Metro Home Builders Inc. files for Ch. 7 bankruptcy; customers in limbo

A home builders group goes bankrupt, and their downfall is leaving customers in limbo.

The bankruptcy filing shows that Metro Home Builders Inc. had nearly 60 construction contracts uncompleted.

An attorney WINK News spoke to said that customers should be expecting a letter in the mail in a few days.

The letter outlines the next steps, the most important one being filing a proof of claim.

Former client Rosa Paz Vieira was so close to having her dream retirement home. Instead…

“No landscaping, no septic, no driveway, no irrigation, no vegetation removal, no ac units, no toilets, no hardware,” Viera said.

For four months, nobody came to work on her home.

“They kept ignoring our emails. Nobody would ever reply to anything. So, we went to the main office, and that moment we were confronted with a new owner saying Metro Home Builders is no longer in business. They have sold their property,” Viera said.

Viera had just one of the nearly 60 construction contracts that have now been left in limbo.

“We’re about 65-70% complete,” Viera said.

Metro Home Builders closed up shop and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

“People are gonna get pennies on the dollar, if anything,” Viera said.

Viera is out about $160,000.

The petition for bankruptcy in this case reports over $3.3 million in unsecured claims.

If you’re owed some of that money, or a house, how can you ensure you get it?

“There’s something called a proof of claim that needs to be,” said Ryan Really, real estate and bankruptcy attorney.

That is due October 23. You can do it on the bankruptcy court’s website, but it really says that you probably need a lawyer.

“Bankruptcies take two years,” Really said.

Even at the end of all that, if Metro Home Builders’ is dissolved…

“Then that’ll be the end of the case and most people are going to be out of any money that they advanced to,” Really said.

Those who are listed as creditors in this case will also have the opportunity on September 12 to attend a meeting where they can ask a representative of Metro Home Builders any questions.

Really said the most common one he’d expect is “where’s my money?”

The representatives’ answers will be sworn testimony.

If you were impacted, Contact WINK News via email at Tips@winknews.com and let us know if you were a customer of Metro Home Builders.

You can also call WINK News at 239-344-5000 and say you were a customer of Metro Home Builders.