Does suing really pay off?

Recently purchased multi-unit is Williamsburg (really Bushwick area). Building is new construction – 1 year old. A series of minor issues arose very quickly after i moved in causing me to question entire construction. Engineer came and after a series of probes confirmed my suspicions that my entire brick veneer work has to be re-done. To my horror I see this same company is continuing to build more multi-units all over Williamsburg. It is such a helpless and hopeless feeling knowing the next sets of suckers are unknowingly lining up. I now officially understand why NOT to buy new construction in Brooklyn ever unless there is a 10 year warranty with a third party. A litigator chuckled to himself when I presented scoffing, “… another Williamsburg construction mess on our hands.” Has anyone sued and won/settled getting actual $$ back? Are there any success stories out there? Recommended construction companies are appreciated. Thank you for listening.

sammy10036

in Brownstoner Renovation 11 years and 4 months ago

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bfarwell | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Glad to see there are still a few crackpots left.

resident2 | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Suing does not pay off because the Court system here does not work. All that will happen is that you waste a lot of time, pay a lot of money to Attorneys and many years later you may have a judgment against a group that no longer exists and is certainly “judgment proof”. Just spend your money and energy on rebuilding your house and write a blog on the pitfalls of buying new construction.

Green Mountain | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Sammy, are you an investor with a primary and more successful business other than buying new small apartment buildings in Bushwick? I see this is the first time you joined our conversation, and you follow your name with the 10036 Zip code, west side, Manhattan, Midtown. Our industry is dominated by fraud, corruption and money laundering. The NYS Dept of Labor says “Everybody… is cheating” on payroll taxes. Workers’ comp rate for 5403 doubled in only 4 years to 20% of payroll. Combined with personal income taxes, fully legal labor costs about 60% more than the guys paid only in cash. Many two income families, wanting no more than a safe and affordable home, threw their assets in the hole dug for them by fraudsters. Families living in dreck, tell me they bought the best home they could afford in the neighborhood they wanted to live in. NYC DOB inspectors are rejected by their targets 60% of the time. Contractors operating legally, can not compete. Will you help me fight this pestilence? You can find me in the ‘Stoner directory under Shower Stalls. Green Mountain.

concord | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Did you hire an inspector before you bought? You should have and he shoukd have checked. Why does it need to be redone? Maybe not…is it code compliant…bad wormanship is another thing. Why did you not insist on warranty (would have cost more?). Unless the money in dispute is significant, suing will only result in you having someone else to complian about; your lawyer (as litigation is expensive). Since you did not hire the builder it is questionable whether you have standing to sue anyway… Unless builder is the seller…or you prove that you are the ‘intended third party beneficiary’…

Green Mountain | 11 years and 4 months ago

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I see the mess after the piggy bank is smashed. Not much I can do about leaks and gaps with a caulking gun. I don’t think this is a Dept of Consumer Affairs issue. I am regulated by the DCA, as a home IMPROVEMENT contractor. I don’t build multi-units, and I don’t want my license fees to pay for your lawyer. Oh FishieFishie, you thought taxpayers pay the lawyer who goes after the unlicensed, uninsured contractors? Well now you know, we law-abiding small business owners pay to defend the majority of home owners who gladly pay the cheaters. If I were in new construction, regulated by the DOB, I would have to pass different tests. But, consumer affairs is about ethics, never mind skill. The AIA contracts, used by architects and GC’s, would not meet the DCA’s high ethical standards, if they were used for home improvements. Your question might be: Did the architect spec what any other architect would spec? OK, it isn’t easy to sue the architect. Did the contractor follow the architects spec? Does it matter? Is the contractor the same LLC with a valid insurance policy building the other multi-unit down the block, which earlier built yours? Or a different LLC, with a different policy? Why is it called an LLC? If it came out in court, how the LLC named on the DOB permit, evaded payroll taxes and committed workers’comp fraud, would that retroactively invalidate the C of O on your multi-unit? Lucky for you, apparently not, but it should. And why, Alicia Glen, would anyone confuse an HIC, with a GC? Why is the only insurance class (carpentry NOC 5403) available to me, an HIC, after I install a door on your newly renovated bathroom, also the class for “concrete distributing towers” and “oil derricks?” Alicia, do you too confuse Home Improvement Workers with construction companies? FishieFishie, is forgiven, but she’s not a Deputy Mayor. Sorry Sammy, you asked about liability, not workers’ comp. Anyway, you shouldn’t take legal advice from a licensed Home Improvement Contractor, and none was offered. But, I don’t think those of us licensed by the DCA should be subsidizing your new “multi-don’t-call-me-a-house-unit,” through high-risk insurance classification. Still without a paid sick day since the 1980’s, Green Mountain.

FishieFishie | 11 years and 4 months ago

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I don’t have a good answer for you – and maybe it would be difficult to answer without knowing the money involved. But one thing to think about is how much of your life it would eat up. But I admire your point about all the other future suckers. Two easier options occur to me. You could send an experimental threatening legal letter to him and see what happens. Or you could send a detailed complaint to Consumer Affairs (with a copy to the culprit) and see what happens.