‘Very frustrating’: New home buyers complain after lengthy delays

PALM BAY, Fla. — Some central Florida families signed contracts on their dream homes but claim the home building process has turned into a nightmare. They told Action 9 the home builder, Palladio Development, took their money but has failed to deliver on the homes.

“It’s sad. I mean, I felt that I would have been living in this house for two years by this point,” said Jessica Hossain as she showed the Action 9 team the shell of her unfinished home in Palm Bay.

She could feel the frustration bubbling up as she thought about what she called broken promises by home builder Palladio Development.

Hossain said, “Completely unlivable house and it’s very frustrating.”

She and her husband signed a contract in 2021 with an expected initial completion date of December 2022. They were looking forward to raising their children in the home, but when the completion date approached Jessica Hossain began to worry.

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“The communication from Palladio was also getting worse. So, I was starting to feel like maybe we got involved with a shady company,” Hossain said.

The completion date was pushed back a year, but that date passed, too. The one year the family expected has now turned into 29 months.

Action 9 has learned the man behind the company has a criminal history going back decades. State records list Giro Katsimbrakis as a manager of the California company.

The businessman received three years of probation after pleading guilty to federal credit card fraud and counterfeiting charges in a 1994 case. In 2003, he was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for bank fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was also ordered to pay up to $850,000 in restitution.

Now, two decades later, his company, Palladio Development has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau. Other customers complained about construction delays and broken promises. In one review, a customer wrote: “They don’t even deserve 1 star. This entire process has been a nightmare.”

Jessica Hossain told Action 9, “He’s sitting in California. This isn’t affecting him. But all of us here, we’re in limbo. We have mental anguish. We have stress, we have, you know, financial problems now.”

Action 9 went to the Palladio sales office in Palm Bay for answers.

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Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal said, “We’ve received some consumer complaints saying that you guys are taking deposits, but not building the homes on time.”

A woman at the office responded, “Ok. The broker is not here.” She referred Deal to Giro Katsimbrakis.

When reached by phone, Giro Katsimbrakis admitted the timeline is a problem and blamed COVID for starting the delays. But he said Palladio is honoring the contracts and it will complete the homes. Katsimbrakis also said his criminal cases from more than 20 years ago are not relevant now.

Would-be homeowners may not be the only ones impacted. Court records in Brevard County show several contractors have also taken legal action claiming Palladio owes them thousands of dollars for work and building supplies.

Katsimbrakis said he would make good with his vendors, too.

And even though Katsimbrakis told Action 9 he’s now targeting a July completion date for Jessica Hossain’s home; she wonders if they will ever really be able to move into what they expected would be their dream home. She’s hoping something can be done to keep others from going through what her family has.

Hossain said, “It just feels really awful that someone can operate like that and not really care.”

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