Complaint Review: Lakeside Builders - 1st Trust Mortgage - Residential Appraisal

Lakeside Builders was paid in full, up front, over $50,000, for home improvement work on our home in July 2002. To date, April 2004, they have not come close to finishing the work. The work they did do was "red-tagged" by our local building department, and the probems have never been corrected. This company practices deceptive sales, and home improvement fraud. They also tried to work without the needed local permits and inspections.

The names of the people invovles are: Jason Middleborn, Brian Middleborn, Joe Callahan, Pat Middleborn, Bob Middleborn, Kelly Tunis, and their "builder" named Jayme.

Associated with Lakeside Builders is 1st Trust Mortgage, Valparaiso, IN, and Joe Casey. This company is involved in deceptive loan practices, with Residential Appraisal, Samuel Osika, Merriville, IN.

We have made complaints to the IN Attorney General's office, Division of Consumer Protection, and the BBB. (In Feb. 2004 Lakeside Builders somehow received full membership in the BBB.) (We have been notified that the Attorney General's office, the State of IN, has filed a lawsuit against Lakeside Builders.)

(We have found that the BBB is not a reliable source for accurate, up to date, honest information. They have reported that Lakeside Builders made "good faith efforts to resolve" the complaints we have made about the company, and LSB has never made any attempt to resolve the problems with us.)

The people running Lakeside Builders, and associated with it, consitently make "deceptive" statements concerning the problems.

We invested money in our home which we will be paying back the rest of our lives. We thought this would be a good thing for our whole family. Instead we have received, so far, nearly 2 years of nightmares and hell.

We have everything documented. We have a contract, which Lakeside Builders broke almost immediately after it was signed. we have proof of everything we have written.

We have been told by "authorities" that this company probably doesn't have the money to finish our job.

Why has the BBB given Lakeside Builders membership????

Noreen
South Bend, Indiana
U.S.A.