Builder 'going on offensive'
Attorney says North Naples-based Deco Homes will file countersuits against group of customers
A group of customers suing a North Naples homebuilder over more than $300,000 they say was paid for services they never received are expecting counterlawsuits soon that will join more than a dozen other lawsuits pending in court, attorneys involved in the case said Monday.
Six sets of Deco Homes of Southwest Florida's customers have filed lawsuits in Collier County Circuit Court. Many of the lawsuits were filed within the past two months and allege Deco Homes' owner, Carlos Pio, received deposits or took bank draws but never finished the homes. In some instances, he never started work, according to the lawsuits.
But Pio's attorney, Eric Vasquez, said his client never misappropriated any money. Instead, he looks at the customers as having violated their contracts and is expecting to file lawsuits today or Wednesday.
"They're hitting the public record in the next day or so. Deco Homes is going on the offensive," Vasquez said.
The six pending lawsuits join eight others in Circuit Court or Small Claims Court.
Naples attorney Tony Lawhon represents one group, which has been active in court. The group attempted to persuade a judge to freeze Pio's personal and corporate assets and to demand an accounting of the money the customers paid. Pio agreed to a settlement of that issue instead of allowing the judge to decide.
According to attorneys, the two sets of cases are similar but differ in significant ways. Lawhon said his clients paid significant amounts of money and saw little or no work done. The other set of customers has homes in various stages of construction or paid a small deposit and are suing to get that back.
"Frankly, one of the lawsuits alleges simply a breach of contract because the house doesn't sit properly on the lot and violates setback requirements," Naples attorney Fitzgerald Frater said.
Frater represents two clients suing Pio. The latest was filed Dec. 21 by a Miramar couple, Otis and Yolande Sinclair, who signed a contract with Deco in December 2004 for a home at 3781 12th Ave. N.E., Golden Gate Estates. The house was never finished, according to the lawsuit.
"There are allegations of misapplication of funds or misappropriation of funds, and there are allegations of failure to perform," Frater said.
Vasquez said he hasn't seen a copy of the Sinclairs' lawsuit, but he believes there are legal issues on both sides, including allegations of failure to make payments due to Deco Homes and the couple's problems with delays in construction.
Like Lawhon's clients, Frater's seek an accounting of what money Deco Homes received and what it spent, and what money remains.
Vasquez said Pio's company is preparing such an accounting in Lawhon's cases that will be turned over in the next day or two. But Lawhon said he's not sure how detailed the documents will be. Lawhon doubts his clients' money is sitting comfortably in Pio's account, he said.
Pio is also the subject of a pending investigation by the Collier County Economic Crimes Unit, which is attempting to obtain subpoenas for those same financial records. Lawhon wouldn't comment on that issue but said if his customers' money indeed was stolen, Pio may assert his protection against incriminating himself. Providing an accounting of how he took the money could be used as evidence against him, if that's what Pio did.
"I'm pretty sure Mr. Pio will want to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege," Lawhon said.
Some money already has been paid back to Lawhon's clients, but neither side will comment on how much or from where it came.
"There was an obligation in the agreement we reached for the payment of money. That payment was made," Lawhon said.
According to Collier County Clerk of Courts records, Pio and his wife, Melva, took out a $540,000 mortgage on their home, 3160 4th St. N.W., in Golden Gate Estates. The lien was recorded Nov. 20, a full month before an undisclosed agreement with Lawhon's clients was reached in court.
"I was aware of that," Lawhon said. "It doesn't directly affect our cases. All it tells me is Carlos needed cash for some reason and he decided to get it out of his home."
Vasquez said he wasn't aware of the mortgage and wouldn't comment on that issue anyway, citing the Pios' privacy.
There were allegations during courtroom testimony that Carlos and Melva Pio paid for a lot of improvements to their home and spent a lot of money on trips and expensive motorcycles. Those allegations weren't substantiated or rebutted by either side.
© 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
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