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Authorities investigate closing of builder

The Sheriff's Office and the county's Consumer Affairs department say Arista Builders has "closed up shop," leaving buyers with half-built homes.

By MELIA BOWIE
Published February 19, 2005

PORT RICHEY - Arista Builders in Port Richey is under investigation by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and Pasco County's Consumer Affairs department.

The inquiries began this week after the local home builder, led by company president Samuel J. Meli, abruptly closed its doors - leaving customers with half-built homes and unanswered questions.

"I'm getting all kinds of calls on Arista Builders," said consumer affairs investigator Dennis Jones. "They're not answering their phone, they're not answering their door. They just closed up shop."

Founded in 2000, the company builds in Pasco, Hernando, north Pinellas and northwest Hillsborough counties.

But in the past month, Arista customers say work stopped on their homes and company officials disappeared.

"It's an active investigation at this time," sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said Friday, noting law enforcement officials received "more than one complaint."

Jones said about six people have contacted him in the last week about Arista, located at 9330 Regency Park Blvd.

Meli's contractor status is listed as "lacking," according to county records. The designation prevents Arista from pulling any new permits in Pasco until Meli presents updated workers' compensation documents.

In the meantime, Arista's customers are on hold.

Ellis Tenenbaum said he and his wife Patty were scouting for a place to build their dream home when they encountered Arista, which owned a lot they liked in Hernando County. In August the couple hired Meli's company to build a 2,300-square-foot home. Completion was supposed to take a year, but six months later Arista only "cleared the slab and firmed up the foundation," said Tenenbaum. "They got a draw from the bank plus what I put down: several thousand dollars."

Believing their house would be finished soon, the Tenenbaums put the Beacon Woods East home on the market. It sold, and now they have 60 days to move out.

"We don't know where we're going to go yet," Tenenbaum said. Calls to Arista and Meli go unanswered. Arista's Regency Park office was closed and its parking lot was vacant this week. Calls by the St. Petersburg Times to Arista and to Samuel Meli were not returned.

His brother Rick Meli, said Arista is having some problems but is trying to fix them. "There's some trouble, and we're trying to get some things sorted out," he said Thursday. "The attorneys need some more time."

The troubles plaguing Arista appear to have surfaced in the past month, say those who have done business with the local builder.

Another Port Richey builder, Accent Custom Homes, said Meli contacted the company not long ago seeking help.

"Arista came to us three or four weeks ago and said: "Can you buy me out?"' said Joanna Panopoulos, who co-owns Accent Homes with her husband, John Vassilagoris.

The couple looked into acquiring Arista, "but from what we saw over there it was a mess, so we stepped back," Vassilagoris said.

Initially, "the deal was we would buy his office for a fair price and then help him with the business. We thought the debt was much less. Then the skeletons started popping out."

But even after the deal fell apart, Accent's owners say Meli told his customers and subcontractors that Accent was buying the troubled company.

At the Pasco Builder Association, executive director Nita Beckwith said this week that she thought a deal was still imminent.

"I had heard that Accent Homes bought them out," she said Wednesday, noting Arista's association "membership lapsed about two months ago."

Now Accent's owners say they are inundated with Arista calls.

"There's like 20 customers in the middle of construction; in the middle of nowhere really. And they (still) have to pay the bank," said Vassilagoris, who is referring them to lawyers.

"It's a sad situation," he said.

Meli's customers are not the only ones with money on the line.

Until Feb. 11 when Accent pulled away from the deal, Joanna Panopoulos said she and her husband were paying Arista's bills.

"He put us in the hole for $14,000," she said, noting payments to two subcontractors and others. "He got us. He got us good. He said his lights were going out so we paid Withlacoochee Electric. We just paid his phone bill."

However, her husband does not think Meli's actions were intentional.

"The owner, he's in bad shape. He feels real bad; he's embarrassed," Vassilagoris said. "He does not know how this happened. I'm pretty sure it was poor management."

Some of Arista's customers are less sympathetic.

Karen Mitchell of Holiday said the builder agreed to do a free room addition for her son Geoffery, who is 22 and has cerebral palsy. That was in March 2003.

Two years after Arista started work on the addition comprised of a bathroom and small living space, it remains stalled, said Karen Mitchell.

The Times wrote a story on the delays in November.

This week "I left a note on his (Meli's) door (at Arista) about how we've been waiting on this and I need to hear from you," she said.

Mitchell said her permits expire by the end of the month.

"I got to get some help here," she said. "I'm paying taxes on this room and I can't even use it. I'm really getting panicked."

In Hudson, Ann Camilliti and her husband said they, too, are waiting for Arista to finish their Spring Hill home.

The couple found Meli through word of mouth and hired him in August. Today the structure of their 2,200-square-foot home is built and the walls are up and painted, but they still lack things like air conditioning, tiles, lights, ceiling fans, a finished pool and bathroom fixtures.

"At the end of this month we're supposed to move in," Camilliti said.

As for Meli, "he's not a bad guy," she said. "I guess he just went into some bad luck."

Arista has a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau, and the company has not filed for bankruptcy. Meli's record as a state-licensed contractor is current and active until August 2006.

"We've had some complaints about Arista over the years but nothing major," said Jones of consumer affairs in Pasco.

He added that "they do have a valid occupational license." So at this point "I'm just kind of waiting for some more information."

So are Meli's customers.

Ellis Tenenbaum said he is meeting with an attorney next week to discuss his options.

"I want out of the contract," he said. "It's kind of hard to deal with someone you can't trust."

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:57:17]