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Organizing your community to bring public attention to builder’s bad deeds and seeking assistance from local, state and federal elected officials has proven to be more effective and much quicker for thousands of families. You do have choices and alternatives.  Janet Ahmad

IS YOUR STATE NEXT?
As Goes Texas So Goes the Nation 
TEXAS REGULATES HOMEBUYERS!
NEW HOMEBUYER LEGISLATION MAY BE COMING TO YOUR STATE SOON
!
How Texas Home Building Industry shaped the Texas Residential Construction
Commission (TRCC) and regulates new homebuyers

TEXAS: Smalltime builder lifetime ban from building does nothing for victims
Saturday, 14 February 2009

Builder barred from industry
A state commission on Wednesday banned Jarrell homebuilder Pete Stucky from working in the residential construction industry for his lifetime. The Texas Residential Construction Commission said Stucky and his affiliates victimized dozens of homeowners when he failed to make repairs that were under warranty and hid the fact some properties he built and sold had liens against them. And folks who bought Stucky’s homes who have warranty problems have nowhere to go for redress.

Builder barred from industry
by Fred Afflerbach | Business Writer
 February 13, 2009

A state commission on Wednesday banned Jarrell homebuilder Pete Stucky from working in the residential construction industry for his lifetime. The Texas Residential Construction Commission said Stucky and his affiliates victimized dozens of homeowners when he failed to make repairs that were under warranty and hid the fact some properties he built and sold had liens against them.

This is the first time the commission has banned anyone for life.

The president of a homeowners’ association in the community where Stucky built dozens of homes says this story is much deeper.

Bill Gravell, president of Sonterra Homeowners Association, said Stucky, 53, is avoiding debtors by filing bankruptcy while living in a $1.8 million, 61-acre estate complete with horses and racetrack. Meanwhile, the contractors who built the homes and the people who bought them are left out in the cold.

“It’s rags to riches, on the backs of first-time homeowners … and on the backs of small business owners,” Gravell said. “That to me is the tragedy.”

The unpaid contractors have taken big hits, or gone out of business, and filed liens against Stucky and his company. But it’s the homeowners who are now saddled with those liens.

And folks who bought Stucky’s homes who have warranty problems have nowhere to go for redress.

Senior citizen Chuck Ford’s home came with doors that wouldn’t properly shut, cabinets that looked like they’d been cut with a chainsaw, and a dryer vent that leaked hot air between walls.

Ford said a foreman showed up and told him: “If we wanted anything corrected we’d have to pay more money. At that point I knew I had a problem.”

Ford paid for some repairs himself, but others remain unfinished. He said estimates for needed repairs reached $9,000.

Last October, Stucky signed a 50-page bankruptcy document in Waco federal court that shows liabilities of $1 million. Large and small contractors are listed.

Stucky referred comment to Bruce Burleson, his Belton attorney. Burleson said Stucky was bankrupt, out of business, and had already surrendered his license. He would not comment further.

Association president Gravell has followed Stucky’s business dealings for about two and a half years. They met when Stucky was living in modest rental housing working for the Sonterra development. Today, his 61-acre ranch on FM 487 near Florence is listed for sale at ranchinvestments.com for $1.79 million.

Not long after Gravell started “raising a ruckus,” he said Stucky paid him a personal visit.

“He said, ‘You’re playing in my sandbox. You’re upsetting people and things in my sandbox and you need to stop it.” Gravell recalled on Thursday.

Leonardo Sierra, a framer living in Jarrell, said Stucky owes him about $50,000 for work performed. As a result, he stopped construction on the two-story home he’s building for his family of seven children. They remain in their mobile home.

Roger Gallamore painted interiors, exteriors and did trim work for Stucky’s company. He said the $13,000 in unpaid invoices has been disheartening and devastating to his family.

“We’re the ones that can’t afford to take the beating. It’s crippled a lot of us financially,” Gallamore said.

And the homeowners who carry those liens face a dilemma if they want to sell - pay the liens, or try to work out something with the title company.

According to the TRCC, Stucky built homes in Taylor, Jarrell and the Belton area. Prices ranged from $80,000 to about $180,000

An Austin TV station reported Williamson County sheriff’s officers arrested Stucky for perjury last fall and he could go before a grand jury within a couple weeks.

“We are encouraged and only believe this is the beginning of his end,” Gravell said.

http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/02/13/55759

 
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