AJM Construction

We needed to hire a roofing contractor. Our house has three (3) distinct roofs, approximately 45 square total, 2 of the roofs are two story and 1 is a three story height. We put out bids for the roof project late May 2017. A couple contractors simply refused the job, one never even replied. We did receive quotes from three contractors; one was excessively expensive, the second did not want to work with the metal interlocking shingles we wanted to install and the third had less than a professional background review. Scott Sprole, owner of Liberty Sealcoat, a respectable business in our community, and someone we'd done business with in the past brought us the name of David Malbouf, stating he knew Mr. Malbouf personally, had seen some of his work and would recommend him. We agreed to meet with Mr. Malbouf. Mr. Malbouf did contact us and presented his business as "SMJ Construction". SMJ Construction had a pretty good review with Better Business Bureau and was also on Angie's List with no negative comments. Based on the personal reference from Mr. Sprole and the reviews we'd done we agreed to hire David Malbouf for our roof project. Mr. Malbouf also assured us that he was insured and that he would send us a copy of his insurance coverage. 8/29/17: We signed a contract with "SMJ Construction" for a sum of $35,000. We made the agreed upon initial down payment of $14,000 payable to "David Malbouf". The contract stated that David Malbouf agreed to: "remove shingles, install felt where needed, prep the roof where needed, install all trim - eave, gable, sidewall, valley, hip, ridge, and trim coil...install Stone Crest Slate Steel shingles on entire roof, color Slate Grey. I will pick up all duties but homeowner is responsible for dumpster cost". The contract called for a total payment of $35,000; $14,000 down, $10, when materials arrive, $5,500 when half done and $5,500 upon completion. 9/15/17: We arranged for and had a dumpster placed in our front side yard as requested by David Malbouf. Materials were due to be delivered so we paid another installment of $10,000 with a bank check, this time payable to SMJ Construction. Materials did arrive but David Malbouf had ordered the wrong color of shingle so all shingles were sent back. 9/26/17: A crew arrived and began stripping the front Mansard roof. The crew worked approximately 2-3 hours, did not finish but stated they would return the next day. David Malbouf stated to us that he had "taken a hit" on "return costs' for the shingles and requested if it would be possible to have the $5,500 payment to assist him with paying his crew. We agreed and gave him a bank check for $5,500, payable to SMJ Construction. 9/27/18: We received a telephone call from David Malbouf stating that the bank had put the wrong title on the last two checks; SMJ was actually a secondary name for his company that he no longer used, that he needed to have the checks changed to reflect AJM Construction as the payee and would I assist him with that. I responded that any change to the bank checks needed to be done by him and that I would not get involved. David Malbouf was able to get the bank to change the payee on the checks. A couple workers did show up on this date to strip more of the front roof. Again, they stayed about 2 hours but still didn't finish the job. 10/23/17: Two workers we'd never seen before came and stripped the front porch roof and some of the remaining front upper roof. Most of the front roof was stripped now but still not completed. 10/30/17: We texted David Malbouf: "...I wanted to let you know that our front roof, which was stripped and weather proofed Friday & Saturday is leaking significantly in multiple areas". No response from David Malbouf To make a long story short... a couple people did show up on 11/4/17, 11/28/17 & 11/30/17 which was the last date anyone from AJM Construction or affiliated with David Malbouf has been here. We have numerous text communications between ourselves and David Malbouf where he states crews are coming but nobody shows. We've sent him pictures of the water damage, the buckets catching water etc. and we are now in the process of having a certified contractor give us a quote on damage repair which we will use in our legal process against David Malbouf. Out of the 45 square, only about 7 square were done. There is still an area on the front roof of our house that hasn't even been stripped. We had to physically move all materials out of our driveway for winter and then bring them back in the spring. We now know that his crews would not come back because he did not pay them. We were also told by a crew member that David Malbouf told people that we had not paid him, therefore he could not pay them. The "SMJ Construction" heading which David Malbouf used on our contract is a real company that belongs to another person named Shaun Jarvis. We had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jarvis and were able to show him the contract; he was not pleased. We also questioned Mr. Sprole in October 2017 on what his actual relationship with David Malbouf was. Mr. Sprole seemed quite upset that David Malbouf appeared to be scamming us and offered to contact him to see what could be done. Mr. Sprole did get back in touch with us in late November stating he could not get in touch with David Malbouf and that David Malbouf had not returned any of his calls or text messages. At this time we have talked to the police and an attorney. The NYS police have advised us to use social media and web sites like "Angie's list" to get the information about David Malbouf and AJM Construction out there as soon as possible because apparently David Malbouf is still soliciting work and conning people. We have also since uncovered that there have been numerous judgements and liens against him for similar infractions. I'm not sure if we'll ever see our money back but my best advice to anyone considering to hire David Malbouf is "Buyer Beware"!