PARAGON PORTFOLIO OF HOMES

The roof seemed fine at first. I was told that by installing the ice and water shield I would not have a problem with water from ice dams. The first winter I came home from work and water was coming through the living room ceiling. I called and the owner, Dennis P. Bitetti came over and told me I had a problem with the gutter and he took down all gutters across the front of the house and then told me he shouldn't have done that but the insurance company wouldn't mind. The insurance adjuster showed up shortly thereafter and the two of them had a screaming fight on my front lawn. I will come back to this later. In 2006, after a day of rain, my son discovered that the ceiling in his bedroom had turned brown and water was dripping through. This was not discovered until late at night because he went to work after school. The next day I discovered that there were shingles hanging vertically. I called Dennis Bitetti and he sent someone a few days later to repair the roof. I had to repair and repaint the ceiling. In late October of 2008 I again discovered shingles hanging vertically in almost the same spot. I immediately placed a call and was told by Dennis Bitetti to call back and leave a message. I did this and expressed concern due to the impending weather forecast of heavy rains. I called back two more times that afternoon and I heard nothing from him until after 8:00 pm and after the rain had started and water was leaking very badly. He said he couldn't get there till Monday. Monday came and he didn't show. I called and he didn't return my call. I called from a different phone on Tuesday, a call which he answered because he didn't know it was me. I expressed concern over the roof because I took a good look at the whole roof and the entire front of my house looked askew. I also told him that it looked like there was nothing but wood under the shingles that were dangling and he told me that the felt paper must have blown off. He set up another appointment. He did not show. I managed to get hold of him again by using a different number. He set up another appointment and did not show. I am still waiting for him to return my phone calls. I finally called a contractor from a different company who had remodeled my bathroom and he came over on a Saturday and spent two hours trying to tack the roof back up. He told me I had a very serious problem. When he stepped on the roof on the front of my house a huge section just slipped out from under him and he almost fell off the roof. Because It was not properly installed, the nails had gone completely through the shingles and the shingles were literally falling off my house. He would not let me pay him because he was so angry that a contractor would do this to someone. He suggested I contact the Better Contractors Bureau, which I did. They suggested that I have the roof inspected. I did this to the tune of $150. The inspector's analysis is as follows: 1. The roof was leaking into every room of the house. 2. Shingles were coming loose and some were completely off just laying on the roof. 3. The cedar shingles were not removed. 4. No felt paper was used. 5. Only two feet of ice and water shield was installed at the drip edge and not from the wall edge. 6. The new shingles were not nailed on the nail line - nailed near the top of the shingles. The installation was not professional and does not meet the standards of the industry and the roofing code. The Better Contractors Bureau tried to get him to take action but he did not respond. I went through the Attorney General's Office and he did not respond. They suggested that I go to Small Claims Court. The Small Claims Court wanted me to take him to Civil Court because of the amount of money involved. I decided to go through Small Claims Court. He did not show up in court. He sent his lawyer brother who offered no defense whatsoever. I won the case on June 9, 2010 but I have seen no money. I have also uncovered 7 Transcripts of Judgment against Paragon and Dennis Bitetti that, including the $5020.00 that he owes me, total $$52,866.82. Go to the County Clerk's Office and check out all the cases against Dennis Bitetti and his company. My roof was under warranty and he refused to honor the warranty. I had to put a new roof on my house and repair ceilings and walls that were damaged by the leaks and had to repaint the inside of my house. I paid for materials that I did not receive. I now know why he ripped the gutters off my house - he was going to get caught on the ice and water shield. I also found out that when my house was being re-roofed that they never should have installed a power vent because it cancels the purpose of the ridge vent. This man and his company was simply out to take advantage of a single mother. He is very dishonest and he cost me close to $7,500, which I should not have had to spend. Worst of all he destroyed any trust I could possibly have in others. This company works under various names: Paragon Portfolio of Homes, Paragon General Contractors and Paragon general Contracting. The address is 590 Ridgemont Drive, Rochester, NY, 14626 and the phone number is 227-8010. Dennis Bitetti will claim that the company does not contract out - all work is done under his supervision. He is a crook and a fraud and only wants your money. I rated the price as lousy because I did not get what I paid for. He should not be allowed to work on anybody's house. I have pictures of the roof which I will be sending.