shafer landscape

1. We signed the contract worth $34,471 with Mr. Shafer on March 10, 2012, and paid him a down payment of $11,490.33. At the time we signed the contract, we were not aware of Contractor?s State License Board Business and Professions Code 7159.5 which limits maximum down payment. It states: If a downpayment will be charged, the downpayment may not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or 10 percent of the contract amount, whichever is less. We have filed a complaint with the Contractor?s State License Board on November 12, 2012, regarding this and other violations, and are awaiting their response. 2. Mr. Shafer promised us in emails prior to signing the contract that he will get all the required permits to do the job, but he never bothered to act on it. He went to the City Permit Office once to find out if a permit was required for the 2nd floor deck (project #1 above). We had to do all the running around to get the permit, hire an Architect at a cost of $3,500 to do the engineering and drawings, and make dozens of visits to the City Permit Office. The permit was approved on October 12, 2012, after a period of about 5 months. 3. Mr. Shafer removed all concrete (project #2. Above) from the backyard patio on March 21, 2012, and never put back the concrete, leaving all dirt in our patio where concrete used to be. We have been unable to use our patio for barbecue and other family activities for the past 8 months. 4. Mr. Shafer quoted us a price of $5,350 for a patio with douglas fir wood, and $,8,350 if he used redwood. The contract was signed using the higher redwood price, which is what we initially wanted. As the permit process got bogged down in City bureaucracy, Mr Shafer opined that if we use douglas fir, the permit process may be expedited, since we were replacing a deck made with douglas fir with the same wood. This did not turn out to be true. After the deck permit was approved by the City, Mr. Shafer told us that he will charge us the price he quoted for using redwood, while he will actually use the cheaper douglas fir. On top of that he claimed that the city had imposed changes to the design of the deck, for which he will charge an additional $2,200. So the deck that started with $5,350 now became $10,550 ($8,350+$2,200). We have subsequently shown the drawings to other contractors, who confirm that there were no code changes imposed by the city that would justify doubling the price of the deck. 5. There was an unreasonable delay in commencement of work. He started on the back yard fence (project #3) on October 4, 2012, almost 7 months after the signing of the contract. He only put fence posts, and never the fence itself. As a result we have security concerns, since behind our back yard there is a wash, and a walkway, hence anyone has open access to our back yard. He also started work on the wall (project #4) on the same day, and never finished that either. This date (10/4/2012) was the last sighting of Mr. Shafer. 6. On October 11, 2012 Mr. Shafer sent us a Change Order for an additional $3,380 to be added to the contract. This was to account for a couple of changes we had requested to projects #6 & #7. The Change Order also included $2,200 for what he called ?city-imposed code changes? in the design of the deck. Owing to his lack of diligence in the performance of his work, we refused to sign the Change Order. 7. Once we complained to him about his unprofessionalism, Mr. Shafer told us that if we were unhappy with his work, he will stop working, and keep the huge and illegally obtained down payment of $11,490 in exchange for work already done. We have shown his work to other contractors, who estimated the value of work done by Mr. Shafer to be about $3,000 to $3,200. Mr. Shafer wants to reach an agreement to terminate the contract, and his terms are of-course that he keeps the money in exchange for work done to date. We insist that Mr. Shafer refund to us $8,290 which is the difference of $11,490 minus $3,200. So far, we have not put a value on the loss of use of the patio for the 8 month period, nor for the lack of security posed by the unfinished back yard fence, and the front gate. We have diligently taken before and after pictures of the work done by Mr. Shafer, and we have also saved all the emails and correspondence, and also some text messages that he sent us. Taken together, they provide a compelling account of what Mr. Shafer promised and what he delivered, or failed to deliver.