I gave my home builder $110k. He declared bankruptcy. How do I get my money back?

 In RealEstate

In March of 2023, I signed a contract with a builder for his company to build me a custom home. I closed on a $650k construction loan for this home with a relatively small regional bank in January 2024. Between December 2023 and January 2024, I gave the builder $110k from personal cash reserves and the construction loan to start construction on the new build. This is in NY state. The $110k was to cover site work (on a large, wooded, and rocky property), building the foundation, digging a well, down payments to contractors, some materials, and installing a septic system. I gave the builder the $110k in installments. About $90k of the $110k I gave him is from the construction loan. Construction has not started on the home. The value of the land is $175k, and I own the land outright.

The builder notified me today via email that his company is filing for bankruptcy and closing. He did not specify which type of bankruptcy.

I now suspect that the builder may have known that his small business was in financial distress when he took my money. I suspect this because, in retrospect, he previously implied that he may have been ensconced in legal action from a former job. Also, his communication with me has been extremely delayed since I closed on the construction loan in January and he missed the scheduled build start date in January.

FWIW, before signing a contract with this builder, we met in person, the bank performed its own due diligence on the builder, I confirmed the builder and his company had no public blemishes against them (like prior bankruptcies), I contacted three references, and I visited an in-progress build of his (that has since been completed successfully). This builder is a small business. He does ~2-3 builds per year and had been in business since prior to the pandemic.

What should I do now? What are my options for recouping the $110k?

submitted by /u/Elkyrie
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