Somersault General Contractors

If I could rate Jamal C Moore/Somersault General Contracting less than 1 star I would. I wrote the above review over two(2) years ago when my daughter and I were very impressed with his thoroughness,planning and great communication.
This was quoted as a (2) two month project for a Full Duplex rehab on a 203k loan. It was to start on July 1,2018 and be completed August 31,2018. Instead my daughter has been paying rent for over (2) years to someone else while I spend my entire Social Security payment on a property that was made uninhabitable by Somersault General Contractors. Not only was it found to be severly underbid by other Contractors but money was taken from our loan and what little work was done has to all be redone.
There was never a crew,permits,blueprints provided to get our home completed. We have since determined that his intent was to underbid the project,obtain 50% of the funds and never complete anything.Once Jamal C Moore discovered that was not easy to do because of HUD and Bank oversight.I can only believe his actions were intended for us to fire him so he could get out of the contract. Why else would new windows be removed and our home left open to the elements,doors left wide open, gutters installed and paid for then allowed to fall off the house, blueprints never obtained so haphazard framing done , 3rd floor drywall never removed but invoices submitted to HUD Reviewer as 100% HVAC completed, Contingency funds were taken to prop up floor,install new staircases and framing-none of this was done. Nothing that was done in the past 2 years is complete or even still attached to our home.It has no electricity,plumbing or HVAC and we've had to invest in battery security to protect our home. There were months that past and zero work was done at our property; just lies when there was any communication at all.
When I read the review above,I felt like I had written it as it establishes a pattern of incompetence,fraud and theft. When Somersault submitted fraudulent invoices to our Bank for our Windows,Contingency Funds and HVAC units,went to our Bank and picked up the checks,forged my name and cashed (2) two signature checks and never returned to complete any work or deliver any materials this behavior became criminal.
Since Somersault/Jamal C Moore never tried to honor his contract in over (2) years we went to Binding Arbitration per our contract and won. We are filing the next steps and will try to find an HONEST contractor to finish our home.
There are still stereotypical bad contractors out there and it is our hope that no one ever has to have this experience.

Though I was initially impressed with Somersault's apparent commitment to the neighborhood and hiring top-notch tradespeople, it did not take long for promised services to not be provided. Aside from the first week, I had to ask (often multiple times) for the weekly project narrative updates promised (and many of these reported completion dates for project components that were never met). About 8 weeks into what was contracted to be a 8-10 week project, Somersault became much harder to reach; the voicemail box was no longer set up, and email and text communications would often go unanswered or only partially answered. In person meetings that I requested to discuss the project would be pushed off, rescheduled, and then eventually downright missed without communication. The last meeting I requested was over 12 weeks into the project, when work had stopped without explanation by the contractor for at least 4 weeks prior. The little communication I would get turned out to be empty promises to complete the project or correct errors in workmanship. I repeatedly had to ask when certain components that had been promised to be done by certain dates would be done, and many were never completed. The quality of work has turned out to be very poor. The walls were closed up with new drywall prior to all of the rough-in plumbing being completed; closets and some mechanicals were done in a way not in accordance with the CAD plans that were part of the project, and several walls were put in visibly crooked. Changes to layout were made without consulting me, and other parts of the project were done incorrectly. Written requests to remedy were made multiple times according to our contract provisions, and we eventually elected to have someone else complete the work as part of our contract rights. Despite this, and legal counsel also sending a letter to this contractor, Somersault has been unresponsive and has neither provided supposedly-purchased materials for the rehab (AC unit, downspouts, kitchen cabinets, bathroom sink, etc) nor refunded the amount due that has been overpaid (according to contract terms). In addition, throughout the winter the contractor and workers left an electric heater running 24/7 on a thermostat that I found set to 80 multiple times, and argued that there was a problem with the meter. I had the system and the meter tested and investigated multiple times, saw smart-meter reports down to 15 minute increments, and know that the meter functions properly. This resulted in over $2000 in electric costs over only 3 months. The contractor also refused to put in attic access that had previously been in the property, despite city and IRC code specifications. The contractor is bonded, but the bond policy only covers the city. This project was a full gut rehab, so not a small job.