Complaint Review: Rau Builders

I am really happy for Castro, W Saenz and Perry--you have been blessed!  We decided to use Rau Builder because we needed our barndo built quickly, and Ray Rau promised that he could have it done in 3-4 months.  We met Jeanne out at the site of a barndo which was almost completed and it looked like a very nice job--probably the home of one of the "satisfied customers".  What we did not do is go by the company site to verify that they were a legitimate business--our bad.

We gave Rau Builders a down payment and earnest money in late February 2014 with the anticipation that our barndo would be built by late June.  After several calls and emails to both Ray & Jeanne over the next 2 months, the concrete slab was finally poured in late April.  We were so excited--FINALLY, our barndo was getting started. Ray kept assuring us that despite delays, we would have our barndo built by the end of June.  At the beginning of July, a skeleton frame was put up and Ray promised that by September the barndo would be complete. 

By September, the barndo living area was framed in and Ray promised that by October, the barndo would be complete. Is there a pattern here?  By October the living quarters were partially enclosed and the trusses were up.   By mid December, part of the metal was on the building.  During this entire time period, we were invoiced for labor and materials as the work finally! occurred and we paid promptly because we were afraid that any delay on our part would mean more delay on the building. 

In late December, we sent Rau Builders a letter stating that they were in default of the contract and that we expected our down payment, earnest money and a return of the payment for services that had been invoiced, but not provided (ie completion of the metal siding).  Ray had also promised to pay for my apartment rental and the rental of a storage unit because the building was not complete in the timeframe he promised.  It came to more than $20,000.  No response from the Rau's, which was not surprising, because they had stopped answering our calls months ago except for when they wanted more money!  Then we got a bonus--the contractors who had done the electricity, plumbing, and metal work contacted us to be paid because Rau Builders would not answer their calls either.

We ended up paying those contractors--add that to the $20,000! and ordering more materials.  With the help of those contractors and our own labor, we are finishing the barndo ourselves. WHAT A LEARNING EXPERIENCE in so many ways!  We are not wealthy people, and the $20,000 + is a lot of money for us.  We have kept all the emails and photos from this project in case criminal charges are filed against Rau Builders.  If I had read the first report back in January 2014, we would not have hired them.  I'm sure they have to finish SOME homes in order to show them to potential customers, but there is a trend here of unfinished contracts.  The stress and aggravation of pleading to have work done, ANY work over the past year is really not worth it--if you are in the middle of a Rau Builders project and any of this sounds familiar to you, CUT YOUR LOSSES NOW.  We have forgiven the Rau's but we felt compelled to write this report so that others could be warned.