WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A Colorado couple says they're on the hook for two home loans after a contractor took their money and left the job unfinished.
Amanda and Mason Chambers wanted to build a new home on a piece of family property. They had a baby on the way and wanted to complete the project in time for their wedding.
Chambers said they went to a home and garden show where they met Tim Knight with Colorado Construction Company.
"He said all the right things, I guess," Amanda Chambers said.
They hired Knight for the job shortly after meeting him, and she said he promised to finish the home in a year.
"We broke ground and everything seemed to be cruising along until we got to concrete," Chambers said.
As progress slowed on the build, Chambers said the house was the last thing on her mind. Her son was 4 months old when he had his first seizure. They didn't know what was wrong and spent extended periods of time at Children's Hospital Colorado.
Chambers said she started to get suspicious, but she tried to quiet her doubts.
"We’re in the ICU, there’s no way he can do this to us, and he did," Chambers said. "We broke."
Chambers and her husband would later confront Knight to ask him what was going on.
"He started saying, 'Well, we ran out of funds, and I’m trying to shuffle things around so we can order up the rest of what’s needed,'" Chambers said.
She didn't understand how he could possibly run out of money when they took out a construction loan in order to pay for the project. She said Knight started ignoring their calls.
Then, they sent him a letter of termination.
"After that, we didn’t hear from him again," Chambers said.
Contact Denver7 attempted to track down Knight by using a previous address that was once associated with the business. After asking a man seen in the garage at that home if he was Knight, he replied that he wasn't.
When Chambers saw the video, she confirmed the man in the garage was Knight and he lied. Contact Denver7 then called him on the phone and asked him to explain what happened with the new build for the Chambers and the money they had given him.
"Oh no, I have proof of every penny. I have proof of it, they’re just trying to get money. I bought all the materials. It was delivered," Knight said.
Chambers said the basement was completed when they terminated Knight. She said he also delivered a pile of lumber.
"I do not owe them any money. They will not see a penny from me," Knight said.
A Colorado court begs to differ. The Chambers sued and won a judgment for approximately $425,000.
"It is what it is. They terminated me, they breached the contract," Knight said.
Contact Denver7 has learned about other cases involving Knight and Colorado Construction Company. An attorney who is representing a couple involved in another lawsuit said his clients paid Knight about $16,000 for a home improvement project. The attorney said he dropped off $5,000 worth of materials and never came back.
Additional court cases show various complaints against Knight, like failing to complete a bathroom remodeling project to the tune of $5,000. In another case, a man said he paid Knight $37,000 for incomplete and defective work.
"Heaven forbid he get a hold of another new couple and take their home right out from underneath them," Chambers said.
A spokesperson for the Weld County District Attorney's Office said they have been in contact with law enforcement partners, and the case has been re-assigned to a new detective for additional investigation.
After the Chambers terminated Knight, their story got out through family and friends. Another contractor agreed to finish their home for free if they purchased the necessary materials, but they ran out of money.
"We had to pull out another loan," Chambers said. "We have two loans for the house that essentially doubled what we had budgeted for our mortgage."
She said it feels impossible to make ends meet.
"My husband is trying so hard," Chambers said. "God bless him. He is such an amazing man. He works in the oil field eight days straight, and he has to get another job, so he will zero days off. He will be working every day. He won’t be home with his son."
Every month she dreads opening up the mail. Now, they're stuck paying for two loans and left wondering where that money went.
"At the very least, we would just like to live a life where our only worry is our son’s condition and not our home as well," Chambers said.
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