HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – It was a huge homebuilder that shut its doors, leaving entire neighborhoods unfinished and promises unkept.
Creditors forced the company into bankruptcy, but not before executives padded their own accounts with millions of dollars.
"Royce Homes was about a $260 million a year business," said bankruptcy trustee Rodney Tow, who was assigned the case. "But in the end, the company claimed it had no assets."
Homeowners thought they were buying into the American dream when they purchased new Royce homes in the Grant Meadows subdivision in northwest Harris County.
Months later, in 2008, those dreams turned into nightmares when Royce shut its doors, leaving the neighborhood with empty lots, no working street lights and worthless home warranties.
"I definitely think that they knew when they sold us our house that something was wrong, that they were in trouble," said new homeowner Jeanie Torres.
It took years to prove Torres' suspicions.
"My attorneys and I had to rebuild Royce Homes through emails and documents to try and figure out what was going on with Royce Homes in the last two years of its existence," said Tow.
What Tow said he discovered was about $40 million doled out to Royce partners while they stiffed contractors and suppliers about $41 million.
Last week, a federal jury agreed -- $12,129,006.09 of those payouts to company executives were fraudulent and that former Royce CEO John Speer should pay the money back.
Of that $12 million, court records show Speer paid himself $4,413,565 on top of his salary. He gave another $605,007.10 to his now deceased ex-wife in unearned paychecks and payouts Speer owed under their divorce decree.
"The jury decided that he's not going to win," said Tow. "The judge ultimately also decided that he's not going to win. And this is what he owes the estate and we need to just get it collected."
Over the last five years, new homebuilders have stepped in to finish the neighborhoods that Royce started. While KPRC 2 wasn't able to track down any of the original homeowners in Grant Meadows, we can tell you from court records, of the homeowners who filed claims in the case, they stand to get back about $100 or less.
It's about 15 percent to 20 percent of what they say they were owed. Most claims stem from home warranties that were paid for but never received. A homeowner who filed a $1,000 claim may get $200 back.
"At the end of the day, when you're expecting nothing and you get 20 percent of what you lost, I think that's a big victory," said Tow. "It speaks for the bankruptcy system and the judicial system both."
Some might disagree on who the real winner is in this case. KPRC 2 tried to reach John Speer for his take, but he didn't return our phone calls. When we dropped by his 15,000-plus square foot Cypress home, we couldn't get past the gate or get an answer.
KPRC 2 does know Speer is still in the home building business. A search of the Secretary of State's business filings reveals he has started two new companies since he closed Royce, Vestalia Homes and Travis Homes. No one returned our calls to either of those businesses.