Kim Adamski almost threw the letter away.



In late summer 2008, she and her husband, Jay, the owners of Adamski Construction in McDonald, Washington County, entered Excel Homes' "Is It Modular" contest on a whim.



Jay Adamski, a builder for more than 30 years, was always looking for a new opportunity, his wife said. When she found the contest advertised in a home magazine, they spent a few minutes on the contest website answering questions.



Picking through a stack of mail weeks later, she dropped some of it into the trash.



The letter, taped in the back, drew her attention. She fished it out and opened it, she said.



As the randomly selected winner of Excel's grand prize, it read, Jay Adamski's company would receive a $100,000 cash allowance to use on prefabricated home products for a project of his choice.



The Adamskis, who've spent about $25,000 on the project, are ready to start their triplex in Cecil Township. But last week, the couple received a letter from Jay Kedia, the company's vice president of business development.



On May 3, Camp Hill-based Excel was acquired by H.I.G. Capital, a private investment firm, the letter said. Obligations held by the former company, Excel Homes LLC, would not be honored by the new company, Excel Homes Group LLC.



"I don't understand it," Jay Adamski said. "How can they get out of [honoring an obligation] by adding the word 'group' to their name and have that be OK?"



Several calls to Kedia and Samuel Stahl, the Michigan lawyer handling obligations for the former company, were not returned Friday.



Two news releases lauding the couple's grand prize win remained on the company's website Friday.



Kim Adamski said she's contacted the Pennsylvania attorney general's office and is in the process of filling out a complaint form.



Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the office, said that while the attorney general typically receives a few hundred complaints about contests and promotions each year, it is rare for someone to complain about not receiving the grand prize.



"Until we review the facts, we can't make a judgment," Frederiksen said. "However, in some situations, the best recourse might be private legal action."



The Adamskis said they are mulling their options. They said it would be nice to at least get back the money they paid in building permit fees, about $1,000, and sewer and water line tap-in fees, about $23,000.



After the couple signed documentation and toured Excel's Liverpool facility in February 2009, they spent the spring mulling project options and looking at blueprints, Kim Adamski said.



By fall, they'd decided on the triplex and moved forward with securing all the needed permits. They decided to wait through what turned out to be one of the worst winters in memory before beginning the project.



When spring arrived, they demolished a storage shed business they'd run at the edge of their property to make way for the town houses.



As recently as a few weeks ago, the couple said they were in contact with representatives from the company about finishing touches for the town houses.



Jay Adamski said there was a hold-up with the permits because new regulations about in-home sprinkler systems were about to become law and the township had to figure out if his project would need them.



Finally, on April 28, Kim Adamski said she cut a $10,000 check that was to guarantee delivery of all of the construction components.



"I had the date, May 10, circled on my calendar and wrote, 'Apartments arrive,'" she said.



At no time, the couple said, were they told they were in danger of losing the prize or violating any of the terms or conditions set out by Excel.



When they got the letter, they put a stop payment order on the check, she said.



With summer coming, Jay Adamski said he might construct the triplex anyway, using traditional construction methods. He's already invested the money, he said.



"Isn't that ironic," Kim Adamski said. "That was the whole point of the promotion, to get [traditional] builders to see how great modular homes are."

