logo
From dream home to lawsuits: Customer says contractor stops communication

From dream home to lawsuits: Customer says contractor stops communication

Yahoo3 days ago
DES MOINES, Iowa — Levi Johnson and his wife were excited to build their dream home on their father's property, just adjacent to where they currently live south of Panora.
'We initially decided to go with Davis. We felt like, you know, they were great to work with in and out of the office, all the reviews online seemed to be great,' said Johnson. Little did he know that after construction started in November 2024, things would get more difficult.
There were issues arising when Johnson asked the contractor, Davis Custom Homes, to see if there can be fixes to some issues caused by some of the work. Another red flag for Johnson was that mechanical liens were being filed by subcontractors working on the property, which means that the subcontractors weren't being paid out for the work they were doing.
Johnson decided to hire a private engineer to observe his house under construction, confirming that there were issues the contractor would need to address.
More charges filed against ISU student accused of sexually exploiting minors on social media
'We did present the information from the private engineer, we had a sit down meeting in their office, we did that twice I believe. We were both on a dead head, we were not willing to compromise on that, as well they were not willing to fork up the money needed to fix the issues. I believed that is what stemmed them to reach out to their attorney, was they felt like they didn't need to do anything,' said Johnson.
After working through the legal channels, Johnson hit a dead end as Davis Custom Homes legal team would not be hearing any future meetings. Johnson and a group of around 20 homeowners met with the Iowa Attorney General's Office on Wednesday to give the office information regarding each specific situation.
WHO 13 News went to Davis Custom Homes property on Wednesday. The property landlord shared that the tenants of the building had paid July's rent, but he had not seen them since Monday, July 6.
A contractor was on the scene as well, he told WHO 13 News that he was out $500,000 from his work with Davis Custom Homes. He just got back from vacation on Monday, July 14 and the office was closed and no one was around, and he couldn't get in contact with the owners of Davis Custom Homes.
Iowa News:
I Scream, You Scream, Roger Riley reports on Iowa Ice Cream
PHOTOS: Some central Iowans experienced flooding following weekend showers
Another family's dream home turns into 'nightmare' after contractor stops communication
One in custody following shooting incident in Fort Dodge
One dead after car rolls several times in Des Moines County crash
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

NIQ valued at $6.1 billion as shares dip in NYSE debut
NIQ valued at $6.1 billion as shares dip in NYSE debut

Yahoo

time13 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

NIQ valued at $6.1 billion as shares dip in NYSE debut

(Reuters) -NIQ Global's shares fell 3.6% in their NYSE debut on Wednesday, giving the Advent-backed consumer insights company a valuation of $6.1 billion. The lukewarm reception marks a setback in an otherwise strong run for IPOs as solid equity markets and upbeat debuts had encouraged investors to look past tariff-related volatility. NIQ's stock opened at $20.25 per share, compared with the IPO price of $21 per share. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Why Shares of Kohl's Are Sinking Today
Why Shares of Kohl's Are Sinking Today

Yahoo

time13 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Why Shares of Kohl's Are Sinking Today

Key Points Kohl's has become a meme stock. Investors recently noticed the stock had close to 50% short interest. The company has struggled as of late. 10 stocks we like better than Kohl's › After rocketing nearly 38% higher yesterday, shares of Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) traded close to 16% lower, as of 12:12 a.m. ET today. Shares bobbed and weaved in violent trading sessions sparked by interest from retail investors, who view Kohl's as a meme stock. Meme mania is back With the market at all-time highs, investors are back in on meme stocks and appear to have targeted several names with high short interest that seem ripe for a short squeeze. Other stocks that have become meme stocks include Opendoor, Krispy Kreme, and GoPro. Kohl's had one of the highest percentages of its public float shorted at close to 50%, making it the ideal candidate for meme investors to identify. Kohl's was the topic of several threads on the popular sub-Reddit WallStreetBets on Tuesday. Kohl's has struggled as competition from e-commerce and other discount retailers has cut into the company's business. Recently, analysts at Goldman Sachs raised their price target from $5 per share to $7 on "reacceleration in top-line growth and cleaner inventories." But the stock has soared past that level, due to the meme rally. Of the 12 Wall Street analysts that have issued research reports on the stock over the last three months, five had a hold rating on the company, while seven say sell, according to TipRanks. The average price target implies about 43% downside, as of this writing. Buckle up As mentioned, Kohl's no longer trades on any kind of fundamentals and now is being propelled by social media-driven exuberance. There's no predicting where the stock will go or in which direction, so investors should avoid the name. But if you do invest, only invest what you can afford to lose. Should you invest $1,000 in Kohl's right now? Before you buy stock in Kohl's, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Kohl's wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $641,800!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,023,813!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,034% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Shares of Kohl's Are Sinking Today was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

The meme stock rally continues the Trump trade rebound that has stocks trading at record highs
The meme stock rally continues the Trump trade rebound that has stocks trading at record highs

Yahoo

time13 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

The meme stock rally continues the Trump trade rebound that has stocks trading at record highs

Meme stocks are running wild again. Some of the latest highfliers — Krispy Kreme (DNUT), Opendoor (OPEN), and Kohl's (KSS) — all have one key thing in common: They are heavily shorted stocks. This means investors have been betting the next price move for these names will be lower, and some strategists suggest that this week's meme surge is merely the latest pillar of a consistent theme during the S&P 500's 25% rally over the last three months. "A lot of what has outperformed significantly [since the market bottom], obviously the memes, but the heavily shorted stocks of every variety," Charles Schwab chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday. "So I think there may be that also added attempt on the part of the retail trader to press those shorts and force a repositioning on the part of speculators and institutions." Short sellers have lost just shy of $355 billion since the market bottom on April 8, according to data from S3 Partners. That includes more than $100 billion in losses since Yahoo Finance last published S3's data on May 22. Since President Trump first reversed his starkest tariff stance on April 9, betting against the roaring stock market rally has been a losing strategy. And the market's V-shape recovery has been more than a simple "Trump Always Chickens Out" (TACO) trade. Between April 8 and May 20, short sellers lost more than $35 billion betting against the "Magnificent Seven" tech cohort, which has once again been a key driver of the market's chug higher. "The market was caught short at a time when there was no actual fundamental information available," BNP Paribas head of debt and equity strategy Viktor Hjort told Yahoo Finance. As Trend Labs founder JC Parets wrote in a research note on Wednesday, the stock market's rise is largely about investor "mispositioning." Parets cited a Wall Street Journal poll of economists from April 12, which showed nearly half expected a recession in the next 12 months. "These economists had everyone convinced a recession was coming," Parets wrote. So far, that downturn has not come to pass, but investors continue to be caught short as the fundamental story for stocks and the economy has proven to be largely better than feared. This has driven a risk-on rally that's featured a race to find where trades are most out of place. After falling almost 30% to start the year, Cathie Wood's Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) is up nearly 90% from the April bottom. Wood's flagship fund's top 10 holdings include names like Tesla (TSLA), Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), and Palantir (PLTR). Short sellers in each of those stocks have lost at least $2 billion or more since the April market low, according to S3 Partners data. Bespoke Investment Group highlighted this trend in a research report on Tuesday night detailing "reminiscences of 2021," when the meme stock frenzy first took center stage. Bespoke found that the 100 most shorted stocks in the Russell 1000 index (^RUI) have outperformed the index itself by over 30 percentage points in the past three months. The index of the 100 most shorted stocks is up over 52% in that time period. "Expect continued short side losses as the economy grows, despite increased tariffs, and interest rates finally decline later this year," S3 Partners managing director Ihor Dusaniwsky told Yahoo Finance. "We usually hear caveat emptor — "let the buyer beware." But in this market, caveat venditor — "let the seller beware" — is much more appropriate." Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store