Baldwin Building Improvements

I hired Baldwin Building Improvements (and worked exclusively with their owner) on Jan 14, 2015 to do a project to add 2 bedrooms & a bath to my home. I paid him 25% of the project cost at that time. His promised start date was Feb 17, 2015. On Feb 18, 2015 he called & said they were ready to start on Feb 23, 2015 & he wanted the 2nd 25% immediately. I told him I wasn’t comfortable with giving him the payment until they were actually on site. He said the excavator required more money down than anticipated. We finally agreed on me paying him half of the 2nd payment. He also indicated (in writing) the 2nd half of the 2nd payment would not be due until the egress windows & excavation was completed. On Feb 22, 2015 he called & said it was too cold to start work. I asked why they couldn’t bring over materials & start the framing inside. He said it didn’t make any sense to start the framing before the egress widows were completed (several other contractors did not agree with him & framing could have started). He refused to give me my money back at that time. He finally started my project on Mar 11, 2015. His crew did two days of partial framing and then stopped. He then demanded the 2nd half of the 2nd payment. I reminded him about the agreement we had for the payment being due when the egress windows were completed. He said that didn’t matter because they started the project so I should pay. I refused due to his previous lies & not returning my payment. He then abandoned the project. I took him to court and won. I have over 20 documented issues where he lied to me.

During the court process the owner delayed the first hearing, then appealed the verdict and then delayed the appeals hearing. He then didn’t show up for the appeals hearing. He didn’t timely file the court ordered financial report so I had to file more papers to have a contempt hearing scheduled. The morning of that hearing he finally delivered the financial report so he could avoid court. On the report he indicated he only has $3,040 in assets (a truck & some small tools). He has been in business for over 30 years & this is all the assets he claims to have. He has had over 20 similar small claims complaints filed against him in several counties around the state. He also has at least 4 evictions & 3 tax warrants. He has also been convicted of felony theft & felony eluding. His total owed from all these cases comes to approx. $180,000. The court records show that only one person was paid anything he owes them. He has not paid me anything to date.

The companies and owners contractor licenses were suspended due to this situation and he may not have a valid license now.

I have taken the following actions against the company and owner:

• Took him to court & won a verdict for approx. $6,100.
• Filed contempt paperwork against him.
• Filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
• Filed complaint with Wis Dept. of Agriculture. Trade & Consumer Protection.
• Filed a report with the Little Chute Police Department.
Be very aware of this company and its owner. They are not to be trusted. Also, the BBB changed its policy and dropped my complaint because they no longer will post complaints for court cases so they can further protect the businesses on their sites. Be aware of the BBB also.

DB = Dale Baldwin (Contractor)
SS = Scott Schupbach (Customer)
All dates are for calendar year 2015

SS provided DB with a detailed computer drawing of the remodel project. The remodel project included a bedroom, bathroom, rec room, laundry room, and additional door in the already finished portion of the basement (everything was indicated on the drawing SS provided). Project also includes two egress windows (an additional window was added to the project on Feb 16. DB submitted a proposal which SS accepted on Jan 14.

On Feb 11, one of DB’s former employees stopped by SS’ home to warn SS he may have problems with DB. The employee told SS DB hadn’t paid several of DB’s employees for previous jobs and several sub-contractors also had not been paid. SS discussed these allegations with DB and DB assured SS they were untrue and DB always pays his sub-contractors and employees on time. On Feb 28 SS spoke with the owner of the home DB was previously working on. She confirmed several of DB’s sub-contractors are approaching her for payment since DB hasn’t paid them. On Mar 23 the excavator tells SS that DB has not paid him for the last job the excavator did for DB.

The project was scheduled to start on Feb. 17, 2015 (plus or minus 3 days). DB told SS twice before this date DB was almost ready to start. DB didn’t start until Mar 12 which was in violation of the contract agreement.

On Feb. 18 DB informed SS they would be starting on Feb 23. Based on this DB wanted to pick up the second payment of $4,500.00 plus the $2,371.14 for the second egress window SS added to the project. SS told DB he was hesitant to pay any additional funds until they were on-site and actually started. DB claimed SS was questioning his integrity, honesty and professionalism. SS told him SS was just protecting his investment. SS finally agreed to give DB half ($3,435.57) of the amount DB wanted as a good faith gesture and based on DB’s promise to start on Feb. 23. DB agreed to accept the half payment and the other half would be due when excavation was completed and the concrete was cut. DB didn’t show up on Feb 23 and said it was too cold to work. When asked if DB’s guys would be coming to start framing (inside) DB indicated it didn’t make any sense to start framing until the egress windows were cut.

After several more promised start dates and excuses when DB didn’t start on those dates the project finally started on Mar 12 when 2 of DB’s employees came over and did partial framing (even though the egress windows hadn’t been cut yet) for 2 days. When SS asked DB what the plan was for the next week DB said excavation for the egress windows would take place on Mar 17 and concrete cutting on Mar 18. No one showed up to work on Mar 17 or 18. On Mar 19 DB demanded the second half the start up payment. SS said the payment would be delayed until the next week due to funds being moved from other investments. SS also was not happy with the way DB lied to SS on Feb 18 to get additional funds from SS and then didn’t meet DB’s promised start date of Feb 23.

On Mar 21 DB sends SS an email indicating the window well covers, paint, toilet, and door for the finished room are not included in the proposal. For the well cover and the door DB’s notification is in direct conflict with the information DB had provided when first reviewing the project and again before the contract was signed. Paint is included in 4 different sections of the proposal. DB also claimed the toilet was part of the bath allowance, but it is not included in the wording of the proposal as being part of the bath allowance. The well cover, paint, and door are not indicated as being excluded anywhere in the proposal. These four items will cost about $1,000 and would have prevented SS from accepting the contract had they been included in the proposal.

As of Mar 24 no additional work has been done by DB. For the 37 days since the project was suppose to start DB has only worked for 2 days. SS has already given DB $7,935.57 and DB was demanding another $3,435.57 before DB will do any additional work. DB has refused all requests for a refund from SS.

DB will lie and say there was a problem with the payments. This is not true. SS has financial statements showing DB cashed the checks on the day or day after SS gave him the checks.