Know your builder before you sign that contract

New Hampshire Contractor Bankruptcy & Consumer Protection Resource

Make an informed decision.

About this site

Public records, including bankruptcy filings by Robert (Bob) L. MacDonald Jr. and by a company associated with him, contain information regarding creditor claims and financial obligations.

This website provides information from publicly available court records and documents for informational purposes and consumer due diligence. It does not make legal findings or conclusions. Allegations made in court filings are claims by the parties who made them, not findings by a court. Readers should review referenced sources and make their own informed decisions.

The available public records reviewed by this website do not contain a complete accounting of all project-related financial activity. Consumers are encouraged to research multiple builders before entering into a contract — see Before You Hire Any Builder.

Cases at a glance

FiledCaseDebtorChapterOutcome / status
202424-10114Robert L. MacDonald, Jr.13Plan confirmed 10/02/2024; open
202222-10577Detail Design Builders, LLC11 → 7Converted to Chapter 7 01/04/2023; open
201212-11514Robert L. MacDonald7Discharge granted 09/24/2012; closed 11/21/2012
200808-11377Robert L. MacDonald, Jr.13Dismissed 02/20/2009; closed 09/21/2009
200101-10214Robert L. MacDonald7Discharge granted; closed 06/27/2002
 All cases: U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Hampshire. Status per the court’s PACER dockets and case information line, checked 10/20/2026. Details and sources for each case are below.

Personal Bankruptcy

In re Robert L. MacDonald, Jr., Case No. 24-10114-KB (originally 24-10114-BAH; U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Hampshire), Chapter 13, filed 02/26/2024. Chapter 13 trustee: Andrew M. Dudley (since 10/01/2025, succeeding Lawrence P. Sumski).

Case status: The court confirmed the debtor’s amended Chapter 13 plan (dated 08/30/2024) on 10/02/2024. The plan calls for 60 monthly payments beginning 03/26/2024 — $140 a month for 4 months, then $1,600 a month for 56 months, $90,160 in total — plus any annual tax refund above $1,200. On 06/03/2025 the trustee moved to dismiss the case and to sanction the debtor, stating that he had not provided his 2024 tax return and/or the required refund payment. After a hearing on 07/22/2026, the court ordered him to turn over 100% of any 2024 or 2025 federal tax refund to the trustee within 14 days of receipt, and deemed the motion, including the request for sanctions, withdrawn. On 09/02/2026 the court granted Ally Bank, a vehicle lender listed in the plan, relief from the automatic stay; no objection was filed. The case remains open. (Per the court’s PACER docket, checked 10/20/2026.)

Detail Design Builders, LLC (Bankruptcy filed 11/22/2022)

In re Detail Design Builders, LLC, Case No. 22-10577-MAF (originally 22-10577-BAH; U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Hampshire). Robert L. MacDonald Jr. is the company’s registered agent and is described in court filings as its principal. Company website: detaildesignbuilders.com (opens in new tab).

Case status: Filed 11/22/2022 as a Chapter 11 (Subchapter V) small-business case; converted to Chapter 7 by court order on 01/04/2023, on the company’s own motion (Chapter 7 trustee: Timothy P. Smith). The case remains open. (Per the court’s PACER docket, checked 10/20/2026.)

Registered agent
Robert L Macdonald JR
Principal address
Detail Design Builders, 13 Columbia Drive Unit 7, Amherst, NH 03031
Detail Design Builders before bankruptcy
Detail Design Builders before bankruptcy

Projects associated with Detail Design Builders

Whitetail Ridge, Merrimack, NH — the company’s bankruptcy schedules list disputed claims by the owners of at least two homes it built at Whitetail Ridge (see the amended schedules below).

Whitetail Ridge, Merrimack, NH
Whitetail Ridge, Merrimack, NH

Consumers may wish to request references from prior homeowners before entering into a construction contract.

Court documents

Effect on subcontractors and suppliers

In November 2024 the Chapter 7 trustee sued six of the company’s subcontractors and suppliers to recover a total of $276,361.13 that the company paid them in the 90 days before its bankruptcy filing. Bankruptcy law lets a trustee recover such payments (“preferences”) so they can be shared among all creditors; these suits are routine in Chapter 7 cases and do not imply wrongdoing by the recipients. Most of the businesses showed that the payments covered work or materials they were supplying at the time.

Results: three settled for a combined $22,100; two did not respond, and the court entered default judgments totaling $70,520; one case was dismissed with no payment. Even when they prevail, businesses that were paid can face years of litigation and legal costs after a builder’s bankruptcy. (Per the court’s PACER dockets for the six adversary proceedings in Case 22-10577, checked 10/20/2026.)

Related New York lawsuits

NewCo Capital Group VI LLC v. Detail Design Builders LLC d/b/a Detail Design Builders, Visionary Home Designs, LLC and Robert L. MacDonald Jr., New York Supreme Court, Ontario County, Index No. 133794/2022.

A commercial contract (collection) lawsuit filed 08/30/2022 concerning a merchant financing agreement. The defendants did not appear or answer, and on 10/18/2022 the Ontario County Clerk entered a default judgment against all three defendants for $141,442.60, plus $1,708.94 in interest and $455 in costs — $143,606.54 in total. No later filings appear on the court’s docket (NYSCEF, checked 10/20/2026). The company’s bankruptcy schedules list the same $141,442.60 claim and list Mr. MacDonald as a personal guarantor of the debt.

Co-defendant Visionary Home Designs, LLC is listed in Mr. MacDonald’s 2024 bankruptcy filing (Statement of Financial Affairs, above) as a business in which he had an interest: a home design service dating from 07/01/2021 that, according to that filing, had not yet done business under that name. The company’s 2022 filing lists it at the same Amherst address as Detail Design Builders.

A second New York collection lawsuit, Apex Funding Source, LLC v. Detail(s) Design Builders LLC, Visionary Home Designs, LLC and Robert L. MacDonald Jr. (New York Supreme Court, Ontario County, Index No. 133800/2022), was filed 08/31/2022 and also ended in a default judgment: on 10/28/2022 the Ontario County Clerk entered judgment against all three defendants for $163,388.00, plus $2,175.52 in interest and $495 in costs — $166,058.52 in total, plus post-judgment interest. No later filings appear on that docket either (NYSCEF, checked 10/20/2026). The company’s schedules list Apex’s claim at $159,353.00.

In total, the company’s schedules list four business-funding creditors — Apex Funding Source, NewCo Capital Group VI, Legend Advanced Funding and Advanced Funding — with claims of $381,669.35, each listed in the bankruptcy filings as personally guaranteed by Mr. MacDonald.

A default judgment is entered when a defendant does not respond to a lawsuit; it is not a ruling on the merits after a contested hearing.

Docket summaries (external)

Earlier Personal Bankruptcy Cases

Before You Hire Any Builder in New Hampshire

These steps apply to any contractor. New Hampshire does not license general contractors at the state level, so much of the checking is up to you.

Check the business and its history

Talk to past clients

  • Ask for references from clients whose homes were finished in the last two years, and call them.
  • If you can, visit completed homes and ask whether the work was finished on time and on budget, and whether subcontractors were paid.

Protect your money

  • Keep deposits modest and tie later payments to completed, inspected stages of work rather than to dates.
  • Get lien waivers from the builder and from major subcontractors and suppliers with each payment. Unpaid subcontractors and suppliers may be able to place a mechanic’s lien on your property even if you have paid the builder.
  • Pay by check or traceable transfer to the business, not in cash.
  • If you have a construction loan, ask how your lender inspects work before releasing each draw.
  • Subcontractors and suppliers: payments received in the 90 days before a customer’s bankruptcy can be challenged by the trustee later.

Get it in writing

  • A written contract with the full scope of work, materials, schedule, price, payment schedule, warranty terms and how changes are handled. Put every change order in writing, with its price.
  • Certificates of insurance (general liability and workers’ compensation) issued directly by the insurer, and confirmation of who is pulling the building permits with your town.
  • Consider having an attorney review the contract before you sign, especially for a new home or a major renovation.