Katie Lucas’s San Leandro backyard is supposed to have the grandparents’ new “tiny home” by now. Instead, she has just a shell of a house.
“It should be a finished home,” she said, sobbing. ”With my mother-in-law and my grandma here.”
Katie hired and started paying Anchored Tiny Homes in 2022. “We’ve paid $211,000 so far,” she said. But this April, work stalled. And now?
“They are at a complete halt,” Lucas said.
Katie says subcontractors told her that ATH stopped paying them.
“That’s when I lost it,” she said, “Because when we were invoiced, we paid [ATH] right away.”
Katie says she questioned Anchored Tiny Homes, but it stopped communicating.
Local
Customers unite online
So, she shared her story on Facebook and created a group called “Scammed by anchored tiny homes.” Other angry customers came out of the unfinished woodwork.
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“I just feel so cheated,” said Girija Subramanya in the South Bay.
“They have not been transparent about what’s going on,” said Alan Miller in Oakland.
“I don’t know where my money went,” said Maria Djapounova in Walnut Creek. Djapounova says workers stopped showing up to her home two months ago. Despite paying $109,000, so far, her ADU is barely more than studs.
“We’ve paid more than 50% of the amount we were supposed to pay them, and as you can see, my ADU isn’t even 50% done,” she said.
Alan Miller in Oakland faces a similar bind.
“We basically had a large plywood box in our backyard. And nothing more,” he said.
Miller calculates his family pre-paid Anchored Tiny Homes $80,000 for work that no one did.
"For us, it’s just catastrophic,” he said. “They haven’t told us where our money went.”
More money, less (or no) work
Down in Cupertino, Girija Subramanya explains what she has to show for her money: “Nothing. Zero.”
Subramanya says she paid $32,000 for designs and permits that stalled.
“I just want my money back,” she said. “I’m so pissed off.”
NBC Bay Area talked with other homeowners in Newark, Redwood City, Pleasant Hill, Saratoga, San Jose, and Hayward who tell similar stories.
“We’re all holding the bag,” Miller said
The Contractors State License Board confirmed for NBC Bay Area that it is investigating. CSLB says it identified nine consumer complaints, so far, where a “probable violation has occurred.” And, “if proven would present a risk of harm to the public.”
The customers’ Facebook group suggests more angry people in and around Sacramento.
We contacted Anchored Tiny Homes. It did not respond. Customers shared recent messages in which CEO Colton Paulhus told them he was “finalizing deals with investors.” He wrote: “we have no intention of leaving any jobs unfinished or any contractors unpaid.”
History of failure
Anchored Tiny Homes is based in Sacramento. In a now-removed YouTube video, CEO Paulhus says “it’s a family business. It’s me, my dad, and my brother.”
In his now-removed YouTube podcast, called “The Visionaries Table,” Paulhus has said he previously headed six failed businesses. But, he said Anchored Tiny Homes was very successful.
“I can tell you right now: a $100 million dollar business,” he said in an episode.
Customers heard him.
“I have a lot of questions,” said Subramanya.
The many homeowners we spoke with fear Anchored Tiny Homes has sunk.
“I want to know where my money went,” said Djapounova.
“Is it all gone?" asked Lucas.
They see at least 100 million reasons for regulators and law enforcement to follow the money.
“At least investigate them,” Subramanya said.
“They have taken money and run,” Lucas said.
So, now what?
Miller, an attorney, said he’s looking for accountability.
“I hope the owners of this company will have to account for what happened to this money,” Miller said. “Whether it was recklessness or negligence on their part. Or was it something worse?”
Some people, like Miller, are resuming work -- by hiring a new contractor and basically paying for some stuff again. Other families can’t and are just stalled. A few folks, like Djapounova, told us subcontractors are threatening to put a lien on their home if they don’t pay the invoices they say Anchor Tiny Homes didn’t pay.
If you were an Anchored Tiny Homes customer, you can share your story with the state. Do that online at cslb.ca.gov. The complaint button is on the homepage, third circle from the right.
You can also share your story with NBC Bay Area Responds.
