Home builders fined $325,000
by LISA A. JOHNSON Lancaster/Depew Editor

Building a dream home turned into a nightmare for a former Clarence homebuyer and his family.

Jim Kelly and his wife, Sandra, were expecting twins in August 2006 when they began building their home. They had sold their previous home and moved into a two-bedroom apartment until the new house was completed.

By December of that year, the twins had arrived, but the new home was still a shell of what it was supposed to be.

The Kellys were the victims of a home builder that would prove to have ripped off hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims across Western New York.

"It's just really sad what he does," Kelly said.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced April 3 that the Buffalo-area custom home builder, Elite Custom Homes Inc., has been put out of business and ordered to pay more than $325,000 in penalties and restitution after repeatedly defrauding customers.

A lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office resulted in a State Supreme Court order by Justice John A. Michalek requiring the owners of Elite Custom Homes Inc., Steven Wisniewski and April L. Januale, to pay $300,000 in restitution and $6,000 in costs. Victims included residents from Depew, West Seneca, Clarence, Orchard Park, Williamsville and Elma, among others.

Wisniewski also was ordered to pay a $25,000 penalty. Both will be barred from the home improvement business unless they file a $500,000 performance bond.

"Today's ruling is a fitting result based upon these individuals' blatant disregard for Buffalo area homeowners," Cuomo said. "These two individuals used the company as a cash machine, bilked homeowners throughout the region and then improperly used the money for personal expenses. Because of this, the dreams of many families to own a custom home instead became nightmares."

According to court documents, Wisniewski and his girlfriend, Januale, went into business in the fall of 2005 as Elite Custom Homes of WNY. They would primarily take deposits from consumers looking to build a new home or improve an existing home and then not perform the work. The pair instead took the money that they claimed would be used to buy materials, such as lumber, doors, brick, etc., and then spent it as their own disposable income, according to court documents.

The money was used for Wisniewski's personal expenses including the couple's groceries, movie tickets, fireworks, veterinary bills, vehicle service, car and insurance payments, credit card and cell phone bills and cable service, representatives of the Attorney General's Office said.

Among the instances of fraud detailed in court documents:

• The couple took $158,400 to build a home for a family and only built a basement, valued at less than $25,000.

• A family submitted an advance payment of $6,800 for a landscaping contract totaling $9,700. Elite Homes did not provide services worth that amount and, in fact, broke four sewer vent pipes, resulting in the family having to pay $11,100 to repair the damage Wisniewski caused and to complete the work he did not do.

• Wisniewski and Januale forwarded $6,500 from a family to buy materials from a supplier, then stopped payment to the company, leading it to threaten to place a lien on the family's home.

Kelly said he was taken for more than $100,000 and also had a lien placed against his property because Wisniewski and Januale didn't deliver on their promises. The nightmare lasted about seven months, during which time lumber and other supply companies called Kelly to find out where their payments were, even though Kelly said Wisniewski had been given the money to make the payments.

"We were left without a home," Kelly said.

After lost time and money, the owner of David Homes bought the Kellys' home, finished it and sold it back to them.

"He didn't have to purchase the home," Kelly said. "We're really appreciative."

Even though an order has been made for restitution, Kelly isn't confident he'll see any repayment.

"He owes people all over the world," Kelly said. "He'll never pay any of it back."

Kelly said the experience has taught him not to rely on word-of-mouth in the future and to do thorough research when making such decisions.

"I just can't believe I got caught," he said. "A lot of people did."