GREENFIELD — The idea was to move to Indiana from Michigan so they would be closer to family and friends. Part of the plan was to live with relatives and build a large pole barn for storage.
The best-laid plans of Bob and Lisa Dunkel required them to pay $4,000 up front to a builder named Mark Sellers of Indiana Choice Builders of Fishers, a contractor they found on craigslist.
Sellers was supposed to build a 30-by-30 foot structure behind a relative’s house in the 1100 block of West Walnut Street. Things didn’t turn out as expected when Sellers took the money but never completed project, the family said. Sellers, however, said the whole thing is a big misunderstanding.
Sellers, 45, has been charged by officials from the Hancock County prosecutor’s office with home improvement fraud, a Class A misdemeanor. Now, as the season for home improvement projects approaches, the family and local officials want to warn area residents to be careful about the contractors they hire.
"Unless you get someone you know, or by word of mouth, you really are kind of taking a shot in the dark," said Marie Castetter, the county’s chief deputy prosecutor.
For the Dunkels, who finally found someone else to finish the barn, the experience has been difficult. New to the area last fall, they had trouble finding a contractor to begin with. "We’d been looking for a few months to find somebody and when my husband found him online, we were like ‘finally, finally, we’re going to get this done,’" Lisa Dunkel said.
Sellers came to the house and drew up plans, and took $4,000 of what he said was an $8,000 fee. However, he never finished the job, the family said.
Sellers said that’s not what happened.
"We worked on this job, but the guy told me not to come back," Sellers said. "He didn’t give me the chance to finish the job."
The family said Sellers showed up four times and drilled holes into the ground and put up poles. The problem, the Dunkels said, is that the project wasn’t measured properly, so none of the lumber fit the pole barn kit they’d purchased for the project.
Court records show Sellers made excuse after excuse for not finishing the job, and then asked the Dunkels for more money. But, Sellers said, that never happened, either.
"That is a lie," Sellers said. "I did not ask them for another $2,500."
The family fired Sellers after that and told him to stay off the property. Sellers acknowledges was asked to stay away, but he said he had full intentions of getting the work done despite delays.
Sellers blamed the delays on complications about the barn’s location. He said he told the Dunkels it would be too close to an alley. He said he told them he had to follow city codes and build the barn eight feet from their property line and not eight feet from the alley as the family had requested.
The family ended up hiring a man a few doors down from where they live to finish the barn. He was a construction worker who Sellers had contracted to do the labor on the project.
While the family wants to recover the money it gave the contractor, the Dunkels mostly want other people to know how easily they were deceived.
According to probable cause affidavit in support of the charge against Sellers, the Indiana attorney general’s office is investigating the contractor.
Officials from the Greenfield Police Department, who took the report filed by the family, found five customers who have filed complaints for violations of Indiana’s Home Improvement Contracts Act and the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act against Sellers with the attorney general’s office.
"The thing that piqued our interest was he used a fraudulent address as his business address, and it doesn’t even exist," Castetter said.
Sellers, who was arrested and booked into the Hancock County Jail, was released on a $600 bond. A pretrial conference is set for May. If convicted, he faces fines and up to a year in jail.
Sellers insisted things have just gotten "out of hand" with reports of his work and that he’s innocent of the claim against him by the Dunkels and others.
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The Indiana attorney general offers these tips to consider when hiring a home improvement contractor:
Take your time. Don’t let the contractor rush your decision.
Do research. Know how much you can afford and what you want done.
Contact the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division and the Better Business Bureau for complaint information on contractors you are considering.
Talk to your friends who used this contractor. Did they like his work?
Opt for the local, well-established contractor. Don’t assume that an ad makes the contractor reliable.
Compare bids and services. Be skeptical if the bid is too low. Cheaper is not necessarily better. A contractor with a low price may be inexperienced and unable to finish the work for the amount bid.
Get bids in writing. Does the bid reflect the improvements you discussed? How long will the project take? A detailed, written proposal allows you to shop around.
Is the contractor licensed, bonded and insured? Licensing requirements vary from community to community.
Check with your city or county building department to determine the licensing requirements for your area and if the contractor you are considering is properly licensed, bonded and insured.
Source: Office of the Indiana attorney general
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