Polk County Man Continues to Wait for Home

A man who paid a local company for a home in March is still homeless and a recent court ruling will keep him in that same situation for some time.

We first introduced you to Bill Stewart in August when 100 degree temperatures were causing problems as he camped outside waiting for his new home.  Now he faces temperature problems of a different kind as the court tries to sort out where his money went.

For 56 years, Bill Stewart has planted a garden and waited for the fruits of his labor.  At the beginning of this year’s planting season, Stewart gave a lot of a different kind of green to Dogwood Mobile Homes for a modular building to replace his house that burned down during the January ice storm.  Since then, Dogwood Homes cashed his $36,000 check.

But the business never delivered that home.  Now, he's sleeping in a small camper with no running water and cooking in a shed.

“What makes me mad is you think they're crazy or something.  What's the difference between me going up there and going to your house and getting $36,000 and walking off?” asks Stewart.

A judge ordered Dogwood Homes to pay Stewart and two other customers in similar situations their money back in September.  But because the owners of Dogwood Homes, Mike and Kay Jackson, never showed up in court this past fall, the judge ruled for another hearing for them to make their case about what happened to the money.

“I think there's a possibility that someone took the money from Dogwood Homes.  At this point, Mike Jackson doesn't have any money in his bank account and the business has very little money.” says Richard Stevens, the Jacksons' attorney.

“I haven't said much about it, didn't think it would do any good.  But, I could say some really mean things now if I get a notion.” says Stewart.

Instead the 83-year-old gardener is choosing to continue growing his patience as he continues to wait for a house on the piece of property he calls home.

The Missouri Attorney General's office has taken Dogwood Homes to court twice this year for fraudulent business practices and there are at least two other customers like Bill Stewart still waiting for a home from Dogwood Homes or to get their money back.  A judge will hear from the Jacksons in December to decide whether they'll have to pay those customers back.

KOLR/KSFX has received multiple calls from people wanting to help Bill Stewart.  To do so, his family has set up a donation fund at US Bank under William B. Stewart from Polk County.