All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Wow I had not heard of lien waivers. That contractor is still unreachable.

I need to speak with an attorney who has experience regarding contractors who disappear and refuse to communicate after overcharging and before finishing work. Thanks in advance for any referrals!

More details about my situation in this post I made in another forum:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/271...

Thanks to all who have responded. This fiasco was supposed to be a relatively small $4000-$5000 conversion to electric heat and hot water project that was not supposed to have happened in the first place but happened because ConEd, the utility company, keeps refusing to supply gas service. I just wanted the work done ASAP for as little as possible, since it was not budgeted for in the first place. I don't even know how much money is involved anymore. The last time the contractor emailed me an invoice was about $32,000 for solar panels, conversion to electric heat and hot water, and roof fixes, before fixing rotted floors for which he gave an estimate of $3500 + materials, and mold removal which he gave a $9500 estimate. I did not authorize mold removal work or charges because I wanted to get a second opinion from a mold removal company that gave a $4200 estimate. The contractor did say in passing that he removed some mold, but I have been trying unsuccessfully since mid-December to get an answer from him as to what exactly has been done and a revised list of charges. Each time I gave him my credit card to charge for materials and partial labor for additional work approved, additional random charges started appearing, and I have also been asking him since mid-December to tell me which ones were made by him. I have since had all credit card accounts closed with fraud claims for the unauthorized charges and merchant disputes for services not received for the authorized ones made by his company.

I am also investing a bit in the Bronx. I think there is good long term potential but agree it probably won't be for another 5-10 years. But the MTA needs to improve service before more areas will become desirable. There are some express train lines that in theory could provide good transportation between the Bronx and Manhattan if they would actually run express all the time, come more frequently, not run extremely slowly and stop randomly, and not keep having service changes that make the lines stop running on weekends and evenings.

No written contract. Just verbal, texting and email. The last time he gave me an itemized list of charges was November 2. I have been asking him for an updated invoice since early to mid December and am still waiting. He supposedly is a licensed general contractor and a licensed plumber, although I can't seem to find his name, and I did find the name of a company with a similar name to his but I'm not sure if it's the same company. I authorized him to charge specific amounts a few times when he needed funds to begin additional work, but sometimes additional extra charges would show up. I also was asking him about additional charges that were showing up in December, and he never answered my questions. He was always in the middle of something and his phone was usually about to die, but he was going to get back to me, and I am still waiting.

Need a contractor to see what work needs to be done and complete a project installing electric baseboard heaters, electric hot water heater, upgrading electrical system to support electric heat and hot water and also work with solar panels. More details about my situation in this post I made in another forum:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/271...

Could anyone make a referral to lawyer specializing in home contractor disputes in the New York City area? Or have any ideas on how do deal with a contractor who has become unresponsive to my requests for receipts, itemized charges, and a walk-through to show me the work done?

Long story short, I bought a foreclosure rental house at the end of 2014 and had it renovated and ready to rent out in January 2015, except that the utility company kept refusing to turn on gas service. The house requires gas for heat and hot water, so I have been unable to rent it out. In late September 2015, I gave up on getting gas service after a long fight with the utility company, and I hired a contractor to set up electric heat and hot water. I also had the contractor install solar panels, and then the trouble began. The contractor said the solar panel installer found a hole in the roof and found that half of the roof was rotted out and said I'd need to get roof repairs, which I agreed to. While he was doing electrical work, he said one of his workers found that the some floors were rotted and had a mold issue due to a leak. He said he would complete all the work over Thanksgiving weekend. Then he went out of town due to a family emergency, he said, so work was suspended. Supposedly he had someone do some stuff in December, but when I asked him starting in mid-December for an itemized list of work done and charges for each, he kept saying he was out of town for family issues, things were crazy, his phone was dying, but would send me the information. I am still waiting to hear back from him. I also think he has made a number of unauthorized charges on my credit card after I had him charge a specific amount to start the work.

The contractor is now almost completely unreachable. His phone has been out of service, and he rarely replies to my emails. When he does, he only says things have been crazy and he would get back to me but still has not given me any of the information I have been asking for regarding status of work and receipts for expenses. I checked on the house the best I could this past weekend and did not see most of what should have been done (baseboard heaters, upgraded electrical system, electric water heater, solar panel system, etc.). I have filed disputes with my credit card companies for charges he made due to not receiving services promised, as well as fraud claims for unauthorized charges. Being a year behind schedule, I can't keep waiting and waiting for him. I need him either to refund my money or show me ASAP that everything he had promised is working, including how to work the solar panels. And I need to hire another contractor to finish the work. But I am unable to get any response from him. I am thinking I need to consult a lawyer. Does anyone have referrals or ideas? I am very frustrated and would appreciate any referrals or ideas!

Depending on what your local utility company is like, it could take a long long time to get utility service, and you might need to spend a lot of money getting electrical and plumbing repairs and/or upgrades. I bought a short sale two family house with no gas service here in New York at the end of November. I'm still fighting the utility company to get gas, and I recently had to spend over $3000 getting an electrical issue fixed that the utility company was threatening to shut off my electricity over. The latest representative who came out to inspect and issue a turn on order for the gas told me that it generally takes 9 months to get gas service if service has been shut off via cut and cap out in the street as my house's service had been! And I had been planning to rent the place out after a month of renovations!

At least here in NY, you can't actually file the eviction case until the date of termination has passed and the tenant hasn't moved out. The only thing you can do to speed up the process is to have the notice of termination served on the tenant a month before you want them out. So it's not possible here for a tenant to get a judgment of eviction if the tenant moves out no later than maybe 2 weeks after the date when they are supposed to move out, since the landlord can't file with the court until after the date of termination, and it takes about 2 weeks to get a hearing date.