Building And Remodeling Corp of America

We engaged this company to construct a second floor addition and remodel the existing space of our ranch style home in December 2009. The contracted amount was for $125,000 and the duration stated 13 weeks. Work began in the middle of January 2010 and initially, the project moved along very well and the new structure was weather-proofed within 2 weeks. There were some delays in obtaining suitable flooring and several passes of acceptable painting, which ultimately caused the addition project alone to take over 13 weeks to complete. At this point, we were beginning to question Mr. Frangos' allocation of manpower, but overall we were happy with the results. The next phase involved the demolition of the majority of the first floor. Demolition was substantially delayed for several unjustified reasons, and once it began, took 4 months to complete. We (two adults and two small children) were without a kitchen for 3 months and forced to live in one room, with the contents of our house piled in various locations, while construction dust covered every imaginable surface 8 months and much pain later, we were finally coming to the end of our project. When Mr. Frangos submitted his final invoice, the contract price was incorrect, and he had charged additional fees that were not discussed nor agreed upon. I should mention that any changes to the base contract amount comes in the form of change orders. The change orders are approved and signed by both parties and amended to the contract price. We had several change orders throughout the project and they were all handled easily, until the final invoice. When we brought up the disparity in the base contract amount listed on the invoice, Mr. Frangos disagreed, sighting a figure on the disbursement schedule that was causing some confusion. Although my husband and I deferred to the executed contract which clearly stated $125,000, he insisted that was incorrect. When I spoke with our banker the next day (we were in the midst of a construction loan), they verified the correct contract price of $125,000. Mr. Frangos continued to disagree with the amount, arguing repeatedly with the bank, which also produced and delivered to him the executed contract with the $125,000 amount. The bank and I attempted to explain how he was misinterpreting the disbursement schedule, but he continued to insist the contract was for $127,500. At the time, we were within a lock period for a much lower mortgage rate (which Mr. Frangos was fully aware of) and scheduled to close within a few days. When the bank went through the process to confirm we had a clear title, they discovered Mr. Frangos has placed a lien on our property. This froze the remaining of our construction loan, as well as our lower refinance rate. After seeking council from many sources, it was recommended that we procure a release of lien bond, which for a fee, would effectively transfer the risk of the monies in dispute (approximately $5000 in total) to the bond company and allow us to move forward with the refinance. A few days before the lien was set to expire (liens dissolve within 90 days in this state unless the lien holder can justify them) we received a note from Mr. Frangos accusing us of falsifying documents to relieve the lien and subsequently tricking the lender and their attorneys into closing our loan. In the same note, he also refused to honor any warrantee work until payment was submitted for what he claimed was owed. The bank's closing attorney contacted him and made it very clear that he was mistaken and furthermore, since he had now made clear his intentions to neglect warrantee, the attorney was recommending that we bring suit and he will be accountable for triple damages, as is the law in this state. Mr. Frangos's response was to accuse the bank's closing attorney of conspiracy to commit fraud in order to collect extra revenue. He did agree to have our roof, which is leaking considerably, repaired. This was almost two months ago and we have yet to have anything repaired. We now have a damaged roof, bad plumbing, new hardwood floors that are splitting, drywall cracking, and seams that are bubbling. We are in the midst of taking steps to rectify this situation, but the time and money necessary to make it happen are tremendous. Although our relationship with Mr. Frangos initially was professional and he was very capable, his true colors became apparent as the project progressed, and now what we've experienced with him is lunacy. We will update this post as necessary.