It was refreshing for me to discover that a web site such as this one exists, however, it was no surprise to find a thread of discussion about Curtis Sharp already here.
Curtis Sharp is a predator who masquerades as a custom home builder within the state of Texas. I have heard the stories told by a number of his victims, and I can only wonder why Sharp is not yet in prison.
Sharp has used several business names including "Kingsborough Homes", "Stonebriar Homes", and "Curtis Sharp Custom Homes.
Sharp uses his home building business primarily as a tool for fraud, embezzlement, and extortion. The stories told by Sharp's victims each contains a multi-faceted pattern of deception. It is particularly revealing, though, that many of these stories share the following common elements:
1. Sharp entices unsuspecting prospective clients to do business with him by significantly underbidding the cost of the home to be built. Since the home can never be completed as spec'ed for the agreed upon price, the project is doomed to fail before it starts. Imagine the client's shock when he/she finally discovers that Sharp has duped him/her into beginning a construction project that can never be completed.
2. Sharp requires each of his clients to pay 5% or 10% of the cost of the new home up front. Contractually this amount is to be applied toward construction costs, however, each client eventually discovers that Sharp has embezzled the entire amount.
3. After the foundation for the new home has been completed, Sharp tells each client that the foundation was much more expensive than he had planned, and demands payment.
4. At some point during the project, Sharp stops paying his subcontractors. Liens from these unpaid individuals begin to accumulate against the client's property, creating serious legal and financial entanglements for the client.
5. Finally, Sharp springs his extortion trap. He demands huge sums of extortion money (that is, money not owed to him) from the client before he will agree to go away and release his mechanic's lien on the client's property. Sharp knows very well that many of his clients have obtained construction financing, and that the clock is ticking on their construction loans. He knows that unless the client agrees to pay his extortion demands, foreclosure on the uncompleted home by the client's lending institution is imminent. Stated differently, Sharp uses his mechanic's lien as a powerful extortion weapon against his clients.
By now, you are probably asking yourself, "How can he get away with all of this?" For the following reasons, Sharp has absolutely no fear of being sued by any of the clients that he victimizes.
REASON 1. It is no secret that everyone is financially challenged by a new home construction project. When Sharp springs his extortion trap, he knows that his client is much more likely to pay his extortion demands than he/she is to begin a lengthy and very expensive legal battle.
REASON 2. Engaging Sharp in a lengthy legal battle will guarantee foreclosure on the partially completed home by the lending institution that is providing the client's construction financing.
REASON 3. Records on file with the Travis County Clerk and the Williamson County Clerk show that Sharp owes MILLIONS of dollars in unpaid court judgments and IRS tax liens. Sharp knows that if a client were to engage him in court and win yet another judgment against him, that claim would be subordinate to all those that have come before. The client's expensive legal victory will have been for nothing.
My heart goes out to all of the Texas families whose lives Sharp is destroying with his satanic business model.
The critical reader is encouraged to independently verify all that I have written. Articles already published by others can be found on the internet using Google.
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