Waddell couple says licensed contractor took $56K and then disappeared
Integrity steel was hired to build a metal shop last year
WADDELL, AZ (3TV/CBS 5)—Brian Lueck and his wife live on a little slice of Heaven in the West Valley region known as Waddell. “Man, there are lots of little areas around here,” On Your Side’s Gary Harper said as Brian showed him around his property. Brian replied, “Yeah, it helps keep the animals where you want them.
Brian and his wife live on two acres where on one part of the property, he raises chickens, and in another portion, he keeps a horse. But there’s still plenty of other room to do what Brian wanted, which was to build a metal shop in this area so he could restore old vehicles like this Ford.
Brian walked along the area where the shop was to be built. “We were going to start here and it was going to go about 70 feet past that lemon tree down there, and then it would come here to 40 feet and have an awning about right here.”
Brian says he hired Integrity Steel, owned by Nick Lammers, and handed over two checks totaling around $56,000 to start that project.
But that was six long months ago, and as you can see, Nick Lammers hasn’t built anything on the property. And according to Brian, communication with Lammers has stopped. Harper asked, “Is he returning your phone calls?” Brian replied, “No. No one is. He’s not answering phone calls. Not answering texts.”
Nick Lammers failed to respond to On Your Side’s emails, so we went looking for him and discovered he was building a sprawling Gilbert home for himself. We knew we were in the right spot when we noticed this black Cadillac Escalade with the license plate “LAMMERS.”
On Your Side rang the front doorbell numerous times, but no one ever answered. However, guess who called while we were there? Nick Lammers seemed a little surprised that we were asking about Brian Lueck and his wife’s project that they paid for. “I was calling about the Luecks who live in Waddell. They gave you $56,000 six months ago to build a shop, and there’s no shop.” On Your Side’s Gary Harper said to Lammers.
Nick Lammers hesitated, then acknowledged he was paid and did not start the job. Then, he pointed the finger at Maricopa County for allegedly holding up his permit that he submitted.
“I can’t go out and physically start the project. There is structural engineering that goes into it. I’m just waiting to hear back from (Maricopa County) so I can get the project going.”
Harper shot back, “Well, the Luecks haven’t heard from you, and you have their $56,000. It’s been six months, and it just doesn’t look very good. Can you understand their concern?” Nick Lammers replied, “I do understand their concern.” Once again, he blamed Maricopa County.
So, is Maricopa County to blame, as Nick Lammers claims? County officials tell On Your Side not at all, saying Lammers permit application was incomplete.
In an email to On Your Side, a county spokesperson said, “There was a permit application submitted for a detached steel building on 2/9/24. However, it remains in initialized status pending more information needed. Our Planning and Zoning Department emailed Mr. Lammers on 2/9/24 asking for structural and foundation calculations for the pre-engineered steel building. We have yet to receive that information from Mr. Lammers, so we are at a bit of a standstill.”
On Your Side passed that information on to Nick Lammers, but he stopped communicating with us despite several emails indicating we were airing a news report.
Brian and his wife say they’re not surprised Nick Lammers stopped communicating with On Your Side, claiming that’s exactly what he did to them after taking their $56,000. “It’s devastating,” Brian said. “I mean, that kind of money is something you work really hard for.”
The Arizona Registrar of Contractors is currently investigating Nick Lammers and Integrity Steel.
In fact, the agency recently issued Lammers a citation for “abandonment of contract.” He has until March 23 to reply. When there’s an update, On Your Side will let you know in a follow-up report.
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