The old saying goes: If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. In Texas, it needs an addendum: Don’t count on the state to help you get your money back.
A number of Texans who wanted to build “barndominiums” to grab a piece of country life at an affordable price have learned this painful lesson. Star-Telegram reporter Jess Hardin recently detailed heartbreaking losses suffered by some would-be barndo buyers who gave builders tens of thousands of dollars in cash, only to be left with an incomplete building, an empty slab or nothing at all.
Buyers often pay cash because banks won’t make loans to construct barndos. So, it’s a classic case of unscrupulous conduct slipping through the cracks of a low-regulation regime. The biggest chasm is the lack of licensing for general contractors, meaning that when a builder messes up or commits fraud, there’s no go-to agency for Texans to seek relief.
