Overbrook, Philadelphia -
A Philadelphia woman says a contractor started work on her house and then didn't finish, after she paid $19,000.
It appeared to be a stand-off between the contractor who was still owed money, and the homeowner who felt she had already paid plenty.
So Fox 29 stepped in to get results.
Monica Howard needed work done on the outside of her Overbrook home, so she hired Marvel Builders & Remodeling, a company that came recommended by a friend. Howard signed an agreement in August. For $22,000, the contractor would complete a long list of repairs. Howard paid half up front, and then another $8,000 the following month. But she says the company owner, Michael Zeitz, didn't do all he promised.
On the phone, Zeitz insisted he did almost everything.
"The only thing that's left to do is some painting and some cement work, and that is worth the $3,000 that she owes me," Zeitz insisted.
Howard says some of the work the contractor did do is shoddy, like the repair on the overhang, which is already falling down.
So she got a lawyer, who sent a Zeitz a letter demanding action.
Zeitz responded in October, promising in writing, "I will complete job to the satisfaction of your clients." But Howard says he never did. "If he can finish the work, good, it's okay," Howard told Fox 29. "But if he can't do it I want my money back to get somebody to do it."
After Fox 29 intervened, Zeitz agreed to repair the overhang and remove an antenna on the roof, as promised in the original contract. And he said he would send a sub-contractor to do the rest of the work, in exchange for payment of the outstanding $3,000 balance.
"I will speak to him and maybe he can paint it and do the stucco all next week," Zeitz said. Fox 29 told the contractor, "We're going to follow up on this to make sure that the overhang and the antenna are removed tomorrow, and then we'll check back next week and make sure that it's all taken care of."
Howard agreed to pay the sub-contractor half the outstanding balance, and will pay the other half when the work is done. Fox 29 will be watching, to make sure she gets results.
Monica Howard claims a contractor started work on her home but didn't finish.
