CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – In June 2023, Jerene Buckles paid nearly $35,000 as a deposit for a home she believed would replace the one her family lost in a devastating fire.
Unfortunately, her dream of a new home remains unfulfilled, and she’s still waiting for a refund that never arrived.
Buckles, a mother of nine children—several of whom are disabled—says the fire that destroyed her home left her family devastated. After spending two months in a hotel, the Buckles family turned to A&L Sheds, hoping to purchase a new home built on a custom floor plan that promised three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a walk-in closet, designed for their large family.
Jerene was assured that the new home would be built on a plot of land they had acquired, a spacious location with room for livestock, including chickens and sheep. The structure was designed to be a 3,600-square-foot log cabin with a wraparound porch.
Excited by the possibility of rebuilding their lives, Buckles made the decision to pay the deposit in full. In June 2023, she handed over the nearly $35,000, believing that the home would be built as promised.
“We were just so amazed and blessed,” Buckles recalls. “It was everything we wanted.”
But that dream quickly turned to disappointment when construction delays began.
Originally, the build was scheduled for June 2023, but the timeline was pushed back multiple times, first to October 2023, then again to January 2024. As the delays stretched on, Buckles requested a refund. Her temporary housing assistance, provided by insurance, was running out, and she was left with no option but to demand her money back.
“We have a friend who encouraged us to ask for the business insurance documents just in case something went wrong with the build.” So, Buckles says she did her due diligence. “I asked for their contractor’s license and a few other things. I didn’t see any red flags,” she said.
But despite repeated assurances that a refund was forthcoming, no payment arrived.
Last November, Buckles was told the refund would be processed by the end of the month. She was hopeful that, by Thanksgiving, she would have the $35,000 returned to her account. But once again, the refund never came through.
As of now, nearly a year later, Buckles has not received a single penny of her refund. The lack of resolution is frustrating, particularly as the family nears another Thanksgiving with no new home and no refund.
“She says they’re trying to come up with the money. But she’s been telling me that for almost a year. I think she think I’m gullible and I’ll just keep on holding on” Buckles said.
Jalene has filed a police report in hopes of recovering her money and is considering legal action. However, she says she cannot afford the fees associated with filing a lawsuit without the refund she is owed.
“I’ll be spending money to ask for money from someone who clearly doesn’t have any money to give me” Buckles said.
She also says has learned that she is not alone. Other customers who paid large sums of money to A&L Sheds report similar experiences, with no homes built and no refunds received. Some of these individuals have taken their complaints to small claims court in an attempt to recover their funds.
The Buckles family remains in limbo, caught between hopes of rebuilding and the harsh reality that they’ve been left stranded without the home or money they were promised. As of now, they continue to wait for justice—both for their family and for the others who are in the same situation.
