General contractor sues Welk Resorts

photos provided by GARY SHAVER

Quality Structures owner Gary Shaver says his company was able to recover 90 percent of its property through mediation.

Quality Structures of Arkansas LLC filed a $6.2 million lawsuit against San Marco, California-based Welk Resorts and others in connection with a faltering construction project at its Branson resort.

In the 36-page suit filed last month in Taney County, Gary Shaver, owner of the 27-year-old Quality Structures, alleges his company wasn’t paid for two buildings constructed on the timeshare resort. When Shaver complained, he alleges, Welk officials fired his team and seized their equipment.

“I had a 12-year relationship with them where they always paid their bills,” Shaver told Springfield Business Journal yesterday. “And now all of the sudden, they are delinquent.”

Jon Fredricks, CEO of Welk Resorts, could not be reached for comment by deadline. SBJ recently reported on a suit Welk filed against Lynwood, Washington-based Reed Hein & Associates LLC, dba Timeshare Exit Team, for allegedly persuading timeshare owners to cancel payments to Welk.

In December, a building Quality Structures was constructing caught on fire, partially destroying it. According to OzarksFirst.com, the fire was suspected to be caused by electrical issues.

At that point, Shaver alleges Welk stopped paying for that project. Then a month later, Welk stopped paying for a second building, which was 95 percent complete, he alleges. At that time, Shaver said he started warning his subcontractors that the project was in peril.

“We got into it about them not paying their bills,” he said of the confrontation with Welk officials. “So they had us leave the job. But we were getting ready to leave it at the time.”

Welk instructed Quality Structures’ workers to leave the equipment on the site, Shaver said, or deal with a call to the police. Shaver heeded the warning and left without an estimated $720,000 worth of excavators, lifts and other tools, according to Shaver. Through mediation, about 90 percent of the property was eventually recovered, he said.

“But when we went to retrieve it, they would only pick pieces and parts. Even though the mediation said ‘equipment,’ they would only let us have it if it had a battery or tires – which was their interpretation of ‘equipment’ I guess,” he said.

The suit asks for $6.2 million for the cost of labor and materials.