California builders charged $1M for tiny homes now theyre facing 35 felony charges
Two California brothers who promised homeowners affordable backyard homes are now facing a mountain of felony charges after allegedly pocketing more than $1 million from customers.Austin and Colton Paulhus, co-founders of Anchored Tiny Homes, have each been slapped with 35 felony counts after prosecutors accused them of collecting hefty payments for construction projects that were never completed or in some cases, never even started.The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office alleges the brothers collected more than $1 million from customers across 13 projects without performing the promised work or providing materials.Even more shocking, prosecutors claim more than $653,000 was diverted from company accounts to expenses and activities unrelated to construction projects.The brothers each face 33 counts of diversion of construction funds, one count of conspiracy and one count of employee wage theft.Their company’s spectacular collapse left a trail of furious homeowners across California, including elderly residents and families hoping to build backyard homes for aging relatives.Among them was Renee Kumamoto, who reportedly forked over $168,000 for a backyard home intended for her father, who was battling cancer.But just two weeks after she made her final payment, the company shut down before construction had even begun, according to Realtor.com.Another devastated customer, Mariah Dorn, publicly accused the company of taking $266,000 from her elderly parents, leaving them with an unfinished structure and a financial nightmare.“They have scammed my elderly parents out of $266k before I stopped my mom from making another payment,” Dorn wrote in a blistering July 2024 Facebook post.She claimed subcontractors had gone unpaid for six months and were filing liens against her family’s property.“They stopped all communication and we are just left with a shell of a home and out of money,” she wrote.Dorn warned other Californians to steer clear of the company...