Joseph Matesi, who started the Cedar Crest-based company Holistic Habitats more than a decade ago, specializes in building straw bale homes with a post-and-beam structure.

One of those homes, built in Edgewood in 1995, took just eight months to build and is a great home, according to its owner, Thomas Caudell.

It was a different story for Paul Dickson. There was no straw house and no huffing and puffing, but Dickson did file a civil lawsuit in December 2008.

"I had to buy another house," he said. "The dream (of building a straw-bale house) is still alive, but I'm going to have to find somebody else to help me with it."

In the complaint filed with the Second Judicial Court in Albuquerque, plaintiffs Dickson and Susan Fitzgerald say they gave Matesi or his company about $60,000 to do work on a home near Madrid and got nothing in return.

Although no construction took place, according to the complaint, Dickson was shown receipts for work or materials anyway.

"Holistic (Habitats) and Matesi have intentionally provided false and fraudulent accountings to plaintiffs relating to their deposits," the lawsuit states.

A response to the complaint states that the contractual obligation was between Holistic Habitats and Dickson, not Matesi personally. To complicate the matter, Holistic Habitats has filed for bankruptcy protection, according to Michael Cadigan, Dickson and Fitzgerald's attorney. Matesi formed a new company, Sustainable Living Environments Inc. in July 2008.

Dickson and Fitzgerald amended their complaint to include the new company, stating that it is "a substantial continuation of the business of Holistic Habitats, Inc. and uses the reputation, personnel and equipment used by Holistic Habitats …"

That claim is denied by the defense in the court documents.

According to a filed response to Dickson's and Fitzgerald's allegations, signed by Matesi's attorney James E. Kirk, the new company was formed while Holistic Habitats still had contracts, employees and other assets and obligations and that the new company is in a different location and has none of the same employees.

The response also states, however, that the new company temporarily entered into a contract with one of Holistic Habitat's customers and the companies have had "a couple of equipment leases" in common and has "a few tangible assets for which Defendant paid Holistic Habitats, Inc. good value."

Another lawsuit against Matesi claiming misrepresentation, fraud and other damages was filed by Carol Newton in October 2008, according to court documents.

Newton's complaint includes a sworn affidavit by Michael and Tessa Lowen, which states that the couple paid a $10,000 deposit to Matesi and later paid a bill of $6,000.

"After taking $16,000 of our money, Mr. Matesi never performed any work at our construction site to begin the construction of our home," the affidavit states.

There may be other customers with complaints who haven't filed suit, according to Cadigan.

"(Matesi) appears to have a string of unhappy clients," Cadigan said.

Matesi was contacted by telephone but would not answer questions about the case. Kirk also was contacted and requested to consult with his client before answering questions, but did not call back.

Cadigan said, if his clients win the case, it is likely they will be paid in some sort of structured settlement. That is often a few hundred dollars each month divided among several parties.

"It's just a consumer rip-off, that's all I can tell you," he said. "This is one of the most egregious cases I've ever seen in 17 years of practicing law."