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Hot on home builder's trail

The embattled owner of CCI can leave town but shaking his troubles will likely be a lot harder.

By JAMES THORNER
Published February 17, 2007

Jesse Battle III is dismantling the St. Petersburg home building business that brought grief to hundreds of customers and helped hobble a once-promising bank.

After laying off most employees of Construction Compliance Inc. in January, the home builder is selling his downtown St. Petersburg headquarters at 646 First Ave. S.

Battle's cell phone has been disconnected, and colleagues say he contemplates a move to North Carolina, where he bought a Smoky Mountain retreat last year.

But legal troubles will be hard for the 59-year-old businessman to shake off.

As customers flood Tallahassee with written complaints larded with "defraud" and "scam," the state has opened an investigation into some of the 482 deals that collapsed when Battle stopped building last year.

Customers of CCI, lured by offers of no-money-down investment homes in North Port in Sarasota County, owe subcontractors millions of dollars on homes in various stages of completion.

Scores of others are stuck with vacant lots on which they owe more than $80,000 apiece, debts Battle had promised to cover. CCI's lending partner on the deal, Coast Bank of Brandenton, is owed about $70-million, with little hope of being repaid in full.

"If I were him I would move somewhere, too. But if he thinks all this stuff won't follow him, he's wrong," said Bob Shapiro, a Venice cabinet contractor who lost nearly $500,000 when Battle stopped paying bills around October.

"They're after him. This guy's got a lot of bad karma."

One person hot on Battle's tail - and that of Coast Bank - is Port Charlotte attorney Tom Carrero. He's one of at least five attorneys retained by burned CCI customers.

As a prelude to a possible lawsuit alleging breach of contract, Carrero sent CCI a letter for each of his nearly 45 clients.

"I said, 'Hey, you've got seven days to complete this home.' They haven't responded, not with a phone call, not with a letter," Carrero said. "It looks like they'll only do something when they get sued."

Coast, which did a high share of business with CCI customers, is wooing potential buyout partners. Its stock is worth half of what it was a month ago.

Battle has tried to raise cash by sloughing off property, and shuffled business to a related company owned by his son, Florida State Builders. But all indications are he'll complete no more than a handful of the 482 homes.

His headquarters building is on the block. He bought it in 2005 for $675,000. An undisclosed buyer wants to complete the transaction as early as March.

Battle's name has reached the state capital. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and Attorney General Bill McCollum's office have received a stack of complaints. The attorney general passed the case to the other agency, for now.

"They license and regulate builders and contractors," said McCollum spokeswoman Sandi Copes. "They will do the preliminary investigation."

For people like Shapiro, it hardly matters whether Battle intended to harm his customers or simply failed to negotiate last year's real estate downturn.

In Shapiro's opinion, Battle realized that houses he completed wouldn't turn a profit. So he simply stopped work.

"Is mismanagement criminal?" Shapiro said. "Yes, I think it is. At least in this case."

James Thorner can be reached at 813 226-3313 or thorner@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 05:31:47]