New Construction Situation Looking for Advice

[Eliecer Trillos]

I got into a new construction in Cape Coral as others here which is causing me a lot of issues and looking for advice. So far the builder received 35k for the deposit from lender but nothing has been done in the lot. Builder says the money was used for design, engineering, and papers sent to the city. The permit was approved but not picked up yet by the builder. Those 35k according to the contract are non-refundable once work starts. Now the lender is not renewing so i need to find most likely a hard money lender to continue. The builder is making some progress on other builds but super slow. I am afraid that if i get a hard money lender and continue giving money to the builder and they do not finish i will be in a much worse situation and lose more money. I would really appreciate people with more experience advice on what to do here. Thanks!

[Allan Smith]

Work has not started I would get your money back ASAP and bail out. A hard money lender is a very bad idea for projects like this you can lose your shirt. The Builder has already proven to be a bit sketchy so now that you know go to another project.