CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — It was a dream, but a Citrus Springs home is now Frank Sherrill’s nightmare.
“I need flooring. I need all the baseboards put in. All the framing for the doors,” he said of the unfinished home on Vespero Street.
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He hired Van Der Valk Construction, a Citrus County-based homebuilder, in September 2022, but almost three years later, the work still isn’t done. Months ago, the work seemingly stopped.
Then, on April 30, Van Der Valk Construction filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Now, Sherrill’s dream home is officially an unfinished money pit, filled with most of his retirement savings.
“There’s a few times where I’ve, you know, I cried a little bit, you know, thinking about it, because it’s been hard.”
Sherrill is not alone.
Van Der Valk is also building many homes in Inverness Village 4, a Citrus County neighborhood that has attracted constant criticism for years, because it was built without paved streets or a drainage system.
Over the years, the sandy streets have eroded into treacherous canyons. In other areas, the thick sugar sand has trapped delivery trucks and an emergency vehicle.
In Inverness Village 4, the recent bankruptcy has also left dozens of home buyers in limbo, including Dyandria Darel.
“I’m devastated,” she said.
Darel was planning to move from New York City to Inverness Village 4, which should have been her Florida retirement home.
“It’s not only a retirement home, it was virtually my entire life savings,” she said. “I put the money down on this house in 2022. It’s now 2025.”
More than two years after she made her first payment, the home is unfinished and is now shrouded by a forest of weeds. The house still isn’t enclosed, and Darel has no indication she will ever live in it.
“I have no money now,” Darel said. “I’m going to be — I’m going to be — I don’t even want to think about it.”
In bankruptcy court filings, Van Der Valk Construction, the homebuilder, reports more than $1 million in liabilities but less than $100,000 of assets.
The documents show that at least 58 home buyers, multiple subcontractors, and others are impacted.
The documents also show the homebuilder is blaming his company’s financial troubles on legal actions sparked by the neighborhood’s woeful road situation.
However, buyers like Darel think what happened in Inverness Village 4 was criminal.
“I contacted the FBI three times,” she said. “There’s no hope. There’s no hope unless law enforcement does something.”
For now, she’s afraid she won’t get either her dream home or any form of justice.
“I’m a very strong woman, but this is too much,” she said through tears.
ABC Action News contacted Van Der Valk Construction and its attorney but did not receive a response before the time of publication.
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