LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — Many people are still wondering who has their money, after saying they were burned by a former Lee's Summit contractor that is now declaring bankruptcy.
"What you have for your $116,000 is a house that you can't live in. A house with no kitchen, no living room, no dining room. It's a huge mess," Leawood homeowner Pat Paulsen said.
Paulsen hasn't lived in his new house for nearly a year. He had to hire new contractors because he says his previous contractors, Building Pro, walked out on him in January. He hired them last July.
Building Pro's former owner, Mike Ross, told Paulsen and others in the beginning of January he'd sold the company, but that the new buyer backed out.
"Other people, he was taking their money in December so he knew full well that he had no intention of doing any work," Paulsen said.
At least 19 other families on both sides of the state line are in the same boat as Paulsen, collectively paying nearly $400,000 to Building Pro for projects that were either unfinished or never started.
Some, including Paulsen, paid partially with credit cards and are still in the process of getting that money back.
The Missouri Attorney General and Johnson County District Attorney are investigating.
Mike Ross is declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Some clients got a notice in the mail for an April 19 creditor meeting in which a bankruptcy trustee will question Ross under oath.
Paulsen and many other clients are planning to attend the meeting.
"I don't think it's fair that someone takes $10,000, $20,000 from someone and is able to walk off and declare bankruptcy. So hopefully the judge agrees with me and says it's not right," Paulsen said.
Mike Ross did not respond to our requests for comment.
