KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Ross, the former owner of now-defunct contracting company Building Pro, ran from our cameras after his bankruptcy hearing Monday.
Ross is filing for chapter seven bankruptcy. A trustee asked him questions under oath about his bank deposits, transfers, and purchases he made before and after he filed.
At least 18 of his former clients say he should not be allowed to declare bankruptcy, saying he owes them hundreds of thousands of dollars for work that was not started or never finished.
Three former clients asked him questions at the hearing, wondering why he didn't just make it right.
Ross said he was in negotiations in November 2017 to sell the business for a little over $103,000 to another man, but that the man backed out in early January, leaving Ross in financial ruin.
The trustee, bankruptcy attorney Jill Olsen, asked Ross under oath if money ever changed hands between the two men. Ross answered no. He couldn't answer her question as to why the sale didn't consummate.
"How do you sell a business with no money changing hands?" asked Dave Bodling, who is one of the former clients who was left with an unfinished basement.
He paid over $16,000 for the project, for which he says only one worker ever showed up.
"[Ross] said he signed a contract to sell the business on January 5, but yet he collected a check for $8,500 from us on January 5 and that money was never transferred to the person who was buying the business, so I don't see how that's not fraud," Bodling said.
Another client, Pat Paulsen, has it the worst out of all the clients. He paid $116,000 for a home remodel that was abandoned in January, when Ross and his team told their clients the business had been sold.
The last time 41 Action News went to Paulsen's house in April, it was unlivable.
Paulsen had to hire more contractors and pay more money.
"It's not easy to find someone that's willing to come in and pick up where someone else left off and deal with the problems they left," Paulsen said.
He might finally be able to move in in a couple weeks — a year after he got involved with Building Pro.
"I'm still not happy. All this money, it's crazy. Time. You have no idea," Paulsen said.
He is still disputing the charges with his credit card companies.
In 2016, Building Pro took a $30,000 loss. Olsen asked Ross why he then continued to purchase various work vehicles and spend $100,000 on advertising.
"I assumed we were doing great," Ross responded, saying business got slow at the end of the year.
Ross took out two large loans, one totaling $140,000 and the other totaling $50,000 to pay off debts and expenses.
Olsen also asked Ross why he used a business debit card to take a personal trip to Colorado, citing his bank activity.
Ross said he was essentially paying himself and he recorded the Colorado transactions as payments to himself.
Ross was never set up in the business payroll system as an employee; he said he would take draws and then make a record of it.
Olsen requested he turn over bank statements from business and personal accounts, plus statements from bank accounts he and his wife recently opened.
He is still working as an independent contractor.
Ross owes money to 87 businesses and people. He danced around the question when Olsen asked if his former clients are listed as creditors because the work wasn't completed.
"Mr. Ross seems like he has a selective memory when it comes to his business. A lot of 'I don't knows,' a lot of 'I don't recalls' and that type of thing," Bodling said.
41 Action News has reached out to Ross on multiple occasions for an interview on camera. He and his attorney denied our request on Monday.
The trustee will look over bank statements to see if they match up with Ross's claims and his clients's and set another hearing date.
A judge will decide if Ross can discharge his debt or not.
