FENTON, Mo. – One neighborhood is up in arms over an unlicensed auto repair business, that set up shop illegally in the middle of a residential community.
Home owners reached out to the I-Team about what they're calling an ugly mess.
Now, even some of the repair shop's customers are complaining.
It all started earlier in December with a call for help from a next-door neighbor on Pine Haven Drive.
Shortly after, our story aired showing the home littered with derelict cars.
The I-Team has learned, days after our first story aired in December, the property was declared a public nuisance by the county.
And Bank of America is foreclosing on the property. According to county officials, it will be put up for public auction in the near future.
The last time the I-Team came face to face with Nick McCarthy in mid-December, he was visibly upset and there were threats. Most of them directed to his neighbor Steve Pulliam.
"You cause me anymore [expletive] problems I'm going to give you something to put on the news... Obeying the law? I don't give a [expletive] about the law," said Nick McCarthy, owner of TAPM Auto Works.
The auto business lists its official address as a residential home on Pine Haven.
McCarthy and homeowner Melissa Smith denied they were running a repair shop out of their home and claimed the close to a dozen cars on the lot belonged to them or to friends.
But Kevin Keaveny said that's nonsense.
That's because he paid McCarthy $3600 to fix his car there at the house. With McCarthy's invoice showing the home as place of business. And now Keaveny said he's having problems.
"Nobody knows where my car is. And I can't get in contact with him. He's the only one who knows where my car is at this point," said Keaveny.
Worse, it's been ten months since he last saw his 2005 Pontiac Aztec.
"It was supposed to take two weeks with the work. It's now been ten months. It was never the same story, there was always some other excuse. He wasn't answering phone, text messages, nothing," said Keaveny.
In the meantime, the county has gotten wise about the business and issued several zoning, solid waste and building violations.
We tried to reach out to McCarthy about his auto shop and Keaveny's car, but were unsuccessful.
Keaveny claims he is now going to file suit against McCarthy in small claims court.
And homeowner, Melissa Smith, recently missed a court date about those building and zoning violations. She now has two warrants issued for her arrest.
