Lender ran off with down payment

[Brian Burnham]

I was looking to buy a tiny home a few months back, found the unit that needed a couple updates. The builder recommended a finance company based in Phoenix, Az. I spoke with the lender that was a tiny home specific lender. Everything seemed legitimate. I made a decent sized down payment and after a couple months, I never received contracts for the financing agreement and the builder never recieved the funding. I tried contacting the lender for a couple months to check the status and after a few months I said that I wanted a refund. The lender sent me a message saying they were waiting on the bank in order to issue a refund and at this point it has been almost 8 months since this whole process started. Any advice to get my money back? Should I take legal action? How can I proceed? Thanks