Linda,
We were also taken in by LaVern Poston's scam, and our story is almost identical to those of the McDugles & Duncans. We found his company at the Tacoma Remodeling Exposition last March; he gave us an estimate for a new deck; we gave him a 50% down payment; he gave us excuse after excuse for delays; work was started in July, but there were insufficient materials delivered and the work was done poorly. By the end of July, Mr. Poston had disappeared and he never responded to our phone calls and emails.

But before we hired Vern, we did check him out with L&I in March, and at that time it was reported that he was bonded. But when we checked again in July, we discovered that his bond had been revoked in May, unbeknownst to us.

In October, we abandoned the original deck project that we started with Mr. Poston and hired a reputable local contractor to do the work. The work that had been done by Mr. Poston's company was shoddy and for the most part had to be replaced or repaired. In all, Mr. Poston cost us over $9,000.

Bruce Pickett
Federal Way, WA

THANK YOU for finally exposing this man for the scheister that he really is. He owes us money from many years ago, but we never had the means back then to pursue getting paid. He moves from one scheme to the next, not caring whose money he takes. I am glad he is finally getting his "come-up-ance"!

CAUSE AND EFFECT LINDA. look into it. your ruining more than one persons life here

and i say again,

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

How is it that Mr and Mrs Pickett posted one story saying he owed them money from this past year, from the deck company, and then in a second post claims he owes them money from many years ago?

This man's scheme's have ruined many lives so far and he will not stop until someone puts him in jail. Everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.
I hope he will finally be prosecuted criminally for his acts and locked up. When he was convicted of securities fraud he somehow got away with electronic home monitoring instead of jail. I know, it baffles me too. This time he should go to where other criminals go.

I am disappointed with how the story has been twisted. I understand a lot of people have been affected, and have been set back quite a bit. Their frustrations are understandable, acceptable even, but in the end it will all be set right. In the mean time, dramatizing and making a big scene does not help nor does it motivate a man who has absolutely nothing to pick up the pieces and move on. Everything will be rectified in the end and if not, that is something that needs to be taken up with the legal system. Where are the stories on Gary Davis, the real man behind this mess? How about Scott Campbell, the man who claims to be so Christian, who prayed with LaVern and his entire family, only to tear him apart later, telling him that is he worth nothing and deserves nothing? Threatening and saying terrible things about his children? I have been there. I have heard these people say such terrible things that should not be said to any person. None of you people have been there. Nobody was there, when Gary waltzed in, pretending to have this successful business. Nobody was there to chase him down, when he took off with $124,000.00 from LaVern. This was not money taken from any deck or sunroom customer, how could it, when this was before he was even owner of the company? This was directly from his bank account, of years of saving and working hard. Or how about the extra $10,000 he paid Mr. Davis for a license, only to find out it had been cancelled, in the midst of these projects? All of these things and many many more events have been unfortunate and led to extremely poor business decisions. I remember one day, months ago, when he did try to pay a certain customer back. He offered their money back, and tried several times to communicate with them only to receive anger, yelling, threats, personal attacks, and more. If King 5 wants to be honest and report the news, why not put that in? These particular customers are not victims, not when they attacked him like that. Not if they attack their family, which they have. I am sure that these certain couples who acted the way they did, did not encourage him to come forward when things were not being done right. I feel terrible for the other customers who did not take it to that personal level because the people before them did not set down a good path. If a contractor is not holding up to your expectations, by all means do NOT attack on a personal level. Do NOT go after his children. Where is it in the news coverage, about why he is hard to get ahold of? Many times it was mentioned how he evaded people, but where is the explanation? It is unethical to run a story such as this, and not include all aspects.

I'm not here to excuse his actions or justify the anger and hurt other customers have felt. I only believe information shown was dramatized, and slanted.

Mr. LaVern Poston is not the only person out there with a poor business history. Not only is he NOT a scam artist, I can quote him saying, “If I was one, I definately am not a good one. Not with this mess!"

Where are the stories on his current life? The facts are black and white, people. He handed over that company MONTHS ago. He has tried several times to get out of it and pay people back. Where are you when he breaks down from this weight on his shoulders? When he wakes up for Bible Study, even when he has nothing to wake up for? This man has been trying to turn his life around, trying to be involved in church. He does not speak the same nor act the same. I can not remember the last time he swore. For someone who has known him their entire life, been betrayed and hurt by him, I see this to be true. I see that he has been trying and reaching out to God, admitting to any confrontation, proclaming, "yes I know, I failed, I made mistakes" Where were the cameras when he broke down, fell on his knees and cried, "I have ruined so many peoples lives!"

This is not drama. This is not an exaggeration. This is truth and it froze my soul to hear him admit everything. It was disappointing, but encouraging. If there is not once ounce of forgiveness left in mankind, then so be it. He has found it with God, and will keep on pursuing his relationship with Him and keep on trying to come up with the money to pay people back. With his record, he has an extremely difficult time getting a job to even come up with the money. He will be paying customers back out of pocket, not with companys money like it should be. His main builder took off to California after LaVern paid him. Where was that in the story? Also, where are the people who did have sunrooms installed, with no complains, who dhave nothing negative to say?

To clarify about Gary Davis: He has had two attorneys quit on him the past year, and is a very difficult man to pursue. He has been conning people for years. He promised LaVern Poston many things, and did not follow through with any of it. I’d like to see a full report on him, on his ethics. What is he up to? What did he do with $124,000.00? Want a story on con artists or corrupt business men, call him up!

"When he was convicted of securities fraud he somehow got away with electronic home monitoring instead of jail. "

Lets see....he paid people back? Didnt plead guilty?

Linda, check your facts again. He did not plead guilty. Please clarify what did happen, if you want to keep King 5 in good standing. I am beginning to believe they do not care about the truth.

Who are you, Irritated? Are you Lavern? Or a partner in crime? Why are you trying to discredit the story?
Are you suggesting these people made up the stories about being robbed? What is your point? That Lavern is innocent?
Please ...

I retract above comment regarding the Picketts. I apologize! I was confused on how King 5's website clarifies who posts what comments. My mistake! Ms. Kathy, I hope you get your money back.

Once again, with assumptions...

I am not LaVern, nor a partner in crime. Did I suggest that people are making up the stories? Not at all, of course I believe them. Is he innocent? Obviously not. My point is that if truth needs to be told, ALL of the truth should be told, not just the little bits that please people like you.

IMO, I think that "Innocent Bystander" is probably LaVern Poston or somebody closely associated with him, who is trying to confuse the issue. I was scammed by Poston recently too, and I have personally been in contact with two other homeowners and the manufacturer of a product which Poston was "representing" who have similar stories. These parties are all out thousands of dollars and Poston has NOT made any offers of restitution. He's moved and avoided contact with the people who hired him; in fact, all phone messages and emails left for him have gone unanswered. Poston is far from being the innocent victim that "Innocent Bystander" is portraying.

haha its funny how none of you know even HALF of the story

I did not portray an innocent victim. Did I not admit several times that he has made many mistakes, and he himself admitted he has ruined peoples lives with this? He owes me money as well, which someday I hope to receive back.

To quote myself,

"I'm not here to excuse his actions or justify the anger and hurt other customers have felt. I only believe information shown was dramatized, and slanted."

Also, he moved because he lost his house. Not to avoid people. Once again, a dramatization. Apparently you must have been one of the crazy customers I have heard about.

Ok "bshwah" then what is the rest of the story? Apparently none of us that have commented so far can agree on anything other than he owes us all money.

Well anyway, back to life. I wish everyone luck with getting their money back, and with being able to move forward in life. LaVern will pay, financially and probably, most likely, with jail time, and hopefully that will be the end of his involvement with such things.

Hey Bloggers, you're missing the point of the story. The point was here's a guy who ran a bad business, and the state caught him...and he kept doing it. Every story has two sides (or more) to it, and getting into the nitty gritty of it is for the state licensing or prosecutors to do (yes, he DOES have outstanding legal issues...check the King County Superior Court website). King5 was doing the community a service by reminding consumers to check the background of the constractor. This was a crucial step, especially with this guy...who clearly has a history of scamming consumers.

Some truth about trying to pay back victims like someone mentioned in this blog:
Lavern to victim: you will get your money tomorrow.
Next day: no money - no way to reach Lavern.
Lavern to L&I: they will get the money by end of this week
End of the week: no money whatsoever anywhere
and this repeated several times... just to stay with facts that can be proven! No a single cent received ever!

Good for you King 5 on a story well done!!!! As for the person who thinks the story was twisted, well the King County Records web sight does not lie, and neither does the Courts web sight which by the way has 59 cases and all but 1 of those cases have Mr. Poston has the defendant. If he really was sincere than he would licensed and bonded with the state, but instead he pushed his luck with trying to con more people out of money for work that he had no right doing to begin with. Stop trying to pass the buck “Mr. Innocent Bystander”; this Mr. Laverne Leland Poston is a Non Bonded & Non Licensed Con Man who has booked his way into the State of Washington's Court Dockets.

Apparently, some of the posters here have had personal contact with Mr. Poston outside of a business relationship and believe him to be a righteous man. But whether Mr. Poston is religious or not is completely beside the point; faith and a belief in the goodness of others do not overcome the fact that there are several troublesome issues surrounding Mr. Poston:
1. Mr. Poston has a history of legal actions against him, including a felony criminal conviction for securities fraud.
2. Mr. Poston is under investigation by the State of Washington for operating without proper credentials and has been ordered to desist, yet new people keep coming forward with stories of how Mr. Poston failed to deliver on his contractual obligations.
3. Mr. Poston made specific promises to people as late as the end of July 2006 and possibly later, which he never fulfilled.
4. Mr. Poston has not responded to phone messages, letters, and emails left by customers.
5. There are customers who paid Mr. Poston in good faith for goods and services that were never fulfilled.
6. There are suppliers who delivered products to Mr. Poston, but who never received payments.
7. There are workmen who were hired by Mr. Poston who did not receive their rightful pay for work completed.
8. While claims may have been made that the customers, suppliers, and workmen will be paid, there is no evidence of this having occurred yet.

Having personally met Mr. Poston, I know that he is a very charismatic person, and people want to believe what he says. But experience has shown that just because Mr. Poston says something, doesn't mean that its true.

When I first checked Northwest Sunrooms on the L&I website I did not think this was the right business because Poston's name was not related to it. Even L&I could not find him as a registered agent for the business and therefore did not link him to this company.
So, L&I is not enough information. I was only able to link Poston to the company through the UBI number that is registered to his name.
Besides all this, he uses(d) several different spellings of his name (La Vern, Laverne, Posten, etc) to mislead people. He also used several business names (Northwest Sunrooms Inc, Northwest Sunrooms LLC, etc) besides also hiding behind his wife's name.
To put it bluntly, it is very hard to verify a contractor if that contractor is a scam artist and does not wish to be tracked down.
Maybe our state needs stricter laws and measures (like using SSN or criminal checks before issuing any kind of contractor or business license, for example), to better protect consumers.
Just my two cents...

As to the comment that LaVerne lost his house, that is correct. It is in foreclosure because he never pays his bills. He lives beyond his means and doesn't pay his obligations. This has been a pattern for many years. It just happened to catch up with him now. Maybe that is why he has become "repentant".

...Well done "WeBeenVerned" - you are rational and well spoken.

We are another set of folks that Lavern has taken for a ride. We too agree that he talks a sweet string. But, his behavior is suspiciously like that of a person with sociopathic character disorder. How else can someone repeatedly hurt so many people over and over? This includes the small subcontractors and supply companies he never paid as well as the many families he took money from without delivering what was promised.

We also checked out another of his companies with the BBB (no issues) and L&I(in good standing) before we got involved. But after we were committed and things began to go wrong, a background check showed a persistant and repeated pattern of questionable financial transactions, liens, lawsuits, etc., over many years.

We 'lawyered up' with multiple attorneys and feel fortunate that we weren't taken for more than what we were.

Poston also promised us recompense and yet to date, we have not seen a dime. Our attorneys told us we might as well take a number and get in line. The train wreck is a long one.

Sad is that this man has not been jailed and continues to open other companies and repeats his bilking tactics over and over.

To the 'Innocent Bystander' - one can only hope you are right that he has some remorse but I fear Lavern's behavior in the name of religion is yet another scam...

i know this has been talked about before, but there are always 2 sides to every story. There have been a few people that have taken a more then substantial amount of money from Mr. Poston. i know that doesnt excuse him from the wrong things he has done to these people. Linda byron did a good job on the report, but i feel it was a little biased. i suppose that the 2nd side of the story wasnt meant to be shown, but there should have been a little more on that side.
i hope to all the people they will get their money back someday in the not so distant future.

Did Linda Byron only get ‘half the story’ on Leland Lavern Poston? Probably, see there’s a whole ‘other story’ which starts long before his involvement in Northwest Decks & Sunrooms, which makes me a Linda supporter, despite the indignation of the post looking to finger Gary Davis & Scott Campbell. Bottom-line, Poston’s behavior is not new & while I wholeheartedly agree that he’s a bad businessman, he’s also just plain BAD! If this post is not from Poston or a family member (with the ‘personal’ prayer quotes), I guess you must be a new-found ‘brother or sister in Christ’. While I praise your loyalty as a defender, I question your objectivity & knowledge of ALL the facts. But then I guess that Poston’s managed to ‘sell you his line’, just like he’s done to many other innocent folks over the years. I almost have to admire his skill at getting people to buy his story… an art he’s honed, at great expense to others, me included, over many years.

As the saying old goes; ‘Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me’. It’s time Poston stopped ‘burning & shaming’! Thanks to Linda, Poston’s number is up & it’s time that the authorities, not just home show organizers did something about Poston & others like him (sadly the construction industry seems to attract more than its fair share of unscrupulous people). The question is how people who repeatedly take advantage of innocent & upstanding folks (hiding behind LLC’s over-and-again) are allowed to continue their actions legally, as Poston has done? Surely there should be some form of check of individual company members e.g. referencing a SSN, at the registrar of companies, before completing new company registrations?

This time, trading without a license & bond takes a way a veil of defense & hopefully the state (registrar of companies, the attorney general) & even IRS (if he can publicly take ‘little people’ for a ride, I wouldn’t give you an even-money bet on his tax submissions).

For the Innocent Bystander who mentioned that he moved because he lost his house… True, but the fact is that he Quit Claimed the house to folks he attempted to defraud & the only way he got out of the legal action was to hand over the house to try & defray debts so that he didn’t have to go before a judge & jury!

Notwithstanding the protestations of his new-found faith in God, the bit of cynic in me thinks its funny how ‘what goes around, comes around’… or more biblically, while forgiveness virtuous, there comes a time for ‘an eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth’.

Let it be said, you don’t have to believe me in this blog. Feel free to check Poston out on your own, using free official King County web resources:

1. At http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.namesearch&terms=accept search on both Poston Leland & Poston Lavern (he uses names interchangeably).
2. At http://www.metrokc.gov/recelec/records/ click on Records Search, accept the Disclaimer & then click on Search Official Public Records & enter his name (use both Leland & Lavern again) as Party Name.

Do this & you’ll find more find 71 court records (12 & 59 respectively), dating back in time – most relating to civil judgments & dubious business practices – as well as additional legal action (Lis Pendens), Liens, Quit Claims etc. which go back long before Northwest Decks & Sunrooms days… These are only the records against him personally, not involving those recorded against his multiple companies. Why multiple companies? The man long ago mastered the art of having & using different LLC’s to hide & shuffle transactions to the disadvantage others, all while trying to protect his personal assets (& also why the BBB, L&I etc. report a clean history for each new LLC & it’s only after you’re spun into the web, that things go bad & after digging, his past becomes visible).

Just look at the number of Quit Claims, where he has held land assets in his / his wife’s name (while court records show she’s started divorce proceedings against him, she also previously knew about & was party to his ‘shell’ game) & then moved title over to a LLC company immediately prior to construction, so that asset exposure for anybody trying to take legal action against these entities is minimal. Using a quit claim instead of a sale also deprives the state & local authorities of commercial transfer revenues (a smart move to keep more money in his pocket). He similarly has done this where money has changed hands for a share in property ownership… hmmm, maybe time for a different audit.

While you’re at it, check out the liens (the number recorded against him personally is again not representative as many have been recorded against the company or property parcel number) from suppliers & sub-contractors he hasn’t paid in the normal course of business. The deal is, Poston knows that our beautiful state has a wacky law that shields ‘small contractors’ by allowing sub-contractors to lien the property they worked on, as long as they do so within 80 days of last performing work. Want to check? Just call some of the lien holders. This law / these liens effectively put the property owner, and/or a title company (in the case of a new construction sale), on the hook to settle the prime contractors debts – even if they had previously paid the prime contractor (and received a clear title at the time of closing on a house)… a nice bit of double jeopardy! Talk about ‘the law being an ass’! At least our neighbors in Oregon got savvy to this & have taken action to protect the innocent. Hey Linda, here’s another investigative opportunity for you… how many folks know that they can get caught like this & that they should contractually require signed Lien Releases from all sub-contractors working on a project, before making payment to the prime contractor?

Well, now we wait for Dec 1st, the day that the Sunroom folks are to be paid – I believe I heard Poston say that’s the money’s in escrow right now. Linda / King 5, please keep this blog open until then so that folks can let us all know that they’ve been paid/re-funded. For everybody’s sake, I truly hope this happens, but I’m have not going to hold my breath until this happens, because I’ve heard this ‘promise’ of being paid before & am still waiting!!! Mark my words; another ‘tragedy’ will befall Poston - I’m betting on his future story that the King 5 report caused the in-escrow lenders to withdraw from the loan.

Yes, two sides to every story, but let's stick to the same story. Whether or not someone stole from Mr. Poston before is irrelevant to his stealing from those people who hired him. Linda Byron's story was about homeowners not getting what they paid for; the side of the different homeowners was presented in interviews with them; Mr. Poston was on camera giving his side and saying that the people would be repaid - an apparent acknowledgement of his wrong-doing; and, even a third side was presented by an impartial 3rd party, an L&I investigator who reported that Mr. Poston broke the law. Did Mr. Poston come across poorly in the story because of a media vendetta against him, or because he was caught doing illegal activities which hurt many other people?

I've seen names bandied about of people who "wronged" Mr. Poston. I have no knowledge of those people. Do they exist? I don't know. I'll use the byline of the previous poster: "doesn't matter". Whether they exist - whether they wronged Mr. Poston is all part of a completely different story. THIS story is about Mr. Poston wronging other people - many other people. And this isn't a new story, because he has a long history of complaints against him in the courts.

Arguments in this blog are meaningless; only those conducted within a legal setting will ultimately be of any import. Obviously, Mr. Poston has both supporters and detractors. The people who met him in church are going to hold different opinions of him than those who lost money to him. But opinions are not admissible in a court-of-law - as Sgt. Joe Friday used to say week after week in Dragnet - "just the facts, ma'am!"

yes i know that. you(WeBeenVerned) have made your point that he broke the law. anyone in the puget sound who watches the 11:00 news could tell me that. i wasnt arguing the point of whether he had wrong-doings or not. i was simply expressing my opinion on how the story did not tell the whole story. that is slanted and biased. i realize whats done is done, i just wish they elaborated more. if linda wants GOOD story, she'll investigate Scott Cambell.

Only a few of you know the true story. Don’t be so quick to judge. I can tell you for a fact that this story is slanted and very biased from the flat fact that I was there through all of it and know the entire story that none of you are entitled to except the few who he owes money to.

Yes he took money and defaulted on work, but without knowing the why behind most of it, you jump to conclusions thinking that he's a crook and this is all an elaborate scheme to underhandedly steal people’s money.

There are many, many more factors involved in the last few years of this business than any of you "victims" know. And you innocent bystanders have no right to know any of the personal goings on of neither my father nor our situation. This story's point could still have been proven written in a less biased way. Not only that but the information from the interview wasn't even fully used. The true side of this story was never meant to exposed.

This story was about putting blame on any man they could find to fit what they wanted to arouse public awareness, not the truth behind why these few people are owed money by my father and why the business failed.

Quoting you, Jared: "...the entire story that none of you are entitled to except the few who he owes money to."
He owes me money, I asked for the true reasons and only got lies. Are you going to write a letter telling the whole story and mail it to us? I'm sure you have our contact information.
Anyway, that is still not the point. If we are to hear about his woes then should all the victims' woes also be talked about? That would make for a whole book, in my case alone.
The point is that one mistake does not justify another. When he took my money I did not go out and take someone else's to make it right.
I am sure not even you know all the story...

Bottom line is that he's made extremely poor decisions and gotten himself in deep crap.

For anyone to judge his current repentance as another scam is being ignorant on your part. If it is a scam, then he deals with God, not with any of us. That's on his soul.

His decisions were his fault, not anyone else's. I say this because while this point has not been brought up yet, it should be. His children have been harassed and threatened by a few of these victim customers, as well as continuously been verbally abused by some. One man in particular took it upon himself to trash talk Poston's children (whom the man had never met)every time he got Poston on the phone. Unforunately, I happened to be present at the time and overheard. Immature. The point of me bringing this up and even letting some readers have a glimpse into this is because when there are issues with a contractor or any business man, it should be kept within the legal system. The rest of the persons' family should be of no consequence, especially if they repeatedly say they had no idea this was going on in their house. Which is true, they didn't. Poston did not tell his children what was going on. ANYWAY after my ramble- for anyone who has future problems with any contractor, please keep the families out of it. Many times, the families are just as innocent as you!

To address a few comments:

"7. There are workmen who were hired by Mr. Poston who did not receive their rightful pay for work completed."

*his workmen for the deck and sunroom business took off after some of their first payments, to another state. Apparently, they were running from somebody but from who was never discovered. As for other workmen who did not receive rightful pay, two in particular, you guys have a wonderful reputation and deserve your pay. All of the workers do.

"Maybe our state needs stricter laws and measures (like using SSN or criminal checks before issuing any kind of contractor or business license, for example), to better protect consumers."

*I agree 100%!! This is a security issue, and maybe the state will change some policies now?

"The people who met him in church are going to hold different opinions of him than those who lost money to him."

* Surprisingly...some of these people HAVE lost money to him. Like I said, suprisingly. I cannot imagine their inner struggle over forgiveness vs. betrayal

"Did Mr. Poston come across poorly in the story because of a media vendetta against him, or because he was caught doing illegal activities which hurt many other people?"

*Both. Linda Byron claimed how hard he was to get ahold of lately...he moved in August, and her film of the Sammamish house was from no more than two weeks ago. She "found" him in a rental home in Bellevue- he was not hiding. Not bothering to mention how he quit the company 3 months ago, this also encouraged people to believe he is still out there "scamming" people, which he is not. Accusations, such as taking deposits after state warnings, those are on his conscience as that is one of the things there really is no explanation for, as much as we all want one.

--yes I know him personally, no I am not one sided as I agree with many accusations. He's admitted to several of his mistakes and admitted to almost every accusation against him. I won't try to defend those things when he himself agrees...--

"Sad is that this man has not been jailed and continues to open other companies and repeats his bilking tactics over and over."

*The court will decide very soon regarding jail time, I wouldn’t worry about that. As for continuing to open other companies, you are VERY mistaken. Poston began the process of handing over the sunroom company MONTHS ago, and was finished with it end of August completely. He has not been involved in any deck, sunroom, or home development projects since.

So anyway, readers, take all of this, my comment and everybody else’s however you want it...but there is no denying that these people deserve their money back and maybe we should be thankful Mr. Poston decided he was not meant to be a contractor, as that now eliminates the concern of his future involvement with that line of business.

**I probably wont be checking this blog again, so anybody who wants to leave a hate comment about my opinions and views, or just plain try to antagonize me with leaving names and all that, it’s a waste of your time. Sorry!**

Quote: "Mr. Poston decided he was not meant to be a contractor, as that now eliminates the concern of his future involvement with that line of business."

My concern precisely. What kind of business will he get into next? Consumers beware!

Bottom line - we have half-completed construction; our contract was not fulfilled; we'd like our money back.

Quote:

"What kind of business will he get into next? Consumers beware!"

Nothing in which he handles money, or has anything to do with owning/running any company. The biggest part is that he will have a boss, and would receive money only from him, as a paycheck, instead of other people and customers he works with in the future.

Hopefully a year from now will show an entirely different person, with absolutely no debt...aka everyone has their money!

To me?:
Do you have any concept of the vast amount of money that has slid in and out of Lavern's fingers? Poston defrauded us out of tens of thousands of dollars - no typo. Add that to what he has done to other people, businesses and subcontractors (and behind every subcontractor or business, there is another person or family). I'm unsure how you believe that in a year, he could possbily come up with the vast amount of money he owes to people (unless he wins the lottery). The scope of this is enormous. We are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, and from what we've heard, it could well be much more than that - his horrific behavior dates back YEARS AND YEARS and is not just limited to the sunroom business. It's all there in black and white in the court records and what isn't in the court records is in our docuemnted paper trails. Lavern readily admits liability for what he did, both verbally and in writing, but you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip and talk is cheap.

To Jared Poston:
No child, no matter your age, should have to see this side of a parent. I, among others, am truely sorry for your pain.

I am very upset to hear that someone involved has taken it upon themselves to bring Lavern's innocent children into his/her issues with Lavern. To verbally abuse children is very disgusting and shows the true character of those doing it. Yes, you may be angry with their father, but what are you trying to gain by harming them? Does it make you feel better and superior? It sounds like it is this "Scott Campbell" character from what I have read. I could be wrong. Whoever it is, needs to apologise to these children. The person you have issues with is Lavern, not his kids.

To Linda:

I forgot to thank you for your story. My only comment: you scratched just the surface of this, the saga predates the sunroom business. Please do a follow up story, there is much much more. You should also know that the day after your report aired, I recieved many calls and emails from friends here in the Puget Sound area asking me if I'd seen the report. They were intimately aware of the "Nightmare on Poston Street" we have endured. Many thanks for your reporting and investigation.

...better be careful 'just wondering' - unless you have certain knowledge, you could be flirting with libel by bringing names of people into this with the intent of casting negative light on them because it 'sounds like' a certain person...

alright guys this has got to stop. i know everyone has mixed emotions about my dad, and thats all fine. but the point of this blog commenting is to comment about the actual article not on how good or bad he is.

Dear Amy,
I am sorry that you have to be a part of this but the people that were harmed were not the ones to bring up the good/bad issue. This blog would have been great if we just stuck to the facts and maybe tried to get together to find a way to stop anything like this from happening again. Not only regarding your father.
Unfortunately, people that are trying to justify what your dad did disrupted the course I believe it would have taken, and things have become ugly.
You are right. This should not have become personal. I am sorry you have to go through this. Take care and be strong. You can do it.

To Not a Poston Fan:
I agree 100% with that. How can anyone make that much money in a year? I can only think of a couple of options besides winning the lottery: mortgage brokerage or real estate sales. Anyone has any other ideas?

I was also taken by "Vern" as you guys are calling him. I'm glad someone can still be cheerful enough to give him a nickname. Too bad I am not one that can relate this to cheerfulness. I have lost more than money to him.

Unlike yourselves, I did not meet him at a home show but through a common "acquaintance".

Here are a few corrections and facts:
- He did not move out of his expensive house in August. He moved in October, mid-October.
- His expensive house is not in foreclosure, he quit claim to one of his investors.
- Yes, Linda has just scratched the surface. There is so much more that it is almost impossible to track. Someone like the FBI should get involved.
- How to deal with forgiveness vs betrayal? You don't need to be Christian to have to handle that. You just need to be too close for comfort.
- His kids were not supposed to have been a part of it, but Lavern was the first to make them a part of it by using them as excuses for not completing the work he promised.

All we can do is wait and hope that someday what was taken from us will be returned.

Jared, I am sorry that you have to see all of this trash talk about your dad, but facts are facts and the King County records and court docs are backing up all this talk. Your dad is hardly Ward Cleaver and he is setting the worse example by not being totally honest with you about his business affairs and it is totally understandable that you are going to stand up for your dad, but the long history and long paper trails are telling the truth unlike your father.

One more correction: there are no open criminal charges against him. Jail time will not happen until the prosecutors get involved - which they have not. I fear that blogger "me?" is trying to mislead us into thinking that all has been taken care of. It has not. It is up to us, the people that he has done wrong, to make someone take this further and change laws to prevent that similar fraud will take place in our state.

I have an idea! We can start a private discussion group(controlled by a moderators that have been verned)on yahoo or google where we can discuss facts in detail and compile them into a report. We will have more strength as a group and maybe we can change some laws to benefit consumers in general.
Is anyone up to that?

Please read Beentheredonethat comments above.

hmmm and who was this "aquaintance" of yours?

...Well -- it's December 1st - anybody out there been paid back yet like LaVern promised on the news report?

...Anyone?

...Anyone at all?

Blooger 2, I am not "flirting" with libel. "Innocent bystander" states specifically that "Scott Campbell" trash talked Lavern's children and appears to have direct knowledge of this. Whoever did this, knows who they are, and I still say needs to apologise personally or otherwise.
Thank you to the people who have written words of encouragement to Lavern's children. I agree that this has gotten off course.

To the Poston kids, stop reading the blog, try to insulate yourself from very unpleasant situation. The circumstances that your father is in can't be fixed (or defended) by you.

To the other bloggers, if you haven't shared your Vern experience with the prosecutors, please do so.

To Linda Byron, Can you help coordinate efforts to get a complete list of people defrauded by Poston to ensure he can't do this to anyone ever again, and to help pass laws to prevent anyone else from doing it either.

General Comment: The story wasn't an expose' of Poston, it was a story on the fraud committed. The most realistic outcome is to find out how to change the law, and hopefully prosecute Poston.

In response to:
"To the other bloggers, if you haven't shared your Vern experience with the prosecutors, please do so."

We tried to do so by sending a complaint to Attorney General. The response we received was that they do not have time and resources to go after such cases. We tried several other ways and did not get any results. L&I sent our complaint to prosecution and we never heard of any results either.

I think what you suggested:

"To Linda Byron, Can you help coordinate efforts to get a complete list of people defrauded by Poston to ensure he can't do this to anyone ever again, and to help pass laws to prevent anyone else from doing it either." is the only way to wake up the prosecution and lawmakers.

And btw. for the fellow blogger who asked:

"...Well -- it's December 1st - anybody out there been paid back yet like Lavern promised on the news report?

...Anyone?

...Anyone at all?"

The answer is: No calls, no messages, no money... until now (december 1st, almost noon).
I will keep you informed.

To Blogger "Another Victim" - I think there may be others in the community who may have had interactions with Poston and have *not* reported them. Poston has been doing "business" in this area (and maybe out of state) for quite some time. To build support toward a law change (and prosecution of Poston), a detailed history of all the experiences needs to be put together. I want to encourage others to step forward, regardless of the time that has elapsed since the interaction (s).

I hear your frustration. Clearly, you are not alone; I support the effort to wisely organize the information that the "authorities" could not get or act on. The facts, and details that *haven't* been heard need to be brought forth.

To: Another Victim

What avenue did you use to complain to the Attorney General? I am thinking that perhaps we should all file complaints the same way to the same person so that they are able to see the volume - maybe then it will be large enough for someone to pursue....

Does anyone out there have some legal experience or can you share which person(s) / department(s) in the state legal system we should direct complaints to?

It’s been interesting watching this blog gather steam to the point where folks are talking about working together both about pursuing Lavern Poston & also, possibly more importantly, about getting some sense of civic action together to influence our state authorities to take action so that future Poston-like scenario’s are minimized.

While I had previously reconciled myself to the effects of Poston, this article & blog has re-activated a desire to have some sort of positive outcome out of something so negative for so many. In the spirit of the last number of items posted, I’ve reached out to Linda Byron on how long this blog will be available, so that we can use it as an initial staging ground for us to be able to form an interest group.

Here are some suggestions, which I’d be happy to coordinate:
1. Establish a qualified participant list (looking to see if Linda can help us with this initially):
• Participation in this group will only be open to people with a case against Poston or his prior companies - this will not be a forum to debate the merits of his defense or character.
• People need to be prepared to identify themselves personally & be able to substantiate their issues. I was thinking that a binder, with a section for each person, be compiled to send forward.
2. Establish a separate online blog / community, which will have access limited to qualified participants, to assist in ongoing communication & document sharing.
3. Arrange a public meeting forum to:
• Discuss individual cases & potential direction in compiling a dossier for submission to the attorney general.
• Identify how to lobby state legislators to review the company registration & individual trading practices and discuss how to solicit a sponsor to investigate the sub-contractor lien laws in WA.

While the King 5 blog is still available on this, it would be great to get feedback from folks who are up for this & gauge how many are prepared to get involved in doing something?

Quote:

""...Well -- it's December 1st - anybody out there been paid back yet like Lavern promised on the news report?"

First off, he did not promise. No dramatization please.I agree, people were looking forward to today because he DID say he would pay people back today...that was recorded, absolutely NO denying that one! But anyway, Second, no one is being paid back today, sorry. Linda Byron knows the story as she was given LaVern's attorneys phone number. If Linda would like to share the current information, as well as the date of the "release of funds"(after the probationary period), then that is up to her. If she is not aware of what is going on, she knows how to find out. Linda? Any comments? I can guarantee a lot of people would like to know!

We would like to share our experiences with others and have actually created a yahoo! group for it. However we got stuck on how we could identify who could participate in this information exchange (we definitely do not want to have Vern fans there!). Any suggestions?
We considered proof by court records (but many victims did not go to court), pictures, etc., but really did not find a way that would work for everyone.
We also asked Linda to email to all victims the name of the group and how you can join. I hope she will be able to help us a little more since she already did so much by doing this investigation and creating the report. Thank you, Linda!
We are open to suggestions on how to move forward.

I have returned from vacation to read what several friends have informed me of, wish I could have watched the newscast. Let me just say that I have NEVER spoken an unkind word about or to any of LaVern Poston's children, each of whom I have met and think highly of, and my deepest sympathies go with them and Mrs. Poston. In addition, I had nothing to do with his expose as a poor business man or any of the claims that have been made. However, he did take funds I lent him and he misapplied them costing me significant money and time, and has never offered an explanation as to why he did that. I have been proud to assist several parties that he also harmed and would do it again. You don't have to guess my name because I am signing this - Scott Campbell

The group we created is groups.yahoo.com/webeenverned - because we liked your id so much - we hope you do not mind us borroving it.
While joining please provide a phone number for us to check who you are. Thanks!

Thank you for joining, not a poston fan.
We look forward to Webeenverned, beentheredonethat, greenidladi and other victims joining too.

We were nailed my LLP as well. Does anyone know Linda Byrons' email address?

Has anybody had contact with LLP? Anyone received a cent from him yet?

To Badly Verned:

...don't know Linda Byron's address but you can call King 5 and they will put you through to her voice mail where you can leave a message.

We've not heard from Lavern nor been compensated for losses.

Please consider joining the Yahoo! group.

WOW!! A Lavern Poston bashing site. Just what I've always wanted. When we were kids Lavern used to beat me up and take my lunch money. There, take that Vern, see I told you that I'd get back at you. Thanks, Linda Byron.

Linda,

I just found your blog site, and I too have been scammed, and have more to the story in this web of fraudulient business activity..

A few months back, I was at the home show in Portland, and came across the Northwest Finish Sunrooms, LLC., display. I did my homework, checked them out, and their references, it looked fine (I realized later I should have done a background check on the President, Joseph Horek )

After I handed over thousdands, I found out Joe Horek, the Preseident of Northwest Finish Sunrooms, had illegal intentions based on fraudulient sales.

From my initial understanding, Joe Horek purchased the company Northwest Sunrooms, and changed the name to Northwest Finish Sunrooms LLC. A couple of months ago, he closed his shop after scamming thousands of dollars from home owners in the Pacific Northwest (which I had spoke to some of his customers and confirmed). He is back in business today with a website name change to www.sunroomsnw.com (a business name owned by a legitimate businessman in southwest Washington according to L&I). Joseph Horek, who I understand now lives in Hillsboro Oregon, is also doing business under the name as Martin-Winn consulting; www.martinwinn.com as a construction consultant for home owners.

We have estimated (though not confirmed) in the past 6 months, he has taken over $300,000 from people in southwest Washingtion, and Portland Oregon region. Some of those have leins placed on their homes since Joe Horek did not pay his contractors. Some of the unfortunate include home owners left with a construction mess.

So, it appears to be a web of fraudulient business activity, that is still going on today that MUST be stopped!

The authorities need to take SERIOUS ACTION against Joe Horek IMMEDIATELY!

How can we make this happen?

Thanks for your informative service Linda.

Email:columbiacrossing@hotmail.com

PUBLIC AWARENESS WARNING!: BEWARE of JOSEPH JOE HOREK of Oregon and Washington. ANYONE considering doing ANY kind of business with Joe Horek should do a background check on him, and report him the Washington State Labor and Industries Contractors Board. Joe has swindled THOUSANDS of dollars from northwest citizens. We have found Joseph Joe Horek currently living in Ridgefield, still doing business in many forms; Sunrooms Northwest, Martin Winn, and a mortgage rep for US Funding Group.

Mr. Lavern Poston,
I can tell by the posts here that you and/or your relatives are lurking about defending you. I had no idea who you were until I heard your name in the news. You see, 7 years ago, when I moved and got a new number from the phone company, they stuck me with the phone number YOU had disconnected.
Now, it all makes sense... those impatient bill collectors and maybe even irate former customers who kept calling at all hours of the day, asking for LaVern Poston. Thinking you were female (as in Laverne and Shirley), I just kept telling these callers that I had no idea who SHE is, where SHE is and what they're talking about then I'd hang up. On one instance, a caller looking for you called me up again and yelled at me for hanging up. YOU should have been getting those calls, and dealing with them.
I should have changed my phone number right away, but eventually, I just got used to having my answering machine screen all my calls. I can't believe after at least 7 years, WA state didn't catch on to what you're doing until recently. Are you still giving people your old phone number, so that they'll reach the REAL innocent bystander (me) instead of you?
Did you really find God? Good for you. Now, let the people you owe money to find YOU.

P.S. I heard about Mr. Poston on the news only two or three nights ago; and I only caught the last two minutes of the story connecting his name to construction scams. Checking the dates of the first few blogs here, they must have run the same story last year. I certainly hope everything's been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Then maybe I can get back to answering my phone personally. Can someone let me know what's happened to Mr. Poston? is he in jail now? That way, if I answer the phone and the caller is another bill collector looking for him, I'll have an answer.

Good site! I'll stay reading! Keep improving!