Former builder Pete Stucky charged after homeowners left with outstanding liens and fauty construction

Former Homebuilder Charged in Bell County

By Natasha Chen, ABC News channel 25, KXXV, 4/16/2010
http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=12327230

BELTON - Former homebuilder Pete Stucky is charged in Bell County for securing a document by deception, the same crime for which he was convicted in Williamson County.

News Channel 25 broke the story last year, of Belton homeowners left with outstanding liens and faulty construction work. It happened under Stucky's now-bankrupt company. Similar problems in Jarrell caused Stucky to be convicted in Williamson County of state jail felonies: securing the execution of documents by deception. State jail felonies can produce prison terms of between six months and two years.

He took out personal loans to pay about $200,000 in restitution to those Williamson County families, and was let out on probation. Now in Bell County, the next step will be having his case reviewed by the Grand Jury.

"After everything was signed, stamped, all like that, approved, all of a sudden here comes all of these liens. So where did these liens come from when they weren't there at the signing?" said Henry Howard, a Belton resident.

Howard's wife is the one whose name is on all the paperwork. She said they have about $1,500 in outstanding liens.

Their neighbor across the street, Terri Reid, has been in touch with News Channel 25 since last May, when she described her liens of thousands of dollars. She also showed the inside and outside of her property; the house is slipping off the foundation, walls are cracking, and the stone used on the exterior is deteriorating, looking as if termites had gotten to it.

Howard said the other houses have similar problems. He said that the house next door to Reid was foreclosed upon, and the roof was caving in.

"We're everyday common people just trying to make a living, trying to live a decent life, and stuff like that. And if we cannot live in a good home the way we choose to, then who can? Who do we turn to, to solve this problem?" Howard said.

So far, Reid is the only owner who has filed a charge against Stucky. But Howard's family may do the same.

"They should make him pay us," he said. "They should make him come back in and do these homes the right way."

Stucky's attorney, Russ Hunt Jr., said that the problem was actually a result of a business partner reneging on his end of the contract.

"Everything was coming along like it should have been, when one of his business partners who was supplying the land, sort of pulled the rug out from under him and refused to perform his end of the contract to provide the lots," Hunt said.

He added that Stucky would take care of whatever obligations he has, "to the best of his ability, and he certainly doesn't want anybody to be disadvantaged by any of his actions."

Hunt said, "Mr. Stucky never intended to swindle anybody, never intended to steal from anybody. What Mr. Stucky intended to do, and was doing, was to build quality, affordable homes for folks." 

[HOT: The following stories may convince you that Stucky had other intentions.]

Homeowners File Complaints Against Stucky

Faulty houses falling off foundations

By Natasha Chen, KXXV, ABC News Channel 25, Waco, 05/27/2009
http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?s=10434169

BELTON - Before last week, few knew that Pete Stucky, a former builder indicted in Williamson County, had built faulty homes in Belton. Since News Channel 25's story aired on May 21 [see below], homeowners in the Wright subdivision of Belton have either filed or are planning to file complaints with the Police Department and with the Texas Residential Construction Commission. If investigators find that the problems merit criminal charges, these will come in addition to the 37 felony counts already against Stucky in Williamson County.

"Indictment 38 is what I hope to see," said Terri Reid, a Belton homeowner. "I'm just going to keep going until I get justice for my home. I'm not going to stop."

Reid and the neighbors to her right and left have cracked tiles and walls, and houses shifting off their foundations. One neighbor said her dogs had been madly pawing at strange places on the carpeted floor, which prompted her to pull up the carpeting. Underneath, she found tobacco spit bottles, food wrappers and t-shirts left by workers.

Reid said that Stucky is not the only one who should be accountable. "The city inspector was supposed to inspect my house all the way through the process. And somewhere along the line, something wasn't inspected, because I wouldn't be having these problems if they did," Reid said.

But Belton building official Rex Robertson said that the entire building process was according to city code. Robertson said he remembers when Stucky and his family met with him to plan out the construction. "He started out, he was telling us he was going to do this, going to do that. And we stopped him and said no, you're going to build to the code."

"When we first went out there," Robertson said of the inspections, "one or two houses got a few red tags. After that, they started building the way it should be, and all the houses were built to code to the best of our inspections."

Stucky's attorney said that the former builder is bankrupt and therefore did not fight the charges against him in Williamson County. Instead, he accepted a lifetime ban from the Texas Residential Construction Commission, making it illegal for Stucky to participate in any fixes to housing problems that may arise in Belton.

His attorney, Bruce Burleson, also said that the commission, the TRCC, used Stucky as a trophy to show the Texas legislature that they had been productive. "The Texas Residential Construction Commission, for whatever reason...tried to use Mr. Stucky as an example, to try to get rid of him, to try to bring his business down."

The state legislature just agreed last week to abolish the TRCC. The agency will cease to exist in about half a year.

In regard to what would unfold if the Bell County District Attorney does press charges against Stucky, Burleson said, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." 

Faulty Houses Falling Off Foundations

By Natasha Chen, KXXV, ABC News Channel 25, Waco, 05/21/2009
http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?s=10406426

BELTON - Former homebuilder Pete Stucky was banned for life from building homes in Texas by the Texas Residential Construction Commission and indicted on 37 counts, ranging from fraud to deception and theft of service. That was in Williamson County, but now Belton homeowners are discovering that their Stucky homes are also falling apart.

Terri Reid, who bought her home just one year ago, said she quickly noticed that her walls are separating, rocks are being eaten away, and the house is shifting off the foundation. In addition to the structural problems, she's left with thousands of dollars in outstanding liens because Stucky did not pay his sub-contractors.

"I couldn't believe that - oh my God - this is the guy that built my house and these are the problems that other people are having and I have that same problem now," Reid said. "I'm upset. Disappointed...just overwhelmed. Really. Overwhelmed because I'm thinking wow, I bought this house and didn't realize there would be all these problems."

Reid said that her neighbor has similar issues, and was told by engineering inspectors that they could not help fix her problems until they've contacted the builder, Pete Stucky. The neighbor also has outstanding leans that prevent her from selling her house.

Not everyone on the street seems to blame Stucky, however. Lon Meeks lives across from Reid and used to work for Stucky's company, Affiliates LLC.

"I felt bad for him, because a lot of people are ganging up against him," Meeks said. There are no issues with his house: "Everything works. There's minor cracks, but you know a house - it'll level. These houses were built fast. You know, you ordered your house, three months later you were in it."

Bonded Builders, the company handling their warranties, said that workmanship problems do require contacting the builder. But at least for Reid's structural complaints, they will send an engineer to take a look.