Family's experience with Custom Dream Builders has been a nightmare
The Forbergs said they paid Orland Park resident Thomas Frenkel and his company, Custom Dream Builders, more than $120,000 to remodel part of their house and build a 1,200-square-foot addition. They said they've also shelled out more than $10,000 to hire other people to fix problems Frenkel left behind, including replacing a new roof that leaked.

Little Owen Forberg runs in stocking feet through the unfinished addition to his parents' Oak Lawn home, dodging tools and piles of construction materials.

"He doesn't know anything but this," says Larry Forberg, the 2-year-old's dad, gesturing toward the chaos that is his house.

More than half of Owen's life has been spent in a home where the living room doubles as a kitchen, where dishes are washed in a bathroom sink and left to dry in the tub. On the weekends, Mom and Dad hang kitchen cabinets, put down flooring or paint drywall.

It's not that Forberg and his wife, Jill, are the do-it-yourself types. The couple say they've been forced to learn how to hang drywall and do other home improvement jobs since last spring, when the Chicago Ridge-based contractor they hired to remodel and expand their home allegedly abandoned them.

"It's been a financial hardship for us and emotionally draining as well," said Larry Forberg, a father of five and a high school English teacher. "We are living on top of each other."

The Forbergs said they paid Orland Park resident Thomas Frenkel and his company, Custom Dream Builders, more than $120,000 to remodel part of their house and build a 1,200-square-foot addition. They said they've also shelled out more than $10,000 to hire other people to fix problems Frenkel left behind, including replacing a new roof that leaked.

Frenkel referred questions to his attorney, Brad Staubus. The lawyer said Frenkel didn't up and quit, but rather was kicked off the job by the Forbergs, a claim the couple deny.

"We have been willing all along" to resolve the dispute, Staubus said. "We would like to help these people out."

The lawyer said he wants Frenkel to be able to look over the work that's been done, as well as what's yet to be finished.

"The Forbergs don't want Tom Frenkel in the house, which complicates things," Staubus said.

Desmond Curran, the Forbergs' lawyer, says that while Staubus and Frenkel have made lots of promises to settle the matter, they haven't followed through.

"Nothing is happening," Curran said. "In my view, it's not right."

The couple say they've spent about $6,500 in legal fees so far, but are reluctant to sue Frenkel because they don't have the money.

"Our attorney has been giving us advice that it's better trying to work things out with this guy than filing a lawsuit," Jill Forberg said.

Frenkel is a defendant in a handful of lawsuits pending in Cook County Circuit Court. In one lawsuit, a Chicago couple allege Frenkel quit on them halfway through an extensive home remodeling job, for which he was paid $125,000.

The Forbergs have been trying to finish the job Frenkel started because they can't afford to hire another contractor. Larry said Jill has relied on the Internet to learn building skills.

"My wife is very handy," he said. "She's become the general contractor, and I'm her laborer."

They've been working on the project in their spare time, focusing now on the kitchen.

"I haven't had a stove for more than a year," Jill said.

The refrigerator was moved into the living room, and food is cooked in a microwave or toaster oven. A friend loaned them a camp stove that uses cans of fuel.

"Now we can boil water and have mac and cheese," Jill said.

Growing family, cramped house

After their fifth child, Owen, was born, the Forbergs had outgrown their home, tucked in a quiet cul-de-sac. They hired Frenkel in November 2005 after interviewing about a dozen other contractors.

"He was excellent at showing up at our house whenever we needed to set up a meeting," Jill said. "In the end, he seemed to be the right fit for us."

But after they cut the first check for the job, "everything changed," she said. He wasn't as readily available to meet with the couple and spent little time supervising workers, she said.

The couple's relationship with the builder quickly deteriorated.

Frenkel demanded $20,000 from them to replace plumbing his company installed in their home that wasn't up to Oak Lawn's building code. He later replaced it at no charge.

The Forbergs said Custom Dream Builders double-billed for windows, to the tune of about $8,000, which Frenkel's lawyer doesn't deny. The Forbergs said they didn't realize they'd paid twice for the windows until after a careful check of invoices from Custom Dream.

"He stole it (the money) with a piece of paper," Larry said. "If I had stolen the money with a gun, it would have been a crime."

Last June, the Forbergs got a letter from Stock Building Supply, from which Frenkel had bought more than $11,000 worth of lumber for the Forbergs' job.

"The lumber was delivered in January, and (Stock) said they hadn't been paid for it and were looking for the money from us," Jill said. The Forbergs had already paid Frenkel to cover the cost of the lumber.

The letter from Stock suggested the company might place a lien on their home, but Forberg said that hasn't happened.

A representative for Stock Building Supply said he couldn't talk about a specific customer account.

In a letter last August to the Forbergs' lawyer Curran, Staubus promised Stock Building Supply "will be paid in full," but the attorney said he didn't know whether Frenkel had yet paid the lumber supplier.

A year ago, after Frenkel's company roofed the Forbergs' addition, an Oak Lawn building inspector came to check out the work.

"He'd point at parts of the roof and say how it didn't look quite right," Jill said. "We found out (later) how horrible the roof was."

When spring rains arrived, water poured into their home, even working its way into the older part of the house. By this time, the Forbergs had hired Curran, who, starting last May, sent off letters to Staubus demanding a new roof for his clients.

The couple had two independent home inspectors look over their house, and both recommended the roof be replaced.

"The entire roof is improperly installed," Timothy Kerfin, of Kerfin Inspections in Mount Greenwood, wrote in his report. "A total tearoff is needed."

Frenkel did send two contractors out, Jill Forberg said. One wasn't a licensed roofer, and the other couldn't provide his license information, she said.

By early November last year, the Forbergs finally hired their own roofer, forking out about $6,600.

"We waited all summer because he (Frenkel) promised many times to fix it," Jill said.

Staubus said his client had every intention of replacing the bad roof.

"We were willing to have the roof redone, and we were willing to pay for that," he said.

Other lawsuits against Frenkel

Frenkel previously operated Creators Just For You, a company he shut down after a little more than a year in business.

Christian Moore and his wife hired Creators in the summer of 2004 to extensively remodel an old house they'd bought in Chicago's Pilsen community, paying Frenkel $125,000, Christian said.

"He did great work until he was halfway through the job," Christian said. "When we gave him the second half of the payment, he stopped showing up."

The house was uninhabitable, and the Moores were forced to rent an apartment while also trying to make monthly payments on a $225,000 mortgage, he said. Friends chipped in and helped finish the house, but the Moores ultimately filed for bankruptcy.

The Moores sued Frenkel and Creators, ultimately winning a $50,000 judgment against the builder when he didn't show up in court. However, the judgment was later vacated.

The Moores' attorney, Leonard Becker, said he's tried, unsuccessfully, to negotiate a settlement with Frenkel's lawyer.

Christian Moore said he's not hopeful about getting any of his money back.

"I have written the whole thing off," he said.

Also suing Frenkel are Larry and Tami Cappos, who allege Frenkel reneged on a contract he signed to sell them a home he'd built in Plainfield, according to their attorney, Terri Blanchard. Their lawsuit was filed last November.

Custom Dream Builders was incorporated in October 2004, and its president is Oak Lawn resident Amelia Gomez, according to the Illinois secretary of state's office. Staubus said he was "not at liberty" to discuss Custom Dream's ownership or whether Frenkel is sole owner of the company.

Although they've exchanged a slew of letters over the past several months, lawyers for the Forbergs and Frenkel are nowhere close to hashing out a settlement.

The couple are trying to get back a sizable chunk of the money they paid Frenkel so they can finish their house.

"(The Forbergs) wanted $50,000 back," Staubus said. "We felt that was excessively high."

The Forbergs said that suing Frenkel would cost them thousands of dollars, which they don't have.

"I'm a teacher, and my wife doesn't work," Larry said.

Staubus said he's not looking for a fight in court.

"It doesn't make sense to get into a legal battle," the lawyer said. "That's not the best thing for either party."

Mike Nolan may be reached at
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or (708) 633-5952.

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