Part 2: The Court Case And The Jeweler

If you missed it ....The Dishonest Jeweler..... Part 1 HERE:

So to recap a bit....

I was hired by a Dishonorable, Dishonest, Despicable, and Deranged jeweler to work on his 4 million dollar home in Flemington, NJ. After I refused to do work that was out of the scope of my contract and knowing that I wouldn't be paid for it, the jeweler asked me to leave. Weeks went by and I had not received the "promised" check, so I went to see him.............He told me that he was NOT going to pay me, and he turned to pick up the phone behind the counter...."I'm calling the police"   I don't know how I stayed calm at this point, but I went almost nose to nose with him and said, "Go ahead, call the police, they'll arrest you, because you're the thief! And just to give you a heads up, I'll see you in court"

So the following day I went to see an attorney friend of mine. 

We went over all of the paper work, and lucky for me I had pictures. He explained to me that I had a good case indeed and I should pursue it wholeheartedly. He told me that I could sue him for all of the extra work, and I could even sue him for unnecessary stress, and I should also sue him for having to replace my transmission because he neglected to plow the driveway. My friend was looking for blood. I said to him that I didn't want to sue him for everything under the sun, and since there was nothing in writing about the extras, I would just look like a fool. He somewhat agreed, and then encouraged me to represent myself in court.

So it was to be....I was going to be my own lawyer!

Luckily for me, my wife is very smart and helped file the suit against the jeweler, and we both looked into the legality of our claims. I was very confident that I was going to get my money from this crook. 

Two weeks went by and I received a certified letter from the jewelers attorney. I actually thought that the jeweler somehow came to his senses and decided to pay the money that he owed me. I opened the letter with an internal grin, and much to my surprise there was a court document saying that the jeweler was COUNTER SUING ME!! I was floored by the arrogance of this man, and it just gave me a heightened sense of determination to teach this man a lesson. 

The court room!

The day came for our court date and I was ready! The weatherman called for a very rainy day, but that morning it was just a light rain, and it felt good on my face as I walked to the courthouse. My wife and I went up to the second floor of the huge marble-laden court house, and found the room in which we had to wait for the first case to be over with before we could enter. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the jeweler with his attorney.....

The attorney was a small middle aged man, who was smartly dressed. It was obvious that the jeweler had pointed me out because right after I saw the jeweler whisper something to the attorney, the attorney grabbed the jewelers arm and they made a u turn and sat on the other side of the building. That just gave me a bit more confidence, not that I needed anymore because I was fired up and I couldn't wait to get in and make a fool of this guy.

We were called in around 10 am. The Judge asked "Mr. DiTaranto, where is your attorney?" I replied "Your honor, I will be representing myself, and I'm ready to go" This got a small chuckle from someone behind me. "Are you sure Mr. DiTaranto? because this case may be complicated enough to warrant an attorney" I explained to the judge that I had all the necessary evidence and paper work to proceed with the case. He smiled at me and said "Well then, let's begin! Mr. DiTaranto....state your case"

I was on fire and didn't miss a beat. I presented most of my evidence to the court. I explained that he kept making changes to the plans without confirming any compensation for these changes, and that the required space for the fireplace was in question, and it turned out to be wrong as per the architects letter that I presented......in which I repaired, again without any written confirmation of compensation. I told the court that he insisted that I do the work of his Architect, and his Framer, and his Roofer. I submitted pictures of the roof rafters, and the window that was too close. I also submitted pictures of the fireplace before I changed it to a herringbone design, and then another picture of the fireplace with the herringbone firebox. 

Not me.....

The Judge was impressed with the work, and made a statement "Nice work Mr. DiTaranto, maybe I'll give you a call sometime" He laughed, the bailiff laughed, I laughed, and most of the people sitting behind us laughed...the jeweler didn't laugh. I was finished and sat next to my wife with my chest out and my head held high, because I knew that I killed this thing. I felt like Perry Mason! I was totally confident that no matter what they came back with, they couldn't take anything away from my testimony.

That's when the lies and the drama began!

The attorney gets up and walks in front of me with a picture of the fireplace that I had built. "So, Mr. DiTaranto,.....so this is what you call GOOD work?! If you had done this for me I would have fired you also!" He ran over to the judge and handed the picture to him. 

"Your Honor, I'm sure that Mr. DiTaranto didn't or wouldn't show you THIS picture of his work! Look how sloppy the work is, there are cement stains all over the brick! My client, the jeweler has had nightmares about how he was going to live with this mans sloppy work!" He slowly walked back in front of where I was sitting and asked me 

"Didn't you realize that you were working on a multimillion dollar home, and your work was far less than acceptable?! I'm sure you understand that the jeweler just couldn't have you finish up there with THAT kind of sloppy work...WELL??!!" 

I looked him straight in the eyes, as he didn't intimidate me like he believed he would, and replied.

"Well Mr. Attorney (not his real name) I wasn't given the chance to finish the job, and that is not a finished product. You see, when the fireplace is completed, we wash it down with a light acid wash, which washes off any cement that may have fallen on the brick, and the finished product, which that isn't, would be beautiful!" 

He shook his head in disgust, and walked back to his table to pick up a piece of paper. " Your Honor, this man, Mr. DiTaranto, failed EVERY single inspection, and when he finally did pass the ONE inspection, it was party time for Mr. DiTaranto,. it was apparently such a accomplishment for this man, that he called my client to tell him that he finally passed, and demanded a check from him!...Isn't that true Mr. DiTaranto??!!" 

"No, Mr Attorney, that is 100% false! You see, I went to the township and got a printout of all the inspections that were performed on the jewelers house, and if you look under the heading of "Fireplaces" there were three inspections that were performed on said fireplace, and EVERY ONE of them passed!! And the only time that I asked him for a check was when we both agreed that I would leave his job."

Crazy attorney, drama queen!

The attorney slammed both of his hands on the table in front of me and yelled, "Mr. DiTaranto, isn't it a FACT that you built this said fireplace wrong, and you were forced, by the township to tear most of it down, and when you started again, you overbuilt it and had to take the exterior wall of the house down, therefore weakening this wall forcing my client Mr. jeweler to seek out an engineer to make sure that this wall was structurally sound??, WELL, Isn't that true Mr. DiTaranto??!!"

"No, again, Mr. Attorney, I'm not sure where your getting your "facts" from, but they're all wrong. I have the original blueprints here, and a letter from the architect stating that this space was NOT for a masonry fireplace, but a gas fireplace which requires much less room. Before I started the job I brought this to the attention of Mr. Jeweler and he told me that he was an engineer in Russia, and not to question his requests"

"Oh really?, Mr.DiTaranto, you claim to be such a great and wise contractor, and yet you rely on my clients interpretation of the codes??? I find this ridiculous!" He went back to his table, bent over and whispered something into the jewelers ear. The jeweler looked over at me and said "Why do you lie? I just wanted nice fireplace on my home. You make nightmare, and I can't even look at you!"

The attorney pulled a piece of paper out of his briefcase and claimed "Your honor, we have here a bill for the re-building of the fireplace. Mr.Jeweler just couldn't live with what this man had done, so he hired this other contractor to knock Mr. DiTaranto's horrible work and rebuild it the right way" As he went to hand the judge the paper, I broke in and said, "Your Honor, I find that very suspicious, because I was at the jobsite two days ago to pick up some of my equipment that I couldn't get to because of the snow, and my fireplace was still there and has not been touched!"

The judge asked Mr. Jeweler if that was true, and the jeweler stuttered, "Ahhh, well, I hired him to do this work. He has not started yet, but he will be there today" The Judge said that the bill was inadmissible, as was all of the pictures that they handed in. I was flying!! Then the judge looked over and said "Okay, let's break for lunch. When we come back at 1:00 we will hear closing arguments"

As we left the room, I got a few thumbs up from the people sitting behind us. My wife and I went for lunch at a local restaurant. We sat there and as I talked, she wrote down every word of the closing statement. We were so happy that our case was so strong, and we were totally confident of our success, that we hardly ate anything. As we headed back to the court house it started raining so heavy that we were completely soaked as we ran from our car to the courthouse. When we walked in the bailiff form our case was in the lobby, and offered us a towel. We gladly took it and thanked him, and he replied "you're doing a GREAT job up there!" I was so happy to hear this and asked him if he thought I would win the case.

"Without a doubt! But remember one thing...this judge never gives the whole amount, but you'll get most of your money, you can bet on that!"

We both gave our closing statements. Mine was sincere and heartfelt, his was dramatic, and pretty much all lies.

The Judge looked right at me and said "I want to tell you that I think you did a stand up job stating your case Mr. DiTaranto" And then he turned to the court clerk and said. "I have come to a decision. Mr. DiTaranto, your testimony was very good and I believe that what you said here today was the truth" I WAS GLEAMING! "The court finds in favor of you" My insides were cheering, and I looked over at my wife and we both smiled at each other in triumph.

Then the judge turned to the jeweler...."Mr. Jeweler, Your case was also strong, and I believe your testimony, so the court also finds in favor of you"...?????WTF????????? I heard gasps coming from behind me. I looked over at the bailiff, and he was also in shock, and looked at me and shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

I was stunned and about to collapse on the floor, and the judge asked me "Do you understand, Mr. DiTaranto?" I'm sure that I resembled a deer in the night road staring at oncoming headlights, and I uttered, "Yes, I think I do..." 

The judge then explained what was going on, " you sued Mr. Jeweler for $6,500, and he won the counter suit which is $9,800.00, so you owe Mr. Jeweler $3,300.00. Do you understand?" In shock even more, I replied, "Well not really, but if you think that's fair then what can I say about that?" The judge hit his gavel on his bench "Case closed....bring in the next case"

As we walked out, the people behind us were saying things like "somethings wrong here" and "no way that liar won"....I agreed. The jeweler and his attorney were right behind me and the jeweler leaned over and whispered in my ear.."I told you, not to sue me....now you owe me money" he laughed. I turned around, and stopped him and said "Try to collect it, there was some really funny shit going on here, and you can bet that this isn't over". 

It took six appellate lawyers before I finally got one who was honest or brave enough to take the case, as he saw that there was definitely something fishy going on. We were thinking that the Jeweler must have had lunch with the Judge and maybe gave him a watch for his wife, or told him to come into the store anytime and pick something out. But there is NO WAY that two people can "win". 

Nice Roman coins found on  the Shores of Italy!
nudge nudge..wink wink (hint)

We won the appeal, but I paid for the lawyer and I never got a dime from that Crook, as "his company" had gone bankrupt again, but he is living comfortably in his mansion on the hill.....with MY brickwork looking him in the eyes when he comes down his winding stairs. 

Any time I get a chance I tell people to avoid doing business with him, because he's a thief! There is a hint in this picture....if you really want to know who this crook is! 

See you next time......from beyond.........

  

The Dishonest Jeweler..... Part 1

There will always be dishonest people....I'm sure of that!

Nice Roman coins found on  the Shores of Italy!
nudge nudge..wink wink (hint)

Over the years not only have I run into them on a personal basis, but I've also had my encounters with them in my business. Luckily, there were only a few and in my business I only got burnt by one. This individual which I would LOVE to name, but I don't want any legal troubles, was by far one of the most Dishonorable, Dishonest, Despicable, and Deranged persons I ever met, who I will call "The Jeweler". This man owns a jewelry store at the local mall, and a couple other stores in the area. He used to run a commercial on the local cable channel and his daughter says (even though it's obviously a sales pitch)......... 

"I will never forget the day he sat me on his lap and asked me if I knew the three most important things about being a jeweler.  Well, I was guessing all kinds of things, but all my answers were wrong.  He said, “I will tell you what my father taught me at your age: To be a jeweler, you need to know three things; be honest, honest, and more honest."

Now if that isn't a bunch of malarkey, I don't know what is! This is a man who proudly told me (after I started working on his house) that he went bankrupt seven times! Now if that's honest, then BERNIE MADOFF is a good businessman. 

So the story begins..........

The Jeweler!

It was several years ago I got a call from an architect that I had become friends with after doing several jobs together with him. He asked me if I wanted to do work on a 4 million dollar home in Flemington NJ. This was a good thing for me, as it was winter and here in New Jersey the winter can be harsh, therefore work can be hard to come by. I went to meet with the man who was a jeweler, but somehow now he was a builder.

He was a slightly overweight man with a heavy Russian accent...

He was on his cell phone when I arrived, and signaled for me to go ahead of him up the steep winding driveway to the house, which I did.  The massive building had already been started, and it seemed to be deserted. I parked my truck and walked around the house. I was so impressed at the size of this mansion. The front entryway was actually bigger than MY house!, maybe even double the size! I guess you kind of gain respect for a man who can afford such a Grand undertaking, and I began to wonder what must a man do to afford such a luxury.

I took notice that there was no one working on this house, even tough it was a weekday. The home had been framed, sheathed, the windows were in and roof was on.....but that seemed to be all. I went inside and took notice that there was very little plumbing work done and the electric had just been started. I started to fantasize that I could live in the attic, and no one would ever notice that I was there! I went back outside to look around, and the Jeweler drove up.

Not the house, but shown here for size!

We discussed pricing for me to do the massive amount of brickwork and the multilevel fireplace. He tried to tell me that he could get a "Mexican" crew to do the job for almost half of what I was asking, but I stood my ground and he agreed to my price, and we got started there the following week.

We started on the fireplace in the basement building the base. A fireplace is built in stages, and requires multiple inspections. That first day I noticed that the area that the fireplace was to be built in seemed very small and I told him of my concerns.

His reply was "Dominick...I'm engineer in Russia, don't tell me this...it is plenty big for you to build this fireplace!" I explained to him that he was now in the US of A and we probably do things much different here. I emphasized that I didn't think there was enough room required by the township. "Dominick....just go ahead and build fireplace...I will worry about how big space is."

I prepped for and got my first inspection.

 The first inspection was for the hearth and once we got our passing sticker we went onto the next stage. The next stage was to build the firebox which is where you build the fire. I personally made sure that the measurements were exact. I had the firebox about half way built, when the jeweler came in and asked me if I would move the fireplace over about three inches.

Firebox being built....A second time!

"Dominick, I'm not happy with the way the fireplace does not line up with the stairs across the room, could you move it over?" I wasn't happy because this part of the fireplace took a whole day, and I replied "It's exactly where it should be according to the blueprint, but if you want me to take it down and rebuild it, no problem but you have to pay me for that" He became a bit indignant and replied "Is everything about money? The fireplace is not center to the stairs, and you should have realized that!" I reiterated that it was an exact measurement as shown on the prints. I took out my tape measure and began to show that the fireplace was measured properly and the jeweler said,


"I don't care what the print says.....just move it and we will discuss payment later" He walked away and left the building. I went ahead and as per the jewelers wishes, took the firebox down and cleaned up all of the cement off of the firebrick. By now it was 4:00 pm. and it was starting to get dark, so we called it a day and cleaned up to go home.

That night it had snowed and we got about 14" of snow. 

 

We arrived at the property a little late due to the traffic, and we found that the very long and winding driveway had not been plowed. I parked my truck at the bottom of the hill and we carried our tools and a huge kerosene heater up that driveway, in the snow, which took us about an hour.


I got started on the new (moved two inches) firebox right away. I called the jeweler and asked him when the driveway was going to be plowed, and he assured me that he would have someone there by mid afternoon. Unfortunately no one ever came to plow the driveway. I worked hard all morning to try to make up the time lost because of the jewelers request. It was around 2:00 in the afternoon and the jeweler shows up. I greeted him in my usual upbeat way, and he complimented me in how nice the work was coming along.

Firebox with Herringbone Design.

He sat across the room just watching for a while. He tilted his head like a confused puppy would and in a matter of fact way he asked "Dominick, do you know how to do a herringbone design?" I replied that yes, in fact I did. "Is there any way that you would make the firebox in a herringbone design?" I became a bit frustrated by his comment and I reminded him that the firebox was almost completed AGAIN. "But it would look so nice to have the herringbone here." I told him he would have to pay for me to rebuild it yet again...."Always about money, you Americans are so spoiled!! Just do it...we will discuss later"

Needless to say I took it down a second time, and rebuilt it in the herringbone design.

There was too many things that went on with this job to put here, so I will try to condense the events.

• Because he never plowed the driveway, I ended up blowing my transmission on my truck while attempting to deliver my equipment to his job.  
• The third framer that worked on this house, and never got paid, came by and attempted to burn the house down.......he was talked out of it.
• I found out that almost every trade got ripped off after they worked on this house because when it was time to get paid, the jeweler would fire them for one reason or another.
• I found out that the area for the fireplace was not for a masonry fireplace but a gas fireplace, so, I had to take apart the exterior wall (behind the fireplace) and move (never got paid for this) it so it would pass inspection.
• During my third inspection, the inspector noticed that there would be no room for the fireplace to pass through the attic, and there was no hole cut into the roof.  

I phoned the jeweler and told him that the roof rafters needed to be moved, and that the attic window was too close to the fireplace, and needed to be moved and lastly the hole needed to be cut into the roof for the fireplace chimney to pass through. He started yelling, and said that I should do all of this work. I explained to him that I was not going to be responsible for cutting out the roof rafters, and he needed to get the architect or engineer involved. And also that I was absolutely not going to cut the hole in the roof, because one square foot of the roofing material was worth more than my truck. We argued back and forth about this, and I stood firm on my decision.


He tells me if I won't do what he asks, then I should pack up my equipment and leave his job. I tried to reason with him by telling him that I was hired as a mason, not a framer, or roofer, or engineer. He insisted that if I didn't do his bidding that I should leave. I was really upset at this because I had completed about seven eighths of the fireplace which took me almost two weeks, but at the same time I was relieved, and because of all the ridiculous requests and situations, I was almost happy to be out of there. I told him that would be fine, but he owed me 3/4 of the total price, and I would like to be paid asap. He told me that he would mail me a check, and that was all that I needed to hear. We left that job in a hurry, and myself and all of my men were happy to be leaving.


Four weeks went by, and yet no check arrived from the jeweler. I called him several times but he was never around. I finally decided to stop by his place of business, and when he walked into the store the look on his face was priceless, and he had the nerve to ask me what I was doing there! I told him that I wanted to be paid that day, and I wasn't going to leave without a check in my hand. He told me that he was NOT going to pay me, and he turned to pick up the phone behind the counter...."I'm calling the police"


I don't know how I stayed calm at this point, but I went almost nose to nose with him and said, "Go ahead, call the police, they'll arrest you, because you're the thief! And just to give you a heads up, I'll see you in court"

Come back tomorrow for Part 2: The Court Case And The Jeweler

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

Are building inspectors.....Godlike?

I personally am a NJ. licensed building inspector/code official.

 I don't work for the state, although that might have been my original plan. Knowing the codes keeps me ahead of the game on my jobs. I spent many hours in the classroom at the local county college and many hours at night to study for this prestigious title.  But wait...is it really that prestigious? I'm gonna have to go with...it depends on the person. Just like anything, and any title, it's the person holding that position that will make it a good or a bad thing.
I remember while I was taking the class for my Code Official license most of the people that were there where already inspectors working for some town in New Jersey. Our instructor was a pleasant person, and he worked for the DCA (Department of Community Affairs) which is the headquarters for all building inspectors.....and other things. There was this one guy, an arrogant small built man with a very large mouth. During break, he was usually alone and would listen in on other conversations that were going on, and occasionally break in with his opinion.
One night in class our instructor happened to ask someone how their town was perceived by the public. While answering the instructor, this arrogant little man blurts out....

"I don't care what the contractors think in my town, they have to wait for me, and do whatever I say.....I'm like God"  

Well holy crap! That was pretty much the end of the class! The instructor went off on this guy for almost an hour. He said things like: "it's people like you that give inspectors a bad name", and "that's why people take a chance and not apply for permits because their afraid that they might run into someone like you", and most importantly, "without these people and especially contractors you wouldn't have a job, and as a matter of fact if you worked in my township, I would have you fired for saying something as stupid as that!"  The class applauded! He didn't say another word for the rest of the course, and luckily for me I haven't run into him on any of my job sites.

But that brings to mind of an inspector with the Godlike persona...

I am the NEW building Inspector....Obey!

I was working on a housing development about 12 years ago. We were putting in a footing for a new house. The conditions were really bad on this one lot, and the trackhoe had a really hard time digging out for this foundation because he hit a monster block of hard shale. He worked on it for two days, and just barely got it to a point that we could work in it. It wasn't easy, but we got the forms in, and leveled and had called in the inspection. Inspections always put me on edge, for me it's like taking a test......am I gonna pass?
The state car pulled up, and a unfamiliar face comes walking down the ramp into the hole. He introduces himself..."I'm the NEW inspector in town, and I don't take any crap from anyone, and I expect that your work is better than acceptable" OH SH*#.....here we go....

He grabs the blueprint, and looks around. 

Then he takes out his tape measure and starts measuring the forms. "Um...., I'm gonna have to fail you on this" he said. Now to know me a little better, I pride myself in my work and I absolutely hate to fail an inspection. I look him straight in the eyes and said, "Oh really?...why?" He gets this arrogant look on his face, and smartly exclaims, "What does the print say about the width of the footings?" I knew the answer, and answered, "24 inches" "Well I guess you fail" he said. " You only have 23 inches on that wall" I looked at him in disbelief......"Are you kidding me? look at the forms, their right up against that solid wall of shale?!" As he take out a red sticker he says "Is it 24 inches?" Sparks were shooting from my eyes, and I told him NOT to write up that red sticker. I (kinda angrily) yelled to one of my guys to throw me the shale bar (a long steel bar with a point), and one was in my hand within nanoseconds. I started swinging this shale bar at the braces knocking them off with ease, grabbed the board that made up the form, and I pulled with all of my strength. I yelled for one of my men to nail a new brace while I was holding it, which he did. I grabbed my tape measure and took a reading on the width of the footing, and it read 28 inches....."IS THAT GOOD FOR YOU???!!!" Smugly he says "the minimum is 24 inches, so I guess that's okay, but I'm gonna have to fail you anyway" I was stunned....."For what now?" The boxes for the lolly columns are not gonna be strong enough, you made them out of plywood and the form is gonna blow" I was now nose to nose with this guy, and I told him I could make the forms out of balsa wood if I wanted, as long as the end product was square! I then told him to stop acting like an ass, and hand me my passing sticker because I called the concrete company already and the truck would be there momentarily. He did hand me a passing sticker, and I only had one small run in with him at another site, but he was much better this time. I think he learned that it's better not to look down on someone else and not to think of yourself as so High and Mighty!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Levels.......
Levels come in many shapes and sizes, and each one has its own uses. A eight inch torpedo level is a handy item to have around the house and a magnetic one is perfect for certain things, but it is not a good idea to try leveling a large surface with one when a four or six foot level would give much more accurate results.
A line level is necessary when a string line needs to be level, and no other level is going to take its place in a pinch. They hook right onto the string, they are small, and they are cheap.
A graduated level is used for plumbing work and have marks to set the fall or drop of the pipe without having to constantly measure it, water after all does not flow uphill unless under pressure.
Laser levels are handy once again in certain places and can save you a great deal of time in many applications.
Home improvement is an ever present reality for most home owners, and knowing these tricks and special tools can make a world of difference when you really need one as any do-it- yourself home owner knows!

See you next time......from beyond.........