Arrest Warrant Issued For Florida Homebuilder

The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Florida prosecutors say they have obtained an arrest warrant for Joseph Pufta, the chief executive of Avalon Homes, a homebuilder that reportedly "[c]ollapsed last fall, leaving 50 homes unfinished and dozens of home buyers ... saddled with mortgages for homes they may never be able to finish building."

According to the article:

• "Authorities say Avalon took hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks for work that was never completed. And they say subcontractors were never paid for work done on dozens of homes, causing them to levy liens. Assistant State Attorney Kate Wallace said Pufta will be charged with 20 felony counts of misappropriation of construction funds and one count of grand theft. More charges could be filed if more families come forward, she said."

While other builders have gone "belly-up" with the downturn in Southwest Florida's building industry, it is believed that Pufta could be the first homebuilder in the area to face criminal charges.

For more, see Builder left homes undone; CEO faces arrest.

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In a related story, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that "The contractor who allowed Avalon Homes to use his building license says he had no idea the company was leaving its customers broke and homeless."

Based on the reported facts in the article, contractor James Leake, in effect, "rented" his contractor license to Avalon Homes for $1,000 per home site to build houses under his license. Reportedly, the city of North Port, Florida issued 92 building permits to Avalon Homes under Leake's license.

For more, see Builder costs contractor his license.

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For story update, see Avalon home builder is booked on charges ("The former head of now-defunct Avalon Homes is charged with 20 felony counts of misapplication of construction funds and one felony count of grand theft. [...] According to an arrest report released Wednesday, Avalon Homes took "several withdrawals" of money from Schaller's construction loans "and failed to complete the work that these withdrawals were designed to pay for.").

For other posts on builders accused of stiffing customers & subs, go here and go here. contractors stiff subs customers zeta