Jerry Carrera ,Gerardo Carrera ,Carrera Custom Homes Jerry Carrera breached our construction agreement, stole my money and left my home in an uninhabitable condition. Los Angeles California

Jerry Carrera, aka Carrera Custom Homes, contracted with me and my husband, the remodel project of my home with a firm budget of just under $250,000.00. Work began on January 30, 2007 and was due for completion in 5 months. After a series of unbelievable/nightmarish events, over the first 3 months, from on-site vandalism, theft and the incurring of over $100,000 of construction overages, he removed his crew from the job site.

Four months passed without any construction activity, afterwhich he sent in a small crew for a month who made very little progress. The work that was performed was faulty, shabby and unprofessional, to say the least. Broken marble tiles were used on the floor and walls, even though we had provided plenty of materials. The wood flooring installed in the upstairs bedrooms were damaged/marred and one of the bedroom floors is not level. The outside stucco work is patchy, discolored and sloppy at best.

Our new balcony does not have enough pitch so water flows away from the structure. From the minute we met with Jerry, he promised this was his specialty, however water pools up on the balcony after it rains which will eventually creep through to the patio underneath. The in-ground whirlpool spa in the backyard was resurfaced and retiled 3 times, however it looks like it was never touched. The concrete/hardscape in the back yard was done by a friend of Jerry's, George Castellanos, who took my money and abandoned the landscape/hardscape part of the project. The portion of the hardscape he did do had to be redone as the concrete began cracking a month after the pour.

The electrical panel is/has not been wired properly. Everything in the house is connected to the main breaker. My electric wall oven is/was not connected with enough voltage (needs 220-240) so it is just an expensive wall decoration. We have a whirlpool tub in our master bath that cannot be used. Jerry's electrician, Ulisses Gonzalez, was given all the necessary diagrams and installation instructions, however he left us with many overloaded circuits and dead electrical outlets, not to mention the overloaded breaker on our electrical panel.

The plumbing to the master shower was not configured properly, so our hand-held shower head is an unusable chrome fixture. even though we provided the plumber, Alfredo Lopez, with a detailed diagram, he could not figure it out. The air conditioning units which were working fine, prior to construction, of which one was moved into our attic space by Cesar Rodriguez (aka Air Troubles), are now leaking water because the condensation pipes have been installed incorrectly. Have you ever heard of water flowing up instead of down, without a pump?

Some of the interior doors and exterior sliders were installed and left crooked and unbalanced. I had to pay my cabinetmaker for the extra work of staining my doors and windows throughout the house, even though Jerry was paid for this work, as indicated in our contract. The interior was painted prematurely, so there are scuffs, scratches, dings and stains on my walls.

Little of the work was performed in a logical order, as he scheduled his workers that were available to be onsite to set the illusion that progress was being made, given the number of guys on the property. Not only did he cheat me on this deal, but he was not paying his crew as expected, so they began demanding that I pay them. Although Jerry was already paid to fund their labor, I needed my house back, so I was forced to shell out more money with the hopes that they would finish the project. To make matters worse, I had to pay a supplier to cover a bounced check Jerry wrote them for approximately $6,000.00, otherwise they were going to put a lien on my property.

I know I/we sound like the dumbest consumers ever, however, let me give you a little background. First, I called over 15 reputable/licensed contractors to come out and bid on my job. A total of 5 showed up, who evaluated the project and I received only 3 bids, none of which impressed me.

Jerry's crew was working on a house, 1 street above mine, and he had his banner advertising his services in plain view. We first checked out the work, which was meticulous and of an original design. The homeowner raved about Jerry and his crew. How everything was done to written specifications. The guys arrived daily at 7AM and left at 4PM. They cleaned up after themselves and Jerry visited the job-site twice daily, or he left a foreman (his brother) in charge.

My husband and I met with Jerry and we arranged for a meeting at a later date to go over the work we wanted done to our home. In the process, he took us to several completed job sites, where we saw the same attention to detail and original workmanship. We even met with a couple, who were LAPD officers, who endorsed Jerry's work, which was still in-progress at their home.

Although all the red-flags were raised during the initial stages of the project, we kept our faith that he would come through in the end. Here we are, almost 2 years later and $400,000 dollars poorer. We are in our home, however the list of repairs in this report, still remain outstanding. This made my entire family sick and depressed. I hope others can be forewarned by the details of this exerience, before deciding to work with Jerry Carrera of Carrera Custom Homes.

Sandi_m
Montebello, California
U.S.A.