CPJ of Albany Inc.

To Whom it May Concern:[redacted] has been the hardest client I have ever had to deal with in 25 years.   He has absolutely no idea how this industry works and does not want to listen to anything that anyone ever tells him!  And believe me, many many people have tried, to no...

avail.When a person has a fire in their home, there is a protocol that must be followed in order to proceed.  Their are insurance company guide lines and local and state laws that need to be followed that have been explained to him more times than I can count.The day he had a fire, we were at his home boarding it up and winterizing his home for stabilization purposes.We then proceeded to his house and removed all of his salvagable belongings and brought them to our warehouse for storage and cleaning purposes.After this, we then had to scope his residence and get an agreed figure with his insurance company, apply for all permits, etc.  There is also a certain protocol that needs to be followed due to asbestos testing and abatement that is dictated by the state of New York.  This inevitably causes delays etc and it was all explained numerous times to [redacted]  He just does not listen or care.The overwhelming problem on this project was that the residence was completely built (by [redacted]) out of current CODE conditions.  [redacted] did not have any CODE insurance to fix pre existing issues.  This was told to him a minimum of 100 times by myself, my project manager and his own insurance representatives.  He could not and would not grasp this concept.  It is called reality.  So, what happens here you might ask yourself?  Well, the homeowner is responsible to bring the residence up to CODE by todays building standards.  We, as the contractor, have to have inspections within the town by the building and electrical inspector for foundations (footings), framing, insulation, plumbing and electrical reasons.  Then a final inspection to allow for the certificate of occupancy. Every single aspect of this home was in disarray and out of CODE and [redacted] was told this repeatedly.  To proceed, we had had to address his CODE issues and these are the financial responsibility of Frank Sweeney.  He simply refused to pay a dime for anything, instead constantly pushing and asking for more and more and more.These obviously caused delays.  I had an astronomical amount of calls and emails with his insurance representatives regarding these issues.  The best part here is, "I" took it upon myself to fix his CODE issues out of my own pocket.  I have never and will never do that again!  It cost me close to $20,000 to fix his issues that were NOT relevant to the fire!  And this guy has the gaul to complain and continue to ask for more.  This is insurance fraud if I have ever seen it.  I have everything documented and might make a case now with the insurance department.He has a side staircase that was falling apart from rot etc.  Myself and his insurance adjuster went the extra mile to get this covered to be replaced. We had to wait on approvals from [redacted] to proceed.  This took time to get approval because the staircase was on the complete opposite side of the dwelling and was untouched by the fire.  We have since run into weather issues with the snow etc.  This staircase has nothing to do with him not being able to utilize the home etc as it serves as a entrance to a part of the house not utilized.  His certificate of occupancy was issued months ago.Every favor I did for this man was followed up with another adamant request for extras to be done!  It just goes to show how unappreciative people are.This man brought in an interior decorator to pick out accent walls with my painters.  We replaced 2x4 crooked and unstable railings with spindled bannisters.  We raised his foundation (extra) and put siding on the raised portion of his home.  We installed pier systems to hold up his home where he had crushed cinder blocks. We fixed his fire hazard electrical issues all throughout his home.  He used our dumpsters for his personal disposal of things in his detached garage. This list is infinite.  All of this while leaving rude and vial messages on peoples answering machines asking for more.  I recreated the alphabet for this man!Oh, and I still have not been paid over $30,000 because he wants paint cleaned off a window (that he had at his home in storage) that we installed for FREE!!!  All of the things he is asking for are NOT a part of the fire damage.  He just believes he won an extreme home makeover building contest.  And you know what, he did because I went the extra mile for him.  Never again!  Feel free to call me anytime to hear about this ###-###-####Thank You,[redacted]