Started out ok with this builder all fine & dandy. Then he started running out of money. We forked over "extra" money after he threatened to file bankruptcy & leave us hanging with a partially completed house. So what do you do?
The house was taking a lot longer then he said it would. Originally it was to be 6-8 months, 3 months for permitting in city hall, the rest for construction. Ended up taking 17 months.
This guy made his contractors so mad, the electrician stuck a piece of metal in some wiring (I don't know much about electric work-this is what the Paul Iverson told us) & the plumber poured cement down all the drains in the house.
When the house was completed, he refused to give us the keys for the house, citing we still owed him $3000. We had a huge cement patio put in above our sea wall. He quoted us a price of $1500., we both signed the contract for that amount.
After speaking with our attorney, since we owned the land & the house passed it's final CO inspection (which meant he got his final draw from the bank-First Community Bank in Ft. Myers.
They also breached contract by giving the builder his final draw & not having me sign off saying I was satisfied with the house), he told us to get a locksmith, change the locks, post no trespassing signs-it was legally our house.
We did that, I brought over my German shepherd-and boy was Old Paulie surprised when he tried to come into the house that day & had a shepherd ready to jump through the window at him.
So, go in to do the final closing, & can't close because Galaxy Homes put a lien on my house for $3000.-this down of course AFTER he received his final draw from the bank. So, had to max out a credit card to dig up $5000. For escrow-$3000. For the amt of the lien plus $2000. Fees etc. Got that squared away, and the bank decided that yes they screwed up but didn't care & reported me late to the credit bureaus. No more 5.2% loan, in fact they didn't want to touch me.
So now, I am in the process of a foreclosure & a bankruptcy.
But, the bright side of this, I've found this is a reallllly crappy house. There's holes in walls which he refused to fix, items we paid for-in the contract but not there, the a/c has been nothing but problems-leaks-had a swimming pool in my garage because they forgot to install the drain pipe, doesn't cool properly, had to install small window unit in back room-appliances aren't installed correctly, carpet is not what we ordered-stains very easily, installed the wrong ceramic tile (though this was a plus cost him money was an upgraded tile), pool leaks, sprinklers were messed up, large cracks in foundation/patio, front entrance concrete isn't smoothed-rough & jagged looks like someone took a saw to it, list goes on & on-and I do have proof I had an inspector out to document.
Sad thing is, after talking to the attorney, we can sue-he breached the contract, but all he has to do is file bankruptcy. Then we're out attorney fees on top of it. Not to mention, since I'm filing a bankruptcy the money would go directly to that. Florida laws protect the builders, when in fact it should protect the buyers because there's more and more people getting screwed down here (& everywhere from what it looks like).
This builder is now into doing Spec homes in the Lee County area (building a standard home & selling it as is).
Take my advice and stay away from this guy/company. Crappy, shoddy work & nothing but problems with the house & him!!!
Oh and my attorney also found out that he had his license revoked in Minnestoa I believe, forgot exactly why, but was along the lines of him being a SCAMMER!!! I beleive this was for a mortgage company also.
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