NewsandTribune tells MHProNews.com Kevin Carroll filed a $5 million lawsuit against Clayton Homes of Maryville, Tennessee, alleging he lost his business to Clayton after they loaned him $150,000 to buy out his partners, and two weeks later promptly closed a plant in Hodgenville, Kentucky that supplied him with manufactured homes and parts. Carroll says he was selling $2 million in homes each year, even in the slow economy of 2008, and that Clayton had built the plant in Hodgenville to supply him with inventory. Kevin Clayton, president of Clayton Homes, says he had no idea his company was planning to close that facility, and that Carroll could buy products from one of Clayton’s other eight plants. Carroll contends it was a way for Clayton Homes to gain control of his business, since he had no way of selling homes that were not finished and therefore no way to repay his loan. Kevin Clayton has a different version: “We were caught off guard by this. We had a tremendous relationship with him (Carroll),” he said. “He asked to borrow money on a couple of occasions and we did that. He sold us the business or he was going to default on his loans.”
Photo credit: NewsandTribune/Kevin McGloshen—Kevin Carroll in front of his former dealership))
