Complaint / Review
Fifth Third Bank
5/3 Bank purchased a construction loan from Royal Crown whereby the contractor was allowed to take draws without proving that work was done and/or paid for

This story is almost identical to the story that can be located at the following link; http://usacomplaints.com/banks/fifth-third-bank/fifth-third-bank-predatory-for-4d4f7.htm

We were building a home in Hendry County, FL when we discovered that the building contractor (First Class Builders of SWFL who are long since out of business) was not paying the subs. The contractor did build a good amount of the house but we were now being sued by almost all of the sub-contractors, the bank wanted the full balance of the loan ($185,000) as they had stopped giving draws to the builder once I advised them that I had been ripped off and it was now over one year since the builder had supposedly stopped actually building the home. The bank never once followed up to see if any sub-contractors had been paid off nor did they check to see what work had and had not been completed.

I have in my possession a letter from the builder apologizing for ripping me off and using the money on other projects.

My wife and I continued for almost another year to pay the mortgage but had to discontinue after her illness made it impossible for her to continue working, after my company made cuts and we then lost the house we were living in at the time in Lee County. Luckily enough we were were renting our first house in Bonita Springs and were able to move back there after the tenants lease was over.

We attempted to short sell the LaBelle home after 5/3 took over the construction mortgage and every single offer they received was rejected. As time went, each offer got smaller and smaller until it was no longer reasonable to even continue the process. I made so many attempts to work with 5/3 that I don't even know where to start.

We have since filed for bankruptcy and are completly and totally ruined. I should mention that we went to the Collier County prosecutors who said they couldn't help. We went to a private attorney who said he couldn't help. We went to the police in Hendry County who said they couldn't help and who, ironically enough, couldn't believe that I didn't beat the builder senseless when he admitted to me that he had misappropriated the construction money.

Basically, I've learned that you can rob a bank and get away with it, just don't walk through the front door.instead, get a contractors license.