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Caught in contractor hell

It is every homeowner’s worst nightmare - hiring a contractor who leaves the job half finished and takes off with your money.
But for Bhogendra Sharma and his wife, the nightmare did not end there, and the couple, rendered homeless, has been forced to live with family members for nearly a year.
Wanting simply to extend his home - located at 111-19 123rd Street in Ozone Park and valued at $435,000 - 13 feet in back and two feet in front to add a solarium, attic and meditation room, Sharma hired home improvement contractor Hemchandra Ramjit (doing business as H. Ramjit Home Improvement, Inc.) in 2005.
“The first month, the contractor worked very diligently,” said Sharma. “But when I gave him the third installment of the money, he took it and ran. The job was only 30 to 40 percent done.”
According to Sharma, he signed a contract with Ramjit totaling $215,350 on December 4, 2005, and by the end of March, he had paid $132,000. All work was to be completed by July 31, 2006.
It was in March, said Sharma, that Ramjit “abandoned the project.”
“After he completed one-third of the project, he allowed the [New York City Department of Buildings (DOB)] permits to expire and then abandoned the job,” said Sharma, an electrical technician.
“I started the job and was working on it,” said Ramjit. “But it got to a point where [Sharma] was screaming and yelling.”
Ramjit went on to say that Sharma had wanted to change certain details on the new glass enclosure on the front of the home, but that an argument ensued between the two.
“He physically slapped me in the face,” alleged Ramjit.
Sharma denies this, saying, “I never touched him.”
When DOB inspectors visited the site on August 25, 2006, they issued a stop-work order and, according to Sharma, fined him $500 for doing repairs without a permit.
According to Jennifer Givner, a DOB spokesperson, a lot of the work done on the home was completed without the proper authorization.
“They started prefiling [for a permit] in September of 2005,” she said. “They were given it on September 6, 2006.”
In the interim, Sharma, who now had to tap into his retirement savings, had hired new contractors, Maple Home Improvement, to proceed with the work, which would now cost him $224,000 - more than the total of the original contract - to complete.
However, when the DOB revisited the site, according to Sharma, he was issued a violation and another stop-work order because Maple did not have the proper permit and because the home’s foundation was damaged.
“They obtained new permits, similar to the ones issued to Ramjit,” said Sharma. “However, shortly after the new contractors started the job, it appears the personnel from the DOB decided to close down the project, saying that the permits were inadequate.”
According to Jose A. Velasquez, the job’s engineer, “The DOB determined that the first contractor [Ramjit] went beyond the plans.”
Velasquez went on to explain that Ramjit had applied for authorization for an Alteration Type 1, meaning that the number of rooms in the home would be increased.
However, he said, the DOB determined that Maple had to apply for permits for a new building, which “implies the existing building would be demolished and that the new building would have to comply with zoning regulations, which means the owner will lose his driveway and won’t be able to use his garage.”
Givner did acknowledge that the site was in violation of the DOB’s Technical Policy and Procedure Notice (TPTN). “These are basically document clarifications,” she said.
The new permits would cost nearly $14,000, according to Velasquez.
“They said [Ramjit] removed more than 50 percent of the walls, all the floors above grade and the roof,” Velasquez continued. “We contest that he did not remove more than 50 percent of the walls and did not remove most of the roof.” But Ramjit maintains that he and his workers did have to remove a good portion of the walls and flooring.
“Eventually we did have to take the whole house down,” he said. “We took out all the rotten walls piece by piece and replaced them. I replaced all the studs, all the flooring and installed all new windows. I used the same frame - I just took things out and replaced them.”
Ramjit contends that he was willing to finish the work - that he is still owed $124,000 by Sharma - and that everything was done by code.”
Last month, the DOB issued a temporary lift on the stop-work order so that the home’s foundations could be secured.
“The stop-work order by the DOB which delayed the foundation repair resulted in a number of cracks in the outer brickwork on our home,” said Sharma.
Currently, Sharma is suing Ramjit for $356,426 - the cost of the work up to date plus what had been paid to the contractor - and for another $250,000.
“I want him [Ramjit] to reimburse me for all the expenses I have incurred,” said Sharma.
Living with his brother for nearly a year, Sharma continues to pay up to $2,500 per month on his home, which includes the mortgage, cable, electric and phone bills.
The homeowner is also suing the DOB, not for monetary compensation, but for the ability to finish construction on his house.
His next court hearing is scheduled for March 20.