GRAY, Maine — A couple in Gray say they’re out more than $130,000 after a contractor closed up shop in the middle of a project.
Tim and Kelly Phinney say they had big plans for their home in Gray.
“The girls wanted to have a dance studio above the garage and I wanted a breezeway,” Kelly Phinney says. In July the couple chose to have the work done by Maine Contractors Group, LLC, owned by Lance Baker.
“We had done our due diligence as far as looking at past work he had done, his crews seemed great,” Kelly said.
The Phinneys say they signed a contract and put down a third of the money. Just about a month later, their other property, a camp near Moosehead Lake, burned down, so they decided to have Maine Contractors Group work on that property, too. Over the course of the fall, Kelly says they put down enough money to cover two-thirds of both projects.
Kelly says work started on the garage in Gray this month. After eight days, she says the crews stopped showing up.
“That just seemed kind of odd,” Kelly says.
The next week, she says she got a text from contractor Lance Baker saying he had to close his doors.
“Basically saying I am so sorry, there are no words to describe this, you’re going to need a lawyer,” Kelly says.
CBS 13 tried to get answers from Baker Monday, first by phone, and then in person. Baker didn’t answer us or his door. We also reached out to his attorney, who declined to comment.
“Here’s what we do know,” Kelly Phinney says. “That he has $140,000 of our money, and that’s what we have to show for it.”
The Phinneys say they have sent a complaint to the Attorney General’s office and hope others do too.
“He basically took our money, said he was going to do something with it and never did,” Kelly says.
The Attorney General’s office says they have received a handful of calls regarding Maine Contractors Group and want to hear from anyone else who has done business with the company.