BEWARE this crooked contractor in San Antonio!!
To those who have read my other post regarding this gentleman, here is a bit more elaboration. To preface this synopsis, though, let's be clear that many many mistakes were made on all our (investors') end, so for those of you who have never run into something like this, please take the lessons home with you. Don't be scared to operate out of your areas, but put procedures in place to protect yourselves. Also, since he seems to have disappeared, any info on him or his associates/clients (victims...?) would be appreciated. In any event, here's a VERY concise summary:
BACKGROUND:
I first started dealing with Robert “Bob” Gonzalez of Pleasant Renovation and Remodeling in October of 2013 when I hired him to the role of general contractor for a rehab property in San Antonio, Texas. Around the same time, a colleague hired him for work on 2 rehabs. The timeframe on my rehab and one of his was 6-8 weeks, with his second property to follow completion of the first. Bob offered us a VERY competitive price, and I must say, he was one of the smoothest talkers I’ve ever met. We were assured by Bob that he had plenty of crews to do the work in a timely manner, but come December, both properties were unfinished, and we couldn’t figure out why, with all the workers on the project. To sum THAT up in a nutshell, Bob had perhaps 6-8 part-to-full time employees of varying degrees of skill who he would pull off his other projects when he learned that the owner was going to be dropping by. Otherwise, he was just constantly, as in daily, reallocating his crews off our projects to those of new clients to show them how "hard working" he and his guys were and to convince them of the need for more funds to "keep up his progress", then when he got them, he'd move on to the next victim...I mean, client. Of course, much of this was only learned after the fact.
Two months after starting work on my project, Bob was barely done with half the work on my property, and perhaps ¾ finished with my colleague’s first property. At this point he had done most of the aesthetic work interior and exterior, but had not finished the interior, or the HVAC, electrical, appliance and kitchen installation, bathrooms, etc. At this point we both started to pressure him, though the latter (more expensive) draws had to be paid to get the HVAC, final electrical, etc underway. Once he received the funds for these, Bob slowed to a crawl, with workers not showing up at all, doing shoddy work when they were there, etc. In light of this over the next couple of months, my colleague literally ended up kicking Bob off of his jobsite and supervising Bob’s guys himself while searching for deficiencies. This particular search found the following (off the top of my head): HOT wires loose under the insulation in the attic; non-working plugs and switches throughout the house; numerous aesthetic QC issues; showers/sinks with no hot water owing to incorrect plumbing; a hot wire SPLICED INTO A METAL LAMP CORD found in the attic… In a nutshell, his entire house had to be rewired because Bob had turned it into a FIRETRAP; on top of this, two dishwashers were “removed for faulty (insert excuse here)” and replaced with inferior models, in addition to a stove, during the three or so week period.
Now, let’s go back to my place. Between January and April, I pressed Bob repeatedly to finish up, particularly after he received the draws to finish the more expensive final work. Towards early April, Bob stated that a number of burglaries had occurred in the area, and that he had removed my oven and dishwasher “so they couldn’t be stolen”, though I know for a fact no oven or dishwasher was ever there. Long story short, Bob disappeared in late April with mine and my colleague’s remaining (paid for) work unfinished. Immediately before his disappearance, the above-mentioned appliance removal occurred at my colleague’s property, and mine was broken into shortly after with no signs of forced entry, with the exception of the loss of about $3,000 worth of flooring and other materials, and the door being unlocked and ajar. In the case of my property, Bob had been seen a couple weeks prior to his disappearance by my colleague, who helped keep an eye on the property, changing the locks; only my colleague and Bob had a key to the new lock.
After Bob vanished, I was left with about $10,000 worth of paid for, unfinished work, plus the additional $10,000 I had to shell out, and my colleague was out approximately $15,000 for starting his second property.
ITEMS AND OBSERVATIONS AFTER THE FACT:
Bob had about six investors (that we now know about), both local and out of town, who had the exact same issues in the same timeframe;
When he disappeared, Bob had approximately $100,000 in paid for, unfinished work between the six owners, not counting tens of thousands of dollars in shoddy work, ALSO not counting the losses of items stolen afterward;
After Bob’s disappearance, EACH one’s property was broken into, with the loss of appliances, HVAC components, granite countertops, and all varieties of building materials, adding up to tens of thousands of dollars;
Bob is known to have used fake and unrelated addresses, claimed possession of properties he didn't own, and generally changes his stories when pressed, especially when called out.
Bob utilizes two long-expired contractor license numbers on the letterhead of his estimates, and he has no current licenses.
To summarize this review, STAY AWAY FROM THIS MAN AND HIS ASSOCIATES!! If you know of him or have colleagues who are undergoing similar circumstances, dig deeper, as it may be the same gentleman. CAVEAT EMPTOR.