argentina's Profile
Author's Posts
May 31, 2008
Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
Recently posted on this and received mostly sarcastic comments to a very distressful situation.
Nonetheless below are my findings:
File complaint with NYC Dept of Consumer Affairs
He needs to be licensed to do this work and if he isn't fines will accrue
File Complaint with State Attorney's Office
File Complaint with Better Business Bureau
File Complaint with Federal Trade Commission
Last but not least small claims court- attorney
Have done all of the above....he will pay.
May 25, 2008
Contractor- How can I charge him with fraud?
Just ended another contentious contractor episode. THis contractor was hired to replaster walls, paint and install crown moldings. He did a mediocre job on the first two and on the last day(I had to tell him it was the last day since he was milking the job) he ran around trying to find someone to install the crown molding he had been contracted to install.
I had noticed he had not brought tools no meiter or chop saw and that morning we argued about the fact he had not done any of this.
While he was gone, his helper approached me and told me that I should know that his boss was not capable of doing the crown molding. He was not equipped and he only did plastering and painting.He said I was a nice lady and didn't want to see me get screwed. Unbeleivable.
I had signed him on precisely because he said he could do all of it. I withheld some of the final payment and he is threatenning me with court for this.. I am fed up and filed a Better Business Bureau report but what else can I do to charge him with fraudulent contract?
Author's Comments
Looks like redlining is back in full force.
The tragedy of this especially in places like Bushwick which was the new "Williamsburg" is that the "qualified buyers" are often not locals and they have been buying up properties often for investment and turning these areas around. Yes gentrification is a double edge sword but it also breathed new life into these neighborhoods.
Redlining in the 1970's is what allowed many of these homes to fall into the disrepair encountered by new yuppie/hipster owners who are now eagerly renovating (Brownstoners). The perception has been that these previous owners didn't care and neglected their properties and the truth is that even qualified people in the 1970's were not given loans.
Also, there is still a lot of ignorance about the high rate of foreclosure. Many of the foreclosures are due to predatory lending, not simply people getting in way over their heads. Many owners are elderly living on a fixed income who sought re-financing as the only way to make repairs on homes that they already owned outright. It is shameful that these have been stolen right out from under them.
Lastly, the refusal to grant loans in these areas to qualified buyers will insure that many of these neighborhoods remain marginalized.The high number of boarded up and abandonned homes invites more crime, devalues neighboring properties and keeps the area economically depressed. We all loose out.
Posted by: argentina at November 9, 2008 5:40 PM in response to Fewer Mortgages for Minority Communities
It depends on how many of these homes there are in a given neighborhood. Here in Crown Heights we are so inundated with so many of these types of homes. Some have been here for a long time and are pretty innocuous such as the Catholic Mission Home for mentally retarded adults....others have brought a flood of scary druggies into what use to be a pretty low-key and quiet residential part of Crown Heights.
Posted by: argentina at November 9, 2008 5:19 PM in response to Ex-Homeless Housing No Problem for Property Values
Incredibly rude posters...why is it that this blog consistently attracts the most obnoxious and "superior"?
Don't know why some of you are choose to make Brooklyn and for that matter NYC your home.
Posted by: argentina at November 9, 2008 5:14 PM in response to Borough Hall Attack
What kind of exterior brickwork?
If it is re-pointing restoration try Triborough Waterproofing- ask for Mahmood.
THey do a lot of historic renovation of large brownstones in Manhattan and I found them through a project for a client (I'm an architect) and hired them to repoint my own house. For my home I spec'd Cathedral Stone historic mortar which they are trained to use...THey have done all of the exterior work on my home including roof, built a brick wall in garden, and built a stone patio. Professional and hardworking.
Posted by: argentina at September 28, 2008 12:56 PM in response to Contractor Referal
Ysabelle:
I hear ya sister!
just think - someone who uses "armature" is not the arbiter of the "genius" level of other posters.....for a moment I thought george bush was posting...
"guest 8:25" probably says nukular.
Posted by: argentina at June 1, 2008 1:11 PM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
lol...incredible....are these people here posting also contractors?
the comments have ranged from the juvenile name calling to downright hostility; I just hope you people don't live in my neighgborhood.......(i doubt it i think most of you are the white angry people that have moved into our neighborhoods and act like you own it.)
it is significant that he claims he went over and still did not finish a pretty major part of it...if your contractor brings a "how to" from the internet as in how to install a window, how to fix a leak, how to replace a roof,...well chances are he doesn't KNOW HOW TO...I can google and do construction on my own and have...but I HIRED someone because I wanted a better level of quality since it is "finish" work.
gee i've never been called an "armature"...pretty amusing.
I am an architect though.
CMU doens't know jack..what kind of professional is he?
Posted by: argentina at May 31, 2008 11:42 PM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
what a passive-aggressive post.you will have a tough time with that attitude.
Posted by: argentina at May 26, 2008 7:50 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
we can house them in the new stadium when that opens up....sort of like a mini-Katrina...and it will be closer to more amenities since it is located downtown.
Bottomline is that it is unacceptable; there are too many of these adult homes/special needs homes/ drug rehab homes /homeless shelters in our neighborhoods as it is. This will stagnate the positive growth and transformation that has been underway in CH North for several years.
Posted by: argentina at May 26, 2008 7:47 PM in response to Crown Heights Group Still Doesn't Want Homeless Center
Wow...unbelievable hostility on this post.If you can't contribute then refrain from posting.
He was not cheap. The truth of the matter is that contractors who normally try to get over do so even more with female clients.
I've been lucky with my exterior work contractor who I found through professional contacts but the interior finishing guys have
sucked.
So much for brownstoner.
Posted by: argentina at May 26, 2008 4:40 PM in response to Contractor- How can I charge him with fraud?
Yes. WE had a written agreement and this was a big part of the work. He went two days longer than our agreement he was supposed to be finished last Wednesday and our contract which we both signed outlined the scope and how many men would be working : 4 men 8 days.
Instead he went 10 days, on 4 of those he had 4 guys (including himself) and the other 6 days just him and the nice helper who gave me a heads up. He intended to go into next week and I told him I wanted him out Friday before the holiday and he said he would be done.
In my previous post I am assuming he was trying to find someone I don't really know...but I suspect he intended to do it himself because I found a sheet from some internet website on "How TO Install Crown Molding"...lol....are contractors just BRED to be dishonest?
Posted by: argentina at May 25, 2008 8:18 PM in response to Contractor- How can I charge him with fraud?
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
what does "cuttier" mean?
Posted by: guest at May 27, 2008 2:11 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
haha im sorry. cutty=dangerous, desolate, etc. not a good place for an 18-year-old girl to be.
i've heard so many horror stories about places like crown heights and east new york, i'm just trying to make an informed decision.
i do apologize if i came off as rude. i've posted on a lot of forums and just get SO much trouble for it, being called hipster scum, all that jazz.
you guys seem like a helpful crowd, that's all! i really appreciate all the responses.
and i'm not a parent! i'm 18. i swear.do you think a parent would drop slang like i did (apologies again for that.)? no.
again thank you very much and please keep the suggestions coming, really appreciate it!!
Posted by: loveachother at May 27, 2008 2:50 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
never heard "cutty" before either... is it british slang? doesn't sound very much like it would come out of urban america.
Posted by: guest at May 27, 2008 3:01 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
Hey OP, Crown Heights is NOT a horror story. You should have seen the vibe at Franklin Park on Sunday - it was so full - we couldnt get a table, with all of the hipsters drinking their beers inside and out. Where did they all come from ??????
Posted by: guest at May 27, 2008 4:00 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
umm, can you please name names so none of us use him???
Posted by: guest at May 27, 2008 11:55 PM in response to Contractor- How can I charge him with fraud?
Bensonhurst is fine. Laughable that it would be considered "cutty." N and D/M trains are easily accessible.
Posted by: guest at May 29, 2008 5:01 PM in response to student rentals. some questions!
To guest8:25pm.
Your off your rocker.........I am not posting under the name argentina..
Posters want to blame other posters for there own shortcomings.
To the poster of the inquiry..........
Don't cry for me argentina!
Yikes........Who the hell wants to be famous on this board?
There are several assorted nuts on the brownstoner website....
Help Mr. B................The're pickin on me..............Whaaaaaaaaa!
Posted by: Ysabelle at May 31, 2008 11:47 PM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
GITANAS UNITE!
Posted by: Ysabelle at June 1, 2008 12:12 AM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
Ysabelle:
I hear ya sister!
just think - someone who uses "armature" is not the arbiter of the "genius" level of other posters.....for a moment I thought george bush was posting...
"guest 8:25" probably says nukular.
Posted by: argentina at June 1, 2008 1:11 PM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
OK ladies, let's leave the race thing out of it. Argentina, Do you really think the white people who have moved into the neighborhood where you live are angry? If they've moved in they probably do own part of it, but why would they be angry at some latina who has been there longer? That doesn't make much sense. You don't want to feed the more typical stereotype of "angry black men" resentful that they can't afford to buy in the neighborhood their from while whites move in.
Posted by: guest at June 1, 2008 1:23 PM in response to Contractor- How I can charge him with fraud Part 2
"Its all fun and games till some bus driver who bought a 700K two family in East New York on a 30K a year salary starts crying to the Daily News that the big bad bank is going to take his house away." Xander
Really? Have you actual evidence that this has happened? This post contributes absolutely nothing and reinforces the misperception that all buyers are to blame for the foreclosures. THere was a time when the BANKS actually turned down loan applications because the person was a bad risk....now that has come back in full force...and purely out of self-protection. THe govt dropped the regulation ball and we are ALL paying for it and then some...and all you can do is cry about some mythical bus driver. Shamefully ignorant.
Posted by: argentina at November 9, 2008 5:50 PM in response to Fewer Mortgages for Minority Communities