Owner of unfinished Sioux Falls mansion facing $380K lawsuit for unpaid bills

 Graffiti, unkempt weeds and construction debris that litter the property have generated multiple code violation citations since work on the project started in 2013.

The man who's struggled for years to finish a massive home he started building in southern Sioux Falls is facing a six-figure lawsuit after his business failed to pay its bills, according to court records.

Vitaly Strizheus has been the subject of multiple news reports since 2015 as the structure he began constructing at 6800 S. Westfield Trail in the Prairie Hills neighborhood near 69th Street and Western Avenue has been slow to progress. Just this year, the city of Sioux Falls took the Sioux Falls man to court for allegations of keeping a nuisance property and letting several code enforcement notices go unresolved.

More:Seemingly-abandoned 'monster' mansion an eyesore for upscale S.F. neighborhood

But after Strizheus again promised to finish the home, which he told the Argus Leader in 2017 that he intends to live in, he was issued another building permit in May and given another year to show progress on the home, which takes up three lots and is valued by the Lincoln County tax assessor at more than $1 million.

Now, Strizheus is again facing legal action after a New York-based events company filed a lawsuit against him in Second Judicial Court alleging he has outstanding bills of more than $380,000.

"Payment has been demanded from defendant, but he has failed and refused, and continues to fail and refuse, to make payment of the sums due," reads a lawsuit filed by Eventemps Corporation. 

Eventemps Corporation is the legal name of a company listed as Strategic Event Design, whose website states it provides managed events and marketing consultation.

The lawsuit stems from work Strategic Event Design performed for Strizheus' company Four Percent Group, LLC, which acts as what's known as a marketing funnel, selling marketing products and strategies, and training customers how to use them.

A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Strategic Event Design declined to identify herself or answer questions regarding the type of services the company performed for Four Percent Group.

This isn't the first legal step Eventemps Corporation has taken to get what it says its owed. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in September 2018 ruled in favor of Eventemps Corporation in a federal lawsuit brought by the company against Four Percent Group, which resulted in Strizheus signing a guarantee of payment as the listed chief executive officer for the company.