not Snyder.
“He said he’d be around but never showed up,” she said. “I didn’t know where to find him and I didn’t get the money back.”
Brown said that because Snyder was unresponsive, she turned to Darren Erb, a handy man she’d previously hired, to complete the project after she couldn’t muster a response from Snyder.
“That didn’t go very well either,” Brown said.
Erb, 42, of Mount Union, was also facing charges related to his role in the roofing situation but those charges were dropped Wednesday after Erb made full restitution to Ethel Brown who’d paid him a total of $5,140.
In addition to the money paid to Erb and to Snyder, which hasn’t been reimbursed, Brown said her mother paid another $8,000 to finally have the job finished, which included repairing damage inflicted during the first two attempts.
Brown said the company that ended up finishing the roof was working on a neighboring property and, noticing that her mother’s project had stalled, reached out.
During cross-examination, Snyder’s attorney, chief public defender Fred Gutshall, asked Brown if she recalled his client telling her that, due to a pending court case, he was facing jail time and would be unavailable for several months. Brown said Snyder didn’t mention his forthcoming jail term.
During closing statements, Gutshall asked Judge Brenneman to consider dropping charges, noting the Browns never asked for their money back.
Smith said they shouldn’t have needed to ask.
“He was supported to do the work; he never did the work,” Smith said.
Brenneman advanced all charges to the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas where Snyder is scheduled for formal arrangement July 6. Synder is in custody in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.
After the hearing, Smith and assistant district attorney Ethan Wilt, advised residents who are looking to hire firms for home repair and home improvement projects to visit the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s website for information on how to vet contractors and for information on the state’s Home Improvement Consumer Project Act.
“We’re starting to see a pattern of fly-by-night contractors and we’re taking a hard stance,” Smith said.
