Lewis May
Embattled Little Rock general contractor Lewis May agreed last week to pay a $3.38 million judgment.
May, president of dormant May Construction Co., entered into the consent judgment with Berkley Regional Insurance Co. of Urbandale, Iowa, which sued May, the construction company and May’s wife, Debra, to recoup what it paid out for performance bonds in connection with five construction projects between 2008 and 2009.
If you recall, Berkley sued the defendants in federal court last year for a list of projects that included the Village at Hendrix in Conway in 2008 and the Stuttgart rice research project for the University of Arkansas System.
May didn’t dispute Berkley’s allegations, according to the filing, which was signed by U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall Jr.
Attorney David Grace of North Little Rock represented Berkley and declined to comment.
May’s attorney, Frederick S. “Tripp” Wetzel III of Little Rock, didn’t immediately return a call for comment. And we couldn’t reach May because the voice mailbox at his home address was full.
But that wasn’t the last of May’s legal entanglements.
He is also battling a lawsuit filed by United Rentals (North America) in Pulaski County Circuit Court. That lawsuit also names Lambeth Construction LLC of Little Rock, which, according to the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, is a doing-business-as name for May Construction.
United Rentals said May defaulted on a line of credit that totaled $13,700, including interest and costs as of March. The debt was generated between November 2012 and June 2013, United Rental said in its court filings.
May, in turn, has denied liability on the account and said United Rentals failed to apply credits to his account.
Still, a foreclosure lawsuit filed last year by Summit Bank of Arkadelphia (since acquired by Bank of the Ozarks) remains open. The bank sued to foreclose on Mays’ home in west Little Rock because he allegedly defaulted on a $100,000 loan taken out in October 2007. Mays’ 6,814-SF home was appraised on the county books at $1.1 million.
May denied the allegations in his court filings.
May Construction was once one of Arkansas’ largest general contractors. May reported revenue of $94 million in 2008, making it the fifth-largest general contractor in the state.
But then the company went into a nosedive. May even faced a criminal charge in 2009 in Virginia in connection with not paying a contractor $453,000. The felony fraud charge against Lewis May eventually was dismissed, but May Construction pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of petty larceny and paid a $500 fine in 2010.
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