James De La Garz, Jim De La Garza, Laura Vanoni, Ocean 2 Ocean, Press Investments construction theft, fraud, deceptive trade practices, San Antonio Texas

Jim verbally agreed to provide materials for the construction of our house at his "cost" if we allowed him to match the lowest bid for the subcontractors needed. He profited approximatley $8,000 on the lumber alone.

He convinced us that we needed special floor joist, never mentioning that we would be bill $8,800 for them with his profit being more than $2,000. Jim made many promises but wrote his contracts very nonspecifically. When we questioned items that should have been included in the services of the subcontractors that he provided, he acted like he had never heard of these items.

example: all appliances were to be propane. Only prapne plumbing to the fireplaces was provided by his plumber. No 220 wires was to be provided by his electrician. No 220 wiring or propane to appliances on the plans that he drew. Therefore, no energy provided to any appliance.
We were not given the refund for the lumber that was returned. We had leins placed on our house because he was paying for materials 4 months late.

During this time he bragged about a gambling trip he took to Vegas and a ski trip he and his wife Laura Vanonio took. His emplyees have come to me to find out how to get him to pay their paychecks. They have stated that he was very behind paying them and that when he did pay them, their checks bounced. We had to have an investigator with the sheriff's department force him to pay his bills to remove and prevent leins on our house. He has served prison time for theft and fraud and, according to an official, is still on probation.
We have been waiting since November for the plumber to complete the pipes in the wall. He will not return because they paid him so late. When they did pay, they paid with a check that bounced.

The leftover lumber that is in our garage waiting to go back to the lumber company for credit was stolen last night. No other construction tools or valuables were taken. Previous clients of his have stated that they fired him for simular problems.

Michael
san antonio, Texas
U.S.A.