Quick update.
Felony warrants were issued. I still don't feel I should give all the details at this point due to the on-going criminal and bankruptcy courts. Nothing has been resolved. Everything is a slow process, including my build.

Bumping this thread after nearly two years. There are so many earlier posts I need to quote. A few posters I need to thank. And possibly an ebook I need to write.

I plan to answer questions and give details when I'm on an actual keyboard. But since I can't sleep I figured I'd go ahead and post.

The original contractor was arrogant enough to see his days in court. After the most stressful week of my life, multiple testimonies, and cross examinations, he was found guilty of a felony. The punishment includes full restitution for my family.

While slow, I have a new found respect for our criminal justice system if you have good honest people elected.

Glad you were able to get that conviction, but is he capable of paying the restitution?

DannyDuberstein said:

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Glad you were able to get that conviction, but is he capable of paying the restitution?

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We received a nice check the day after conviction but it will take quite a bit more to be made whole. I have doubts.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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Your attorney has probably already mentioned it but I didn't see it on the thread. Might take a look at the Texas Construction Trust Funds Act. Civil and criminal remedies for homeowners whose construction funds are taken. In particular, it may be possible to hold the individual(s) who took your money, not just the company, liable. This may be a work around corporate bankruptcy if there are attachable personal assets.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.162.htm

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Ding. Ding. Ding.
There needs to be more precedent set for enforcing this law. Although the law is from the 80s, it's still very unknown. People need to fight to get their counties to enforce.

I had a similar situation happen to me, but when we figured out what was going on we were only in it for about 60k or so. Same situation where he had done some work and would submit a draw but we didn't know he hadn't been paying for materials or labor.

Anyway after a a couple months of him not showing up and working on the house and then ignoring calls I hired a private investigator. Found out the guy was also building homes on the side under a lady's name. Apparently he had both a business and personal relationship with this lady. I was finally able to get him on the phone by using google voice with an area code from his hometown. I told him he had 2 weeks to make us whole or I would file a lawsuit and since he wasn't an LLC I would bring in him, his wife and his lady friend for the deposition with my attorney since I was sure some of my money went to the homes they were building together. We didn't get it all back but had the majority of our money back within 2 weeks.

I'm board certified in business bankruptcy law. If you want to post your contact info I'm happy to take a brief look and discuss for free just to help out a fellow AG in a bad situation.

I have built a few houses over the years, but mainly work in the commercial/residential remodeling sector. The last house we did was a custom that we did in ~ 7 months. The way that I structured it was to build cost plus with hard costs and soft costs being laid out as well as we could. When items where completed and or draws needed to happen, we had the bank disburse the checks direct to the subcontractors and the supply houses. The market was extremely volatile at this time with lumber prices jumping all over. The bank said they had never really done this (paying subs directly) before, but thought it was a good idea for preventing the op's situation. It is 100 % transparent to the customer and the financing bank as to who is being paid what. Just a thought for anyone that this might help.