LAKE GEORGE, Colo. — In her peaceful part of the Colorado mountains, Maryann McLendon often stares at the mountain of dirt in her backyard.
“It's an eyesore to not only our family, but to all my neighbors,” she told Denver7 Investigates when we visited her property.
How that pile came to be is foreshadowed by the welcome sign on the family’s cabin, reading “Welcome to the sh** show.”
In March 2024, McLendon posted on Facebook that she was looking for a contractor to have her septic system replaced. She only got one response: Christopher Terry with Premier Consulting and Construction.
A police report states that she paid him approximately $55,000, but after several months of delays — all of which she painstakingly documented — she was left only with that mountain of dirt and a large hole in her yard filled with raw sewage.
“I have to redo everything. Anything he did or touched was not done right,” McLendon said.
As it turns out, McLendon was not the only one who encountered problems with Terry’s work.
Denver7 Investigates has reported on him before in 2023, looking into a complaint about a bathroom remodel gone wrong involving a Denver woman.
During that investigation, it was uncovered that Terry had documented issues in other states. His license was revoked in Hawaii in 2014.
Colorado does not have statewide licensing for contractors, as it is handled by each county.
McLendon said Terry got a license in Park County to work on her project.
Since that story, Denver7 Investigates also found a $55,000 judgment against Terry in California and a lawsuit in Colorado.
Last week, a judge issued a default judgment in the Colorado case, awarding the plaintiff — one of Terry's customers — more than $162,000.
Terry also has multiple business names registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, including Premier Consulting and Construction, Inc., KMA Construction Services and Terry Construction.
Denver7 Investigates connected with several other customers who had similar stories and one subcontractor, who filed a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office, saying he wasn’t paid.
“Not only did he not pay me for two months of my labor, but he didn't pay five other subcontractors as well,” subcontractor Tom Chapman said.
Clients Ronnie Sandusky and Thomas Murphy both allege unfinished work at their properties in Fremont County. Murphy said he was charged roughly $100,000.
“And to this day, there’s nothing completed,” he said.
Sandusky called her situation “an absolute mess.”
- Denver7 Investigates' Jaclyn Allen talks more about her reporting in the video below
Denver7 Investigates reached Terry by phone, and he declined an on-camera interview.
In text messages, he said that there are “two sides to the story” and disputed all claims against him.
He said McLendon was upset that his team could not work in 10-degree weather and that she breached her contract by hiring a neighbor. He called Sandusky’s complaint “bogus” and claims that Murphy owes him money.
Terry said Chapman’s errors cost him nearly $200,000. In response to the lawsuits, he downplayed them, stating, “I’ve done nothing wrong and always operate ethically.”
McLendon disputed Terry’s response, saying she hasn’t had anyone else do any work yet on her property.
Chapman, Sandusky, Murphy and McLendon all said they felt they had little or no recourse to get their money back or hold Terry accountable.
“The lawyer told me that I could end up spending another $30,000 to $50,000 taking him to court, and there were no guarantees,” Sandusky said.
Chapman added: “I'm not a college-educated man, but I'm smart enough to know right from wrong. And when you reach out to the people who are supposed to care about that — (and) who don't — it's disheartening at every turn.”
And Terry’s customers aren’t the only ones unsatisfied, as Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said contractor fraud is one of the most common complaints his office sees.
Weiser said he couldn’t comment on specific investigations, but his office received 915 complaints about home services and repair in 2024. Emails obtained by Denver7 Investigates do show that the Attorney General’s Office has responded to some who have complained about Terry.
Denver7 Investigates also learned from people who reached out to us that when they called police, they were told the situation was a civil matter. Weiser pushed back on that notion.
“If your local law enforcement refuses to take action, you can reach out to our office,” he said. “But please know this contractor fraud is a crime.”
Staff at Weiser’s office have pushed for stronger consumer protection laws in the past and have gone after contractors they believe broke the law.
“We have contractors now in jail for multiple years because they lied to people, took their money and didn’t do the work,” he said. “If you’re a contractor, don’t make that mistake. You could also find yourself in jail.”
Other states do have greater protections. Florida has statewide licensing for contractors, a board that regulates them and a homeowner’s construction recovery fund to help people who have been scammed.
As for Terry, McLendon said she’d like to see him in jail. But mainly she wanted to spread the word about his business practices and warn others to look for issues.
“If there's any questions, red flags, don't go for them,” she said.
McLendon's daughter set up a GoFundMe campaign to try and raise money to complete her project. For more information on that fundraiser, click here.
