RM Home Improvement General Contracting Renold McDonald Incompetent "contractor"; senile or fraudster? Somerset New Jersey

Mr. McDonald has several issues that are not apparent when first meeting him.  At first you think you are hiring an experienced (he's over 70), mild-mannered (turns out that means he's a pushover for his sub-contractors) person.  He has poor business, math, and common sense skills as evidenced throughout my interactions with him.

Although I was very clear upfront that my 203(k) loan amount was all the funds I had for renovations, "Mr. Mac" did not get it.  The first time I noticed that he was spending money we/he didn't have, I called him on it and asked for a statement of accounts so we could reassess the work left to be done.  That was over a year ago...he didn't get it.  Overall, my message was not fully received (until I sent the certified letter asking him to stop harassing me).  

I expected him as general contractor to hire reputable sub-contractors whose work hestood behind or at the very least whose work he would review prior to final payment to those sub-contractors.  Mr. Mac failed to meet those expectations.  He allowed other forces (his poor time management, accepting work in a undesirable location for his regular crew, the HUD consultant's biased recommendations) to permit disreputable people to perform “work” at my house, he paid them without negotiating or checking their work, and in many instances he had to re-perform their “work” so that it was satisfactory.  Of course, I have numerous examples and pictures to document all of this: while installing siding and windows, he allowed them to leave a part of my home exposed for several months, which created a severe leak in the dining room ceiling.  He then attempted more than 4 times to correct the obvious leak by spackling or painting over it instead of opening the ceiling and finding the source of the problem.  After months of living with possible exposure to mold spores and definite exposure to an unsightly dining room and kitchen, he finally cut into the ceiling and corrected the issue. The effort of continually having to point out subpar work, the extra time to correct it, and the mental and financial stress of this continued practice have been overwhelmingly disappointing and distressing. 

I repeatedly requested a statement of accounts.  I also clearly communicated that not getting prior authorization for the cost of additional renovations would not be appropriate, since all the money I had was tied into the loan and contingency fund.  There were/are no extra funds to be drawn from.  In addition, due to the significant delays on the project, rental income I was expecting to receive from the 1^st floor apartment was not obtained until more than 6 months later than anticipated due to continued work by him and/or his subcontractors.

In one half-hearted attempt at an invoice for additional work, we discussed what would make it complete & correct, like including a full list of all the items that I actually paid for but that he received reimbursement for as well as any items that went above the allotted funds and contingency. 

In addition to being incomplete and inaccurate, several items on the invoice were not completed to my satisfaction For example, the staining of the hardwood floors is deplorable.  Only after the work was completed, after I moved all of my furniture in, and after his invoice lists an overrun for the floors, that’s when he decides to blame my choice of stain is the reason for the poor end result?  That’s not true and even if it was, I would expect my general contractor to advise me of that before the work was done.  But since neither Mr. Mac nor the subcontractor he hired and paid to perform the work is qualified to judge, I obtained a quote from a reputable business and it was obvious to them that the floors were not sanded correctly so the wood filler and stain did not “take”. 

Unfortunately, the floors are just one example of sub-par work that I will now have to pay someone else to perform.  Even though my Wells Fargo contract with RM Home Improvement requires that his services be warrantied for 1 year, I do not trust that he has the skillset to perform the work correctly or to hire quality subcontractors and manage their work or he would have done that the first time.  Here are some of the areas I will need to have taken care of by others due to his unprofessional behavior:

• Refinishing wood floors throughout the house
• Inside paint: window sills were not scraped and painted as listed on the specifications; several areas just have primer, no paint; cover water damage from improperly installed windows
• Outside paint: not completed fully; front doors painted but not primed
• Floor tile in 1^st floor apartment: not covered or protected after installation so damaged by workers/equipment before the tenant even moved in
• Kitchen tile on 2^nd floor missing grout, uneven in places (and this is the trade he put 3 kids through school doing)
• Trim not installed throughout house as listed on specifications
• Replace or repair octagon window in 3^rd floor bathroom – dirt, stains inside double pane, not cleaned before sealing it back and reinstalling it
• Re-shingle or repaint porch roof – the black paint he used to cover the yellow stain the first painters spilled was water soluble so a few days of rain and the stain is back
• Deck: stain on 1^st floor from storing  tools during rainy days; reattach 2^nd floor deck to building (the “glue” he applied is already pulling apart)
• Apply paint thinner to all window screens since the painters did not cover the windows or clean up their messes while they were fresh when they did the exterior painting

He's actually asking for and additional $20,000.  I may countersue him but then we won't be in small claims court.  I would love a class action suit against him because I can't understand how he can be this bad for this long and still make enough money to survive.

Please beware!  It won't end well for one or both of you if you enter into business with this man.