Following my interest in antique barns, i decide to get involved with the purchase, dismantling, documentation and sale of quality barns for reassembly as barns or conversion to homes. I was introduced to a company called federal period timber frames and that company's principal and alleged barn expert, craig sears.
I entered into transactions with craig sears in good faith, purchasing barns, relying on his representations about these barns, and his experience and expertise in the documentation, disassembly, transportation, and storage of these barns. What followed was a web of lies, deception and theft by craig sears which is documented in this site.
I have produced this site solely to make public my experience and provide information to anyone who might be considering doing business with craig sears.
You can make your own decisions and draw your own conclusions from this site.
I found mr. Sears to be skilled at misrepresentation and distortion. Following are facts and documents..
(See lawsuit filed below)
Craig Sears informed me of beautiful Cape, Elle and Barn (a connected structure of three pieces) built circa 1790. According to Mr. Sears, the barn had recently been taken down and stored. He told me that if I purchased this valuable barn structure, he would help me market it for resale. I agreed that if Sears found a buyer, he might participate in the profits, depending on the terms of sale.
I provided him with an initial $10,000 deposit and agreed to pay another $10,000 when Sears was ready to take delivery.
Shortly thereafter, Sears told me that he was prepared to take delivery, and I promptly wired him the second $10,000.
I soon found out from Sears that, despite our written agreements, he didn't use the money to complete the purchase. Rather, without permission, he used my money to buy another barn (the Bangor, or Tip Top Barn).
I insisted that since he bought the Barn without my knowledge and in violation of our agreement, that he complete the purchase of the Cape, Barn and Elle. Sears claimed that he had no money and could not complete the transaction for the original structure. I insisted that he transfer ownership of the Bangor Barn to me, since my money was used to purchase it.in an attempt to salvage the situation, I agreed in principle that we would try to sell the Bangor barn and potentially share any profits.
Meanwhile, Sears indicated that the Seller of the Cape, Elle and Barn was anxious to receive payment. This time I gave Sears a check made payable to the Seller. Up to this point, I had not had direct contact with the Seller, rather, I had been working through Craig Sears.
All throughout this process, I have had to place repeat phone calls to Sears to get him to respond. Sometimes a month or more would go by with no return call. The process stalled again, and, I was forced to track down the Seller myself and try to work out an arrangement to get my buildings. I found out from the Seller that as a condition of delivering my check to the Seller, Craig Sears demanded a kickback from the Seller of $2000 in cash. Additionally, Sears did not take possession of the 3 buildings as he was supposed to.
The Seller informed me that since Sears never took the buildings, he had to continue to pay for a storage space for them. He indicated that the storage charges were then approaching $6000.
New information began to emerge, some from Craig Sears, and some from the Seller of the Cape, Elle and Barn, who was having a similar experience doing business with Mr. Sears. I decided to contact the Seller of the Bangor Barn and more bad news about Sears was discovered. I found out that Sears hired someone to take down the Bangor Barn, rather than doing it himself as he indicated he would. The person he hired turned out to be incompetent and Sears did not bother to supervise him. As a result, the barn was severely damaged upon dismantling. The Seller was angry because Sears had missed many deadlines to take down the Barn and I had to pay additional fees to the Seller to allow the Barn to be removed from his property.
I also learned that though Sears had failed to take possession of the Cape, Elle and Barn frames as agreed, he did take from the Seller the valuable mantles, doors, windows, interior stairs, pine flooring and other fixtures that are an integral part of the buildings. These items are of considerable value to collectors, restoration experts and builders, and can easily be sold individually. It was my stated intention throughout this process to reclaim entire structures for restoration, not to parcel anything out. These have never been recovered from Sears.
Also, Sears had (and still has) my Bangor barn stored in the yard of his house, without a proper cover, lying in the grass and the snow, rotting away. You can see images elsewhere on this site that indicate the current situation with this barn.
I implored Sears to ship me the damaged Bangor Barn as well as flooring and materials that he had taken from the Cape, Elle and Barn so I could try to affect repairs and salvage some of my investment. I filed a Temporary Restraining Order and got a court order prohibiting him from selling them. I accompanied the sheriff to Craig Sears home to serve the papers. He was aloof and condescending, and acted like being served by a sheriff was a familiar experience. Most (essentially all) of the valuable mantles, doors and fixtures from the Cape, Elle and Barn were gone, and I assume sold by Sears.
He went so far as to indicate that his home was in his wife's name, and he had nothing to lose were I to sue to recover my money or property. I was again lenient with him and agreed to hold off on filing suit if he would deliver the remaining, damaged materials to me. He agreed to do so. He never delivered anything, of course. To this day, the Bangor barn just sits there in his yard rotting away.
In a bizarre coincidence, I recently met a person locally who found Craig Sears through his web site. This gentleman purchased from Sears the Cape part of MY Cape, Elle and Barn structure for $15,000 in cash! Sears sold him something that he didn't have possession of and that I had title to, and he took the man's $15,000! Of course, Sears never told me of his attempted sale and he delivered nothing to this gentleman. As of this writing, that gentleman's attempts to recover his money have been unsuccessful and he has stated his intention to pursue Sears in the courts.
Here is a link to Craig's web site www.federalperiodtimberframes.com.
As of 7/1/04, this site offers for sale numerous structures that Craig either does not own and/or does not possess to sell. Some have previously been destroyed or sold. These include the "Tip Top Farm" (damaged and essentially destroyed), the 25' x 35' Cape Ell and Barn c. 1790 (not in his possession, damaged, parts missing), and the 100' x 40' bank barn circa 1850 (sold years ago).
=
barn complaint filed
=
state of maine
york, ss.
Superior court
civil action,
docket no.
chet 5 productions, inc.
A corporation with a principal
place of business in Woodstock, NY
Plaintiff
V.
CRAIG SEARS,
of Parsonsfield, County of
York, and State of Maine
Defendant
Complaint
(injuctive relief requested)
The Plaintiff, Chet 5 Productions, Inc., by and through its counsel, complains against the Defendant, Craig Sears, as follows:
Plaintiff CHET 5 Productions, Inc. Is a New York corporation with a principal place of business in Woodstock, New York. Gary H. Chetkof is the President and 100% owner of CHET 5 Productions, Inc. Which is a Subchapter S Corporation handling small projects. Gary H. Chetkof is a resident of Woodstock, New York.
The Defendant, Craig Sears, is a resident of Parsonsfield, Maine with a mailing address in West Newfield, Maine.
Plaintiff, Gary Chetkof, became involved with the Defendant, Craig Sears, in purchasing three antique barns. Plaintiff is a lover of antiquities and the unique materials used in those barns as well as the unique products related to those barns. CHET 5 entered into three agreements with Mr. Sears providing for him to purchase three barns and related items with CHET 5's funds; he would then immediately transfer title to CHET 5. Plaintiff also paid for the barns to be dismantled and blueprinted so each could be rebuilt in whole or in part. Mr. Sears then was to store the dismantled barn and related items at his property in Parsonsfield. Plaintiff could then remarket the barn at a price that he would determine (and pay a marketing fee to Sears). If Plaintiff did not obtain a price he found acceptable at which to sell a barn, he always considered that he would keep the barn and items for his personal use, including for re-building it on his property in Woodstock, New York.
On or about January 22, CHET 5 entered into an agreement with Craig Sears under which CHET 5 agreed to purchase from Sears a certain antique barn which had been located in Holden, Maine and which was known as the "Tip Top Farm." The Agreement between CHET 5 Productions, Inc. And Craig Sears was dated January 22 and is attached hereto as Exhibit A (hereinafter "the Agreement").
CHET 5 satisfied all of its obligations under the Agreement by paying the $10,000 purchase price and the dismantling fees of $13,500 under the terms of the Agreement. Upon payment of the $10,000, title to the barn was to "immediately pass to CHET 5 free and clear of any and all encumbrances." The parties executed a Bill of Sale transferring the Tip Top Farm barn and related drawings and blueprints to CHET 5. That Bill of Sale is attached hereto as Exhibit B and recites that the $10,000 had been paid in full to Craig Sears and that title was transferred to CHET 5 Productions, Inc. On that same date Sears executed another Bill of Sale to CHET 5, after receiving $20,000 from the Plaintiff and in that Bill of Sale transferred title to another antique barn from South Bane, Vermont together with certain "Ancillary Materials" described therein. That Bill of Sale is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
CHET 5 had one earlier arrangement with Mr. Sears regarding the purchase of a barn. The earlier arrangement involved an antique barn originally located in Farmington, New Hampshire. (hereinafter "the First Barn").
In July of Gary Chetkof wrote to Craig Sears advising him that he wished to inspect in early August the undercarriage from the First Barn as well as the entirety of the Tip Top Barn and the South Barre barn and all of its Ancillary Materials. That letter from Gary Chetkof to Craig Sears is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
Under the agreement of the parties these items had been stored on the property of Craig Sears in Parsonsfield, Maine.
Upon completing any resale in whole or in part of the Plaintiffs property, Sears was to receive a "Marketing Fee", but only the event Plaintiff elected to sell the barn. Plaintiff was "under no obligation whatsoever to sell the Barn" and had sole authority to determine whether to accept a purchase offer and any authorization had to be in writing. See Exhibit A, 4. Upon visiting the Defendant's property in Parsonsfield, Maine on August 10 and speaking with Mr. Sears, Gary Chetkof learned that Mr. Sears was in material breach of his agreements with CHET 5 and that he had no intent to honor his commitments to the Plaintiff. He set forth the specifics of those breaches in a letter to Mr. Sears dated August 11 which is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
Plaintiff learned in August that Defendant Sears had sold the undercarriage from the First Barn and had failed to remit the required proceeds to Mr. Chetkof.in regard to the Vermont barn, Mr. Sears admitted that, contrary to his earlier repeated representations, the barn was not in his possession. Mr. Chetkof learned that of the $20,000 that he had advanced for that barn, Mr. Sears had only paid $18,000 of it to the seller and thus Mr. Sears had misappropriated $2,000 of Mr. Chetkof s funds and breached in other ways by not obtaining the unencumbered barn. Mr. Sears also admitted to Mr. Chetkof that he had sold many of the Ancillary Materials from the Vermont barn, including substantial amounts of wide-pine flooring doors and mantels. Despite receiving over $20,000 in proceeds from the Vermont Ancillary Materials, Mr. Sears had not remitted any of the proceeds to Mr. Chetkof or provided any accounting.
In regard to the Tip Top barn, Mr. Sears admitted that his agent had been grossly negligent in dismantling the Tip Top barn and had caused $4,000 worth of damage to the barn. Mr. Sears claimed as reasons for his selling without authority and without paying CHET 5 and for his negligent oversight that he is under substantial personal and financial pressures arising from the fact his father had died recently, his wife had left him and that he had significant health problems. He informed Mr. Chetkof that he was suffering from depression which had prevented him from working.
On August 11, Mr. Chetkof demanded a full accounting of all of the materials that Mr. Sears had sold and the immediate payment of 50% of all amounts he had received. To date he has received no such accounting or payment.
Mr. Chetkof has also demanded delivery to him of the Tip Top barn and $4,000 for repairs, as well as the remaining sums owed to the initial owner of the South Barre, Vermont barn.
Plaintiff Chetkof also instructed Craig Sears to cease and desist from selling any of the ancillary materials from the South Barre, Vermont barn.
Due to the financial pressures which Craig Sears has claimed are placing pressure on him to violate his agreement and sell Plaintiff's property, Plaintiff is fearful that Mr. Sears will continue to sell Plaintiff's property without authority and without forwarding those proceeds to the Plaintiff. He is fearful that Mr. Sears will sell the antique unique property at prices below what they are worth and once liquidated the funds will not be available to satisfy the obligations owed to the Plaintiff.
Count i - conversion
Plaintiff repeats and realleges Paragraphs 1 through 15 of this Complaint as if set forth more fully herein.
The above conduct by the Defendant Sears constitutes a conversion of property owned by the Plaintiff causing damage to the Plaintiff.
Count ii - breach of contract
Plaintiff repeats and realleges Paragraphs 1 through 17 of this Complaint as if set forth more fully herein.
The above conduct by the Defendant Sears constitutes breaches of contractual obligations owed to the Plaintiff by the Defendant and have resulted in, consequential damages.
Count iii - trespass to chattels
Plaintiff repeats and realleges Paragraphs 1 through 19 of this Complaint as if set forth more fully herein.
The above conduct constitutes a trespass to chattels owned by the Plaintiff.
Count iv - replevin
Plaintiff repeats and realleges Paragraphs 1 through 21 of this Complaint as if set forth more fully herein.
Under the circumstances alleged, Plaintiff is entitled to an order of replevin as to all the materials identified above and which are owned by the Plaintiff. Plaintiff is entitled to all the relief provided for by 14 M.R.S.A. 7301-7312 and Me. R. Civ. P. 64.
Count v - injunctive relief
Plaintiff repeats and realleges Paragraphs 1 through 23 of this Complaint as if set forth more fully herein.
The property that has been purchased by the Plaintiff is unique property. The loss of that property will cause irreparable harm to the Plaintiff. Plaintiff has inadequate remedies at law to fully protect his rights and requires injunctive relief in order that this unique property not be lost. A balance of hardships strongly weighs in favor of the Plaintiff since the property owned by the Plaintiff and Defendant has admitted that he has sold some of it without authority to do so and that the property is owned by the Plaintiff.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff seeks consequential and punitive damages against the Defendant, as well as his costs and interest and such other relief as the Court deems just.
Dated at Portland, Maine, this 24th day of September
CAMPBELL & ASSOCIATES, P.A.
183 Middle St. - p.O. Box 369
Portland, ME 04112
=
=
Go to this website to see photos http://www.craigsears.com/photo3.html
0 comments