California ADU Builder Scam & Failure Tracker (2026)
Last updated: June 2026. This is a living record — new cases are added as they become public.
California’s ADU boom created a wave of new builders. Some collapsed. Some had their licenses pulled. Some are accused in court of taking homeowners’ money and building nothing. This page tracks them, using news reporting, Contractors State License Board (CSLB) records, and court filings, so you can check a name before you sign and learn the warning signs that show up again and again.
Key Takeaways
- This page tracks California ADU builders that have collapsed, lost their license, or been accused of fraud — drawn from news reporting, CSLB records, and court filings.
- The same pattern repeats across cases: illegal upfront deposits, stalled or never-started work, a license that lapses or is pulled, and operators who resurface under a new company name.
- California’s required contractor bond is only $25,000, often split among dozens or hundreds of victims who may each have lost $200,000 or more.
- Always confirm a contractor’s CSLB license, and the principals’ names, before you sign or pay a deposit.
The tracker at a glance
| Company | Region | CSLB / legal status | Reported scale | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchored Tiny Homes | Sacramento / statewide | License revoked | 450+ customers; Ch.7 bankruptcy ($12.8M liabilities) | Read the breakdown → |
| Multitaskr | Chula Vista / San Diego | License revoked | 100+ homeowners; $15M+ alleged in lawsuits | Read the breakdown → |
| Nonna ADU & Construction (Nonna Homes) | Rancho Cordova / Sacramento | Suspended, revocation pending | 23 CSLB complaints; 8 referred to the Attorney General | Read the breakdown → |
| Dezign Construction (principals now operating as Green LA Construction Group) | West Hills / LA County | Expired; CSLB accusation pending | Two families; one reports ~$450,000 paid | Read the breakdown → |
Case files
Anchored Tiny Homes
Sacramento-based, statewide reach · Status: CSLB license revoked (December 2024) · Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Anchored Tiny Homes shut its doors in July 2024 without notice. According to ABC7, the CSLB suspended the company’s license after it canceled its required bond, and later revoked the license in December 2024. The company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy listing roughly $12.8 million in liabilities against $1.2 million in assets, with reporting indicating more than 450 customers affected.
- Homeowners reported paying deposits of 30–50% of contract value, far above California’s legal cap of $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less.
- NBC Bay Area reported the company’s CEO touted a “$100 million” business, yet the contractor’s bond protecting all those customers was just $25,000.
Multitaskr
Chula Vista (San Diego County) · Status: CSLB license revoked (June 2025) · CEO bankruptcy
Multitaskr, a Chula Vista ADU builder, took at least $15 million from more than 100 Southern California homeowners between 2020 and 2024 but completed nearly zero projects, according to lawsuits reported by 10News and NBC 7 San Diego. More than 60 homeowners have sued. Court filings allege the company arranged construction loans under homeowners’ names, collected the disbursements, and in some cases created fake email accounts and forged homeowner identities to secure additional financing.
- The CSLB revoked Multitaskr’s license in June 2025.
- CEO José Frausto filed personal bankruptcy in March 2025, listing nearly $3.9 million in liabilities.
Nonna ADU & Construction (Nonna Homes)
Rancho Cordova (Sacramento County) · Status: License suspended; accusation to revoke filed with the Attorney General
Nonna Homes marketed itself as Sacramento’s mission-driven, multigenerational ADU builder. According to NBC Bay Area and abc10, the CSLB suspended its license on January 22 and canceled its $25,000 bond following complaints alleging abandonment, excessive payments, failure to pay subcontractors, and potential fraud. An accusation to revoke the license was filed with the Attorney General’s Office on February 25. The company is closing; its president confirmed the wind-down.
- The CSLB recorded 23 complaints, eight of which were referred to the California Attorney General.
- One documented family paid $83,706.25 over nine months with no physical work performed, per reporting.
- The CSLB stated Nonna took $19,500 up front, roughly 19 times the $1,000 deposit limit.
Dezign Construction → Green LA Construction Group
West Hills / LA County · Status: Dezign license expired; CSLB disciplinary accusation pending
Two families accuse Dezign Construction of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for home projects and failing to finish, according to CBS Los Angeles. One West Hills homeowner reports paying close to $450,000, including a $77,000 check written in June 2024 for appliances that were never delivered. CSLB records show Malka Nazar, a former Dezign officer, is now active with a new company, Green LA Construction Group (license #1140301), as its CEO/President; CBS Los Angeles named Nazar and Enrique “Rick” Ramirez as Dezign’s principals, a pattern homeowners should know to watch for. CSLB lists Dezign’s license (#1107522) as expired and unable to contract, and shows a pending disciplinary accusation (Case N 2025 217) alleging diverted funds and a willful or fraudulent act; CBS Los Angeles earlier reported the license was suspended in February for a lack of a qualifier.
The pattern, in plain English
Look at the cases together and the same playbook repeats: large upfront deposits that break California law, money from new customers used to cover old projects, work that stalls or never starts, and, when it collapses, a $25,000 bond that has to be split among dozens or hundreds of victims, each of whom may have lost $200,000 or more. Some principals simply re-open under a new company name. None of this is exotic. It is recognizable, and it is preventable if you check before you sign.
Know of a case we should add?
This tracker grows as new cases become part of the public record. If you have documentation (a CSLB action, a court filing, or local news coverage) about a California ADU builder that should be listed, send it to us. We add entries based on verifiable public record only.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check if an ADU builder is legitimate?
Start with our free Contractor License Lookup, which checks a contractor’s CSLB license status, classification, bond, workers’ compensation, and complaint history against California’s public records in one place. You can also search the CSLB’s own database directly. Either way, check the people behind the company, not just the company name — a suspended, expired, or brand-new license with no history is a reason to slow down.
What is the legal deposit limit for a contractor in California?
Under California Business and Professions Code §7159.5, a contractor cannot collect more than $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less, as a down payment on a home improvement contract. For any ADU project over $10,000, the maximum legal deposit is $1,000. Demands for large upfront sums for materials or appliances are a common red flag.
What should I do if my ADU builder took my money and disappeared?
File a complaint with the CSLB, check whether a contractor’s bond applies and file a claim (the bond is capped and may be split among multiple claimants), consider small claims or civil action for larger losses, report to the California Attorney General and your county District Attorney’s consumer-fraud unit, and document everything: contracts, invoices, checks, and dates.
Why won’t the $25,000 contractor bond cover my loss?
California requires most licensed contractors to carry only a $25,000 bond, regardless of company size. When a builder collapses, that single bond is often split among dozens or hundreds of claimants who may each have lost $200,000 or more, so individual recoveries can be small. The bond is a backstop, not full protection, which is why checking a contractor before you pay matters more than relying on the bond afterward.
Can a contractor who lost their license reopen under a new name?
It can happen. The same operators can form a new licensed entity under a different business name, which is why we recommend checking the names of the principals, not just the company name. A new LLC does not erase the track record of the people who run it. We note successor-company information only as it appears in news reporting and public records.
How do you decide which companies to list on this tracker?
We add entries based on verifiable matters of public record only: investigative news reporting, CSLB license actions, and court filings. Where a claim has not been decided in court, we describe it as alleged or accused. A suspended or revoked license and a pending accusation are regulatory facts on the public CSLB record; they are not, by themselves, criminal convictions.
Before you pay anyone a deposit
Run the name yourself. It takes two minutes and it is the single most effective thing you can do.
→ Verify a contractor’s CSLB license, bond & insurance
→ Know the deposit law: the legal max is $1,000 or 10%, whichever is less
→ How to verify a California contractor’s license (step by step)
Sources
- CBS Los Angeles — “LA County contractor accused of defrauding families in home remodeling projects”
- ABC7 San Francisco — “Anchored Tiny Homes customers lose thousands … after company shuts down”
- NBC Bay Area — “‘It’s insane’: California law leaves peanuts for ‘scammed’ ADU buyers”
- NBC Bay Area — “Nonna Homes: Big ADU builder stops building, state license now suspended”
- abc10 — “ADU boom sparks wave of contractor complaints in California”
- 10News (San Diego) — “Multitaskr … took at least $15 million from customers but didn’t build ADUs, lawsuits say”
- NBC 7 San Diego — “San Diego County homeowners in debt from uncompleted ADU projects”