In the wake of natural disasters and foreclosures, business is on the rise for homebuilders - but can you trust your general contractor?

MORRO BAY, CA, UNITED STATES, April 18, 2014 /EINPresswire.com/ -- After his dream home was destroyed by fire, author David J. Bernard hired a trusted friend as his contractor to rebuild his new home. That decision would lead to the beginning of a nightmare that included faulty workmanship, structural failures, code infractions, inferior materials, and fraudulent use of funds, and which destroyed his dream of rebuilding.

Not only did the friendship end, Bernard hired a lawyer to attempt to recapture the funds he was defrauded of and filed a lawsuit, which led to endless legal and financial troubles. Although the contractor was found guilty of fraud, and was ordered to pay a judgment of more than four million dollars, the author has not been able to collect. As the laws are currently written, this type of fraud is a civil matter, not criminal, so the criminal contractor goes free, able to continue conning others.

Download a free copy of Betrayed: The True Story of a Trusted Friend's Fraud, Deceit, and Betrayal from Amazon from April 19 - April 22, 2014 by visiting http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HWVQRKW.

The author is far from alone in his ordeal; similar cases are occurring throughout the United States. The average defrauded homeowner does not have the resources to begin a drawn-out legal battle, making it easy for unscrupulous contractors and homebuilders to walk away, leaving the owner with insurmountable debt. Even Spike TV’s new, non-scripted original series, “Catch A Contractor,” aims to finally turn the tables on shady contractors. Host Adam Carolla serves as a vigilant watchdog to homeowners who have been cheated by a contractor and left with an unfinished disaster.

Betrayed is both a cautionary tale and a call-to-action — for the protection of law-abiding homeowners and the kind of legislative change that will make this type of fraud by homebuilders a criminal offense.

About the Author:

David J. Bernard was born in upstate New York. He earned a master's degree in finance and business in southern California. In 1987, he founded the Sono Italiano Corporation, a manufacturing and distribution company of the True Sun Dried Tomato® in California. In 1989, he moved the company to Texas, sold it in 2013 and has since retired.

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Tags: True crime, mechanic’s lien, lien waiver, homeowner protection, construction lien, faulty workmanship, construction draw

Brian Schwartz
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