Roof falls in on Greg Mikesell, a once promising builder

How even good builders can get themselves in trouble and turn bad

Scammed Homeowners Seek Justice

Residents Claim Greg Mikesell Didn't Finish Owed Work

By Brian Mylar, KSAT 12, 02/26/2010
http://www.ksat.com/news/22688885/detail.html

SAN ANTONIO -- He used to build homes, and at one point owned a bar, but lately Greg Mikesell has been spending a lot of time in court.

That is where the KSAT 12 Defenders finally caught up with the former owner of Definitive Custom Homes.

VIDEO: Watch Brian Mylar's KSAT TV Report

Former employees and customers said they are still trying to get Mikesell to pay what they claim he owes them. One of those customers is an octogenarian for whom Mikesell built a home.

"This is a cement brick," said Marie Roach in 2009, pointing to what she said was an inferior product sold to her by Mikesell. Mikesell built her home on Canyon Lake and she said it has been nothing but trouble. In addition to the bad brick and other faulty workmanship, Roach said Mikesell failed to pay contractors, resulting in liens left on her house. She said she cannot sell it with the liens and has filed suit in Comal County.

It's been a similar story for Robert Kukral's elderly father, for whom Mikesell built a home on Lake Medina.

"The paint looks good now, but we had to pay someone to come paint it again," said Kukral, pointing to one of many defects he said Mikesell failed to correct on the house.

Both Kukral and Roach are waiting for justice.

And now the justice they seek may be catching up with Mikesell. He was in Judge Philip Kazen's court last year after being indicted on charges of theft of the elderly, a first-degree felony.

"I am glad any time (I see that) these scam artists are in the system," said Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Susan Reed. She said she intends to prosecute fully anyone scamming people here.

Mikesell also faces civil litigation. He was in civil court on Thursday, after his former architect sued.

"I was his home designer and he owes me $10,000," said Ronald Villarreal, whose case was postponed because Villarreal's lawyer was disqualified.

Despite repeated requests from the Defenders, Mikesell has not answered publicly for any of this. He failed to do so again outside the courtroom.

"I have nothing to talk about at this time," Mikesell said. "Contact my attorney."

Mikesell's attorney, Brian Bellamy, said he had no comment.

One of Mikesell's former customers, however, has gotten some justice. Attorney Bryan Woods got a judgment against some of Mikesell's associates.

"We froze some assets that were owed to Mr. Mikesell and eventually got a small sum of money," said Woods.

A court order allowed the customer to collect about $12,000 out of an estimated half-million-dollar debt owed by Mikesell.

But District Attorney Susan Reed issued a warning as the criminal and civil cases work their way through the system: "Do not scam our citizens here in Bexar County," said Reed.

Mikesell's trial on charges of theft of the elderly is set for May 17.

The news you don't get can hurt like a ____

By Adolfo Pesquera, San Antonio Community Examiner, 08/22/2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-18960-San-Antonio-Community-Examiner~y2009m8d22-The-news-you-dont-get-can-hurt-like-a-?#comments

Greg Mikesell, a local custom homebuilder, got indicted this week on a felony charge of stealing $100,000 from an 81-year-old man.

Mikesell, a young and once cocky entrepreneur, failed to build the house he was contracted to provide.

The San Antonio Express-News, anticipating action from the Bexar County District Attorney's office, ran a lengthy Page 1A feature Wednesday [article above]

It was reported that Mikesell's company, Definitive Custom Homes, was favorably profiled in the newspaper in 2004. The company at that time had no shortage of homebuyers and subcontractors willing to vouch for its good reputation.

But Mikesell had trouble handling success. It looks like he diverted money that should have been dedicated to numerous company projects. Instead, he partied hearty.

It is going to be awhile before he gets over his Las Vegas hangover, and a lengthy jail sentence might be required.

There were a few things the newspaper left out, though. Such as, I was the reporter who wrote that glowing article in 2004, and staff at the newspaper had been aware of problems with Definitive Custom Homes for some time. I only raise those points now because it was always problematic choosing to do business profiles on homebuilders.

When I held the Real Estate Beat, profiling homebuilders came with the turf. But taking a risk on filing positive stories about homebuilders was one of the less savory chores on my plate.

Let me emphasize that not all homebuilders are bad. I found many who did good work. But they operate in an industry that had over the past few decades become too successful at insulating itself from liability.

The 1990s and the age of implied liability gave way to the dawn of the Texas Residential Construction Commission, an agency designed from the start to make it even more impossible for homebuyers to deal with disreputable contractors.

Bad apples found safe harbour amongst the good in an industry that welcomed anybody, did next to nothing to police itself, and has been very good at pulling the teeth out of any potential regulators.

Every time I profiled a homebuilder, I did so with a sense of unease. I worked to vet them, reviewing their histories and getting third-party testimonials. But I knew that each story could come back to haunt me.

Fortunately, few of them did. But Mikesell was the downside. More than a year ago, one of his customers called me.

He had been cheated. He knew of others in the same situation. He was angry almost as much at me as at Mikesell.

"You wrote this glowing story on this young man. He uses that in his marketing. You led me to believe I could trust him," he said.

Not to be cold-hearted, but I was not on the Real Estate Beat by then. I forwarded his complaint to the people who were.

Why the media did not out Mikesell sooner, I cannot say. I do not have the facts.

If I am to speculate - and here I go - it has long been my experience in these matters that editors are reluctant to accuse business people of criminal wrong-doing unless they have the cover of a public record. And by that I mean the editor's reasoning goes like this:

Once a law enforcement entity tells us this one's out of line, then we'll say what they said.

I can see where Mikesell's victims would be critical of the media's snail's pace. There was enough information about him lying around for the media to come after him sooner.

We should have. As for my part in all this, I am sorry. 

Roof falls in on promising builder

How even good builders can turn bad

By John MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News, 08/20/2009. Staff Writer Jennifer Hiller contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Roof_falls_in_on_a_promising_builder.html

Not too long ago, a bright and prosperous future seemed in store for Greg Mikesell, an up-and-coming builder of expensive custom homes around San Antonio for whom clients and glowing testimonials were plentiful.

“He built us a nice house at a price we were able to spend. He was energetic, enthusiastic and trying to make it work. He did his best,” recalled Steve Place, who in 2003 chose Mikesell to build a house in Timberwood Park.

In a flattering profile published in the San Antonio Express-News the next year, the young builder talked about his focus on quality and design, and how he had cobbled together savings and credit card debt - Horatio Alger style - to finance his first home.

Soon, Mikesell was building high-end homes around the area and employing a loyal lineup of subcontractors.

“He was great. He had like 20-30 homes on the ground at any time,” said Mike Zinna, owner of MRZ Plumbing, a friend and longtime subcontractor.

“And he did quality product. I would have bought a home from him. He was trustworthy,” said Zinna, who estimates he plumbed about 100 of Mikesell’s houses.

But a couple of years ago, something went catastrophically wrong, and last year, Mikesell’s company, Definitive Custom Homes, folded under a wave of customer complaints, lawsuits and demands for payment from subcontractors.

[HOT: Anyone can become a builder in Texas. Even with the TRCC in place, the only requirement was to be at least 18 years old, authorized to work in Texas, and “trustworthy.” There is nothing to ensure that builders are competent or have the business and financial skills necessary to succeed. Homeowners are hurt as a result. It's too bad that this guy got himself in financial trouble when proper education could have helped him prevent that. And builder licensing with a surety bond for each home, if required by Texas law, would have helped the people who hired him. Without insurance bonding, even if they win their lawsuits, they can't collect from a builder who is bankrupt and in jail.]

Three homeowners sued Mikesell, claiming shoddy construction, unfinished homes and theft of construction funds.

Creditors - including his painting, concrete, tile, framing, roofing and plumbing subcontractors - claim they are owed several hundred thousand dollars in unpaid bills.

Altogether, judgments of about $700,000 are on file in Bexar County.

Mikesell’s subsequent foray into the entertainment business as majority owner of The Back Porch, a bar on Stone Oak Parkway, also stalled when the business closed this summer.

And looming far more ominously is a criminal probe of alleged financial misconduct by Mikesell.

“He’s under investigation at this time. The possible charges would be theft and theft by check,” said First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg, who declined further comment.

Contacted last week, Mikesell, 35, declined to be interviewed, but he agreed to respond to questions sent by e-mail about the failure of Definitive Custom Homes, and the allegations made against him by former clients, associates and subcontractors.

In a one-page statement, Mikesell apologized to those harmed by what he termed, his “poor management” of his former business and personal life.

Noting that his misconduct has cost him both his marriage and livelihood, he said he no longer uses drugs or gambles.

And, he wrote, he is negotiating with the Bexar County district attorney’s office to resolve any potential criminal issues. He attached a photocopy of a restitution check for $36,000 sent Friday to the district attorney.

“I never set out to intentionally harm anyone, and will continue to take ownership and responsibility for what my actions have done,” he said in closing.

Wheeler-dealer

Those recent efforts notwithstanding, these days when people give testimonials about Mikesell, they use words like con man, cheat and a man without a conscience.

“He built my house and cost me a half-million,” said Michael Alisanski, who sued Mikesell last year over numerous problems with an $800,000 house in The Dominion.

“He put the wrong roof on my house, we had extensive water damage, my mahogany wood floors were ruined, my drainage is screwed up and I never got a warranty on the house,” Alisanski said.

Despite winning a judgment of $471,110, Alisanski said he has yet to collect a penny.

Frank Kukral, an 85-year-old retiree, claims in his lawsuit that Mikesell simply vanished in March 2008 after receiving a final draw of over $100,000, leaving a half-finished house at Medina Lake and threats of liens from unpaid subcontractors.

Ultimately, Kukral paid off the subcontractors and finished the house with his own money, according to his son, Robert Kukral. He said his father collected only $11,000 of the $104,000 judgment he got against Mikesell.

“I think Mikesell planned it. He saw that cash flow was a problem. He knew he was going down, so I think he tried to get as much cash as he could, then he canned his company and opened a bar,” Robert Kukral said.

Other customers and subcontractors who say they were wronged never filed suit.

“When you are a widow woman, there’s no one to look after you, and that Greg Mikesell has really done me in,” said Maria Roach, 81, who in 2006 hired him to build her retirement home on Canyon Lake.

But the house had problems ranging from faulty grading to inferior brick to defective tiles to window leaks, Roach said. After spending $10,000 of her own money to fix some of the problems, and paying Mikesell in full, she said she still has a lien from Definitive Custom Homes on her house.

Among the subcontractors who were left in the lurch, Quality Roofing of Boerne and Palacios Masonry have sued, together winning judgments of more than $120,000.

High-roller lifestyle

According to several close associates, the reason for Mikesell’s spectacular failure is hardly a mystery. The early success as a builder and the money and attention it brought went to his head, and he got swept up in the “rock star” lifestyle, complete with fancy cars and expensive junkets to Las Vegas, they said.

Ky Shaffer, 37, who was a member of the same fraternity at the University of Texas at San Antonio and later joined Mikesell in a homebuilding venture, said Mikesell always has played by his own rules.

“He was always a go-getter and a hard worker, but he was one of these types who was always cheating and cutting corners,” said Shaffer, who cited a rather trivial episode from college days to illustrate the point.

[HOT: He cheated and cut corners because he could. He could because there's no builder accountability or oversight in Texas.]

“Once he came over to my house and tried to get four free tires. He actually took a hammer and some nails, and flattened all four of his tires, and then tried to get free ones from Discount Tire,” he said.

“He told them he had run over a box of nails, but he was so stupid he had pounded them into the sidewalls and they said no way,” Shaffer said.

Others said Mikesell’s reckless appetite for high living hastened his downfall.

“You can mess around with drugs, you can drink, you can gamble and you can like women, but you can’t do all four and keep afloat,” said Zinna, a former friend and subcontractor, who joined Mikesell on pleasure jaunts to Las Vegas.

“He was happy-go-lucky. Always flashing money and trying to be the center of attention. It’s fun to hang around with someone like that in Vegas, but his gambling was extreme. I don’t like to lose. He didn’t care,” Zinna said.

[HOT: The lack of accountability attracts builders with this personality. Texas, with Rick Perry as Governor and Greg Abbott as Attorney General, lets Builders who steel millions from homeowners live like kings while the guy who steels $50 from a 7-11 store goes to jail. Go figure.]