Colter Construction INC

Mr. Babbie clearly lost interest in finishing our house once we closed. I distinctly remember him telling us while the house was being built that his customers rarely generated even one item on a punch list. He flew through the walk through with us on 3/18/10 and we came up with a list of 16 items. Since he was not paying his sub-contractors and suppliers on a timely basis, they were slow to respond to issues on our punch list and we could tell there was dissatisfaction of their part working for Babbie. The corporate strategy was to politely apologize for work that was not getting done but meanwhile things did not get done. For instance, I have a string of 5 e-mails related to shutters and a shutter pin which was not delivered with the shutters. I have 7 e-mails questioning the fact our ground was not hydroseeded despite the fact it was specifically called for in the contract. Instead of a seeded lawn, we had a crabgrass lawn compliments of the soil that had been spread to raise the grade of the house. By 8/6/10, services for the development such as lawn care, fountains in the pond, care of the pond waters and sprinkler service ceased despite that fact we had payed Babbie a yearly HOA fee of $400 at closing. In October, the 15 street lights were shut off by Delaware Electric Coop because Babbie had failed to pay the electricity. When it was clear after 8/6/10 that Babbie had no interest in sustaining Sandstone and the four homeowners he had duped, I implored him personally and his attorney to come clean with us about the status of Colter/Sandstone. We found more about what was going on through his debtors (sub-contractors and suppliers) and the bank who held his finanancing than from him personally. What a stand-up guy, eh? Most recently, I sent Babbie a certified letter on 3/15/2011 regarding work that still needed to be done under the one year warranty provided and to no one's surprise, Babbie has not responded. The sub-contractors who did the work will understandably not perform the work because they are owed money by Babbie.He has $532,000 in unsecured debt on this prohect despite $1,287,000 in revenue from the sale of 4 homes from 8/09 to 6/10. Based on his history, he cannot be trusted to pay suppliers and sub-contractors who do work for him. This clearly puts any home that you have him build at risk to liens, He also failed to provide any of the 4 homeowners in Sandstone with documentation that there were no liens against our homes, an apparent violation of Delaware state law. Babbie has re-surfaced under the business name Colter Homes. Anyone entering any business arrangement with this individual should be fully aware of his past unscrupulous business practices. I wouldn't let this man build a dog house.

In June of 2010 I wired a home, lot 26 in the Sandstone developement in Ellendale off Smith road. I submitted an invoice on June 13, 2010. As of October 17, 2010 I have not been paid one dime. I have spoken to the owner Terrence Babbie on several occations, I have documented our phone calls and have caught him lying and contradicting himself more than several times as he tried to stall any payments while he planed his bankruptcy protection, and yet as of just recently he told me that he is indeed filing for bankruptcy and already has a new corporation formed so that he can continue to do business. He has made an effort to try and get the bank financing the project to pay his debt to all the sub contractors 100% for lot 26. However I was informed that the bank refused, and I believe he has been paid 71% in draws for a construction loan. He has recently counter offered with a 34% settlement that he still thinks the bank will pay for him, the bank is in process of foreclosure on the developement, I cant see the bank paying any of his debt for him, he must think I'm an idiot or something