Kalooky Landscaping

Terrible, did not finish and demanded alot of money

I have been taken advantage of by a contractor named Ricky Kalooky, owner of Kalooky Landscaping, 4 Parallel Street, Nutley, NJ. In April 2010 to July 2011 I prepaid Mr. Kalooky multiple personal payment checks totaling $85,350 for repairs to the outside of my home and property, which he has not completed to date. The work was to remove several yard trees, replace a retaining wall around my property, replace my front steps, walkway and driveway. Mr. Kalooky did very minimal work before he stopped working completely. I currently have no front steps, my driveway is dug up, no walkways no retaining wall and the outside of my home is all dug up. I have to use the back door to get in and out of my house. I contacted Ricky Kalooky of Kalooky Landscaping in April 2010. He was recommended by my next door neighbor (another senior citizen). Mr. Kalooky never gave me a contract or scope of work, and I did not ask for one because I did not know to ask for one; I trusted him. Starting, April 9, 2010 Mr. Kalooky would ask me for checks in all different amounts for the work he was going to do around my house ( I have copies of all the checks). I live alone and I never had work done before so I am not familiar with the pricing for the work he was doing and trusted that he was going to get the work completed. He started taking down trees and digging up my yard, he would show up to do some work every couple weeks or so for a couple hours then he would ask me for another check. He never made significant progress and I didn’t realize how much I was paying him. My property is a mess and it is not safe for me. Winter is now coming and it will be very difficult for me to park and walk into my house with ice and snow. Also, I am concerned that my neighbors will begin to complain about my unsightly property or someone will get hurt do to the condition that the property is currently in.