The Renovation Co

Prior to hiring Richard, I checked him out on the BBB website-he had no complaints filed against him and had an   A+ rating, plus was accredited by them. Sounded good so far. I checked out Angie's List, saw there were 2 bad complaints and 4 glowing reports. When questioned about this, he had a  plausible story, involving a troublesome client who would never be happy, no matter what he did. One report was from a good friend of mine-he did a great job on her kitchen and she was very happy-I found out later that the original estimate was $50,000 and it ended up over $80,000. We also discussed having him build me a greenhouse, completed by June 1st. The greenhouse kit was around $1000 from Spenard Builders Supply and the total cost would be around $2,600.  NO WRITTEN ESTIMATE WAS GIVEN, but he started within the week on the greenhouse. We also discussed removing existing back deck and building me a new l arger one (12'x12').  He told me that all 3 projects would bring my cost to $40,000. Again, I did not receive a written estimate for this new deck. In fact, I did not have a contract with The Renovation Company at this time or at any time in the future. Richard and I met at Home Depot in mid-April here in Anchorage to pick out the cabinets, countertops, backsplash, flooring, and hardware . He told me they would take about 6 weeks to arrive when ordered and that he would order them. Work proceeded on the greenhouse and I was out looking at appliances at various stores in Anchorage. On Wednesday 5/16/12 Richard asked for an additional $5,000, without specifying exactly what it was for.  NO INVOICE for or RECEIPT for this $5,000 was presented at this time. or any other later time. I wrote the the check to the Renovation Company. He was finishing up the greenhouse on Monday 5/21/12 when a neighbor came over to take photos of my old appliances prior to posting them for sale on craigslist. Then, my 49 year son Jeff stopped by later that afternoon on his way home from work to meet Richard for the first time. The next morning I asked Richard when I should start cleaning out my cabinets prior to the Kitchen demo-he  ADMITTED to me that he had NOT ORDERED THE CABINETS like he told me he would a month previously. The reason he gave was he DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY-when pressed, he indicated he had SPENT my DEPOSIT MONEY elsewhere. I was floored, stunned, furious. I could not believe my ears. He said he was hoping that a $20,000 final payment from another job would come in before he had to admit to me that he had RUN OUT OF MONEY. He continued to finish up the greenhouse for the rest of the day. After he left, I called my son who was equally stunned and furious. At this point, my son Jeff took over control of this project; i.e., he would be making all the decisions and would do all the talking to Richard. There was a confrontational meeting about a week later between Richard, my son, and a neighbor who is an ex-cop. This neighbor had looked up Richard's court record on Courtview's website and was seriously concerned about what he found. It appears that Richard was being SUED by two different parties in TWO separate cases in CIVIL DISTRICT COURT and that the judgements went against him on 5/8/12 and 5/10/12. It appears that he lost his $10,000 CONTRACTOR'S BOND at that time, which means he lost his insurance and probably his contractor's license too. Remember, he asked for that additional $5,000 on 5/16/12.  It means he was probably working in my house without license, bond, or insurance from 5/8/12 until I fired him on 6/4/12.  During the week of 5/28/12 Richard was supposed to come by and retrieve his ladders in my backyard but he did not show or even call on the 3 days I was waiting for him. He did call and leave a rambling message on my landline when I had told him I would be out in the yard and to only call on my cell. He had left town for his cabin and would talk to me on Monday, June 4th. He admitted he had no Bond or Insurance but was willing to come work for me as a friend, not as a contractor. He didn't want me to "panic or fret"-and "that's my main concern is for no threat for you and of course for me to do my job without problems". These are his exact words taken from his message on my answering machine  at 3:09 pm Thursday, May 31, 2012. He did not call on Monday 6/4/12 so my son called him and fired him over the phone for misusing my deposit and basically lying to us. He had told my son that he was expecting "inheritance money" from his father's estate, but that he had no money to pay me back the balance of my deposit. We do not trust this man anymore and do not believe anything he says. When I examine the dates that  the lawsuits against him were filed and settled, and then compare them with the dates of my first interview with Richard and the subsequent hiring date and check writing dates, a disturbing picture emerges. He was robbing from Peter to pay Paul and it caught up to him. He had also mentioned that mine was his last job, that he was getting out of the business<