J Melillo Construction

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• By Anonymous

  December 30, 2014

  gut reno

  Dishonest Money Stealing Contractor

  The claim is against Chris Melillo (of Melillo Construction) for taking and cashing a $6,500 check for home renovation work that was never done for my property. In May 2014 I contacted Chris about a renovation project. I asked him for a scope and budget for a 'gut' renovation of the 2nd unit of my 3-family property. Over the next few weeks, he visited the site and we discussed the project in more detail: major parts of the job, changing the floor plan, schedule, budget, and how the project was contingent on my ability to get bank financing. On July 1, Chris requested we make a commitment so that he could keep his schedule available for my project. Financing for the project was still uncertain at this time, but we agreed that even if I didn't get the home equity loan, that I would do a bathroom renovation at a minimum. I gave him a check for $6,500 as a preliminary step while I worked with the bank for the loan and with him to develop a contract. Neither Chris nor I signed a construction contract during this preliminary step of giving him a check for $6,500. In an email from Chris he stated that a check for 1/3 of the bathroom renovation would be due upon signing of a contract. But he never provided a contract at this point and I never came to an agreement with him about that contract at any time but he still has the money. Through July and August I continued to work with him on details for the contract, but we had difficulty on major items. He was reluctant to give a breakdown in budget regarding project components and tasks. He was reluctant to break out materials vs. labor. He was reluctant to give specifics about which materials he was planning on using. He wanted to wait until demolition was done to develop a floor plan but still wanted me to sign a contract for a specific fee. To work through the floor plan issue, I spoke with inspectors directly and learned that for a commercial property a floor plan was required to pull a building permit. At this point I had given Chris a $6,500 check, I didn't have a signed contract, no work had been done and he had either mislead or misunderstood the inspector on the first step towards starting the project. I called Chris to tell him I didn't want to use him as the contractor based on the red flags listed above and to discuss the outstanding check I had given him that he had already cashed without a signed contract; he hung up on me. He has been uncommunicative by phone or email since then and I am seeking to get my $6,500 back from Chris Melillo.

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