Construction company says it's owed $165K for work on Rep. Trevor Lee's new house

LAYTON — Subcontractors say they are owed $165,000 for work done on the home of a Republican state lawmaker.

The owners of Ellis Construction say they poured a concrete foundation on a new Layton home for Rep. Trevor Lee in the spring of 2024. But two years later, they say, they haven't been compensated at all — despite multiple promises by Lee to make sure they got paid, assuring them it was his "No. 1 priority."

"We did the work, and we never got any money," said Jeff Ellis, one of the owners of Ellis Construction, which is based in West Bountiful.

Nate Ellis, Jeff Ellis' brother and business partner, added he felt "betrayed."

The Ellises decided to speak publicly about the situation after two other businessmen recently came forward to accuse Lee of fraud and abusing his power. Among those allegations was a claim that Lee used his position in the Utah Legislature to try to secure a government contract for a former employer who advanced him $93,000 while he was having problems building his new home.

Lee, who's running for reelection to the Utah House of Representatives, has called those allegations "completely false," and he denies any wrongdoing in the construction of his home. Instead, he blames the man he hired as a general contractor for part of the project.

"He took money from our construction loan and paid himself," Lee told KSL. "That was money that was supposed to go to the subs."

Ultimately, Lee obtained a certificate of compliance from the state, allowing him to finalize the purchase of the home.

The Ellises also blame the general contractor for failing to pay them and are suing him. But they say Lee made "a lot of promises" to make them whole and carries plenty of responsibility himself.

"A man's word is a man's word," said Jeff Ellis. "If you can't keep your word, what good are you?"

What happened?

Jeff and Nate Ellis say they spent several weeks pouring the foundation at Lee's home in April and May of 2024. They say they were hired by Ryan Andersen, owner of Falcon View Homes, whom Lee had hired as general contractor.

"It was a big job. It wasn't a standard foundation," Jeff Ellis said. "It was kind of complicated."

After the project was done, the brothers wanted to be paid. The cost, they say, was $165,000 — much of that for materials, and the rest for labor.

Lee repeatedly told the Ellises over several months that he would get them paid, according to text messages they shared with KSL, but those payments never materialized.

On Sept. 29, 2024, Lee texted to say he had paid Andersen "close to $200,000," but said "he hasn't paid you guys anything from our draws." The lawmaker said he would speak with some friends the next day "to look at getting a loan from them to get you guys paid."

On Oct. 7, 2024, Lee said he hadn't been able to secure a private loan. When asked if he had fired Andersen, Lee said, "Kinda." He added that his lawyer advised Lee to have the contractor finish the framing and roof.

A week later, Lee told the Ellises he had another meeting with a friend about getting a loan. He apologized for not responding the day before because he was helping President Donald Trump's reelection campaign.

Nate Ellis texted for an update on Oct. 22. Lee said he had listed his current house for sale and was looking to refinance the construction loan by the end of that month. Jeff Ellis texted the next day, saying he felt like Lee was "stringing us along now."

"It's been you'll get paid in 2 weeks ever since May," he wrote. "Now it's another 2 weeks and you're still working on the house. This is not fair. Stop work until you pay us."

Lee wrote back that he had to extend his construction loan or pay a fee and offered to call later.

"I just don't understand how you have money for electrical supplies but not a dime for us," Jeff Ellis replied. "It doesn't make sense. I would stop everything until I was caught up. It feels like you are planning to never pay."

Lee responded that Andersen managed the construction loan, and that it didn't allow him to use money for whatever he wanted.

"We can't do another draw for the foundation," Lee wrote, adding that is where the issue stems from. "He kept trying to rob Peter to pay Paul, and in fact hasn't paid a bunch of subs including you guys."

The following month, Jeff Ellis wrote that his company paid off its purchase of the concrete used to lay the foundation and again asked Lee for payment.

"Believe it or not, we're still working on our (refinance)," Lee replied, "and we're frustrated it's taking so long."

On Dec. 2, Lee said the refinance is "close," and told the Ellises they were "still first on list to get paid."

But on Dec. 19, Jeff Ellis sent a photo of Lee's home being built, asking, "What in the world is going on here?"

"I still haven't got any money and you're still working with Ryan and having more subs come in?" he said. "You can't even give me a payment? This is really getting hard to swallow."

Lee said Andersen was "working for free as far (as) I care" and that a friend was working as the new builder. He said he couldn't pay Ellis Construction until the refinance was complete.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2024, Jeff and Nate Ellis also pushed Andersen for payment via text messages. Andersen told them he was "working on it" and making "slow" progress.

But the Ellises say they never received any money. They said they had to take out a line of credit on their family property to cover the costs of the unpaid job and keep their business going.

'It didn't go smooth on my end or his end'

Andersen, who said he's worked in homebuilding since the early 1990s, told KSL the construction of Lee's house was "in arrears" from the start. He acknowledged "it didn't go smooth on my end or his end," and he left the project as general contractor before it was finished.

Andersen said the house was bigger than what was initially agreed upon and bigger than what the bank expected.

Including the basement, the home is more than 10,000 square feet, with eight bedrooms, five bathrooms and two garages, according to Davis County property records. It has a separate structure described as a "racquetball court." The home was most recently assessed at a market value of $710,889. But Andersen said the cost to build was roughly $1 million.

The increased cost of construction meant Andersen had to borrow money from a friend and borrow more money for permits, he said, admitting he had to "rob Peter to pay Paul" to keep the project going.

Andersen said he was paid a down payment at the start of construction, but didn't receive further payments from Lee. As the manager of the construction loan, he said he took some money from that fund to cover his costs and help pay some of the subcontractors.

"I'll take fault where I'm at fault, but I got hired to build a house and I should have got paid for what I did," he said. "And I did get paid for what I did but I still owe money for people."

Lee declined an interview for this story, but in a text message, the lawmaker told KSL he blames Andersen for not paying subcontractors like the Ellises.

"(He) stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from us," Lee said via text. "Wasn't paying subcontractors like the Ellises. We went to court and got a judgment against Ryan and had the liens removed. We felt bad for the subcontractors and tried to get loans to help cover for them."

Andersen said he took a total of $160,000 from the loan over two years, saying the amount was "probably close to what was owed to me."

"I probably took more than I should have, but I was also at that point in time, when the dust settled and when we had the house finished, I was willing to reconcile," he said, noting that he had poorly managed books but that Lee still owed him money at the time.

"If the money was there," Andersen added, "they would have all gotten paid."

Lee told KSL Andersen "is being sued by many other families that went through the same mess we did."

Falcon View Homes and Andersen have indeed faced several similar lawsuits from people they have worked with in recent years. One lawsuit, filed on behalf of a married couple from Davis County, alleges Falcon View Homes engages in a "bait-and-switch" scheme involving construction budgets the company has "no intention or ability to meet" that comes with a large demand of cash as the close of the sale approaches.

Multiple liens were filed against Lee's property by several companies before the home was finished, including by Ellis Construction and the lumber company. Those were removed after Lee obtained a certificate of compliance from Utah's Division of Professional Licensing, showing he met his obligations to his contractor.

The division issues those certificates to show that homeowners have paid off their dues to contractors, meaning subcontractors must go after the general contractors for any missing payments.

The process for obtaining that certificate began when Lee and his wife sued Falcon View Homes on Aug. 8, 2025, and received a $0 default judgment in their favor two months later, after the contractor failed to respond to the complaint. Andersen said he didn't fight Lee's lawsuit because it was one of the requirements that would have allowed subcontractors to seek compensation through the state's lien recovery fund, which is in the process of being phased out.

Lee was then issued the certificate of compliance on Oct. 9, after which Ellis Construction dropped its lien against the property on advice of its attorney.

Ellis Construction had previously sued the Lees, Andersen and Falcon View Homes in early 2025. The Lees were dropped from the lawsuit in early December after receiving the certificate of compliance for the home, but legal action against the contractor is still pending.

The company that sold the lumber for Lee's home also sued the Lees, Falcon View Homes and Andersen's father early last year. That case is ongoing, but the Lees were similarly dismissed from the suit in October.

Other allegations

Lee was first elected to the Legislature in 2022. He's running for a third term in House District 16, which covers part of Davis County. But as he does, Lee faces scrutiny on Capitol Hill for his past business dealings.

As first reported by KSL last month, Lee is accused of committing check fraud in 2013 while working for Moxie Pest Control. Lee admitted to behaving dishonestly but said he put the matter behind him.

He's also accused of using his position in the Legislature to try to help his former employer, Enevive, to get a government contract in exchange for advancing him $93,000 to show additional income in order to be approved for financing for his new home in Layton. No government contract ever materialized.

The Utah House speaker has referred the allegations to the attorney general's office for an investigation. The attorney general's office did not comment when asked for an update.

Days after those allegations became public, Lee came in second at the GOP convention behind Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson. Both Stevenson and Lee will face off in a primary on June 23. The winner will advance to the general election.

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