The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office has filed felony charges against the co-founders of the new defunct Anchored Tiny Homes, a business that once promoted itself as a builder of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.
According to a complaint, brothers Austin James Paulhus and Colton Scott Paulhus are facing 35 felony charges on accusations that they conspired together to divert construction funds.
Prosecutors claimed the Anchored Tiny Homes co-founders billed customers and received a payment of over $1 million in multiple installments of 13 separate construction projects “despite performing no work and supplying no materials.”
Anchored Tiny Homes unexcepted shut down without any prior notice to customers.
Click here to view the full documents.
In September 2024, Renee Kumamoto told KCRA 3 she hired the Fair Oaks-based company to building an ADU in her backyard. She paid Anchored Tiny Homes $168,000 to build the unit.
| PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Hundreds demand answers after losing thousands in California ADU construction fraud
The construction scheduled was based on her father’s battle with cancer. She had planned move him into the small home, but the company closed suddenly before breaking ground.
“Within the time that I sent my last invoice to when they shut down was less than two and a half weeks. This is crazy,” Kumamoto said.
Another woman named Katie Lucas told KCRA 3 in 2024 she paid the company $211,000 and was left with an unfinished project.
“It’s so heartbreaking and it makes you feel really helpless,” Lucas said.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel.