There

may be a chance for creditors to recover money owed to them by a prominent

Tri-City homebuilder who filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, citing $9.2

million in debts.

The

trustee handling the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case for Marco Solferino recently

filed court paperwork stating “assets have been recovered by the trustee” and

requested creditors file proof of claims in the case by Sept. 11.

For Greg Ford, who is listed on the initial bankruptcy

documents as being owed $82,000 for unpaid services performed by Brashear

Electric of Richland, the recovery of some assets gives him hope of getting his

money back.

“I

knew he’d recover assets because there’s no way he’d have that much income

coming in with no way of it going anywhere. It doesn’t just vanish; it has to

go somewhere. I wasn’t surprised at all,” Ford said.

The notice does not specify a dollar amount for the

recovered assets and trustee John Munding said he could not elaborate.

“As

Chapter 7 trustee, I am still investigating assets, including prior transfers

of real property. Because of my ongoing investigation, I cannot comment at this

time,” he said.

When

Solferino first filed for bankruptcy, creditors were instructed not to bother

filing a proof of claim due to the expectation that no money would be recovered

to reimburse those who were owed.

The

notice on recovery of assets was sent to nearly 100 creditors, mostly in the

Tri-City area and to those involved in the home construction industry.

The

list also includes a number of private citizens who were in the midst of

building custom homes with Solferino when his business went under and they lost

their investment. Many had handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars and

were left with unfinished homes, but none have spoken publicly about their experience.

Solferino

filed for bankruptcy this spring, weeks after shuttering his business M | S

Homes Inc., which had also previously been known as Solferino Homes and

Storybook Homes by Solferino Construction.

The

builder was well known and sought out to build Mediterranean-style homes and

had been featured in a number of Parade of Homes showcases over the years.

Washington

state suspended Solferino’s contractor’s license in March 2019 following a

complaint against his bond.

Solferino

and his bankruptcy attorney Bill Hames did not return requests for comment.

In

his initial bankruptcy filing, Solferino listed dozens of unsecured creditors,

owed about $7.3 million. The filing also included personal assets, including no

cash, $1.1 million in property, $10,500 for the value of vehicles, and $500 in

office equipment.

Solferino’s

personal home in West Richland is valued at just under $600,000 by the Benton

County Assessor, though online real estate estimates place the value at double

that.

The

Tri-City Herald reported Solferino admitted under oath that he had spent $1.2

million in customer deposits but did not specify how the money was spent.

There are two outstanding lawsuits against Solferino,

including a $62,238 complaint for unpaid supplies by ProBuild Co., which does

business as Builders FirstSource Inc. A separate lawsuit also was filed by

Standard Paint and Flooring seeking $54,455, also for unpaid supplies.

There have been two court dates

so far to give creditors an opportunity to speak. Solferino filed for Chapter 7

bankruptcy protection in 1997.