Mad Max
11-10-2006, 07:57 AM
:w00t: Someone just got busted and put out of biz.
http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=43812
Richland Co.) - When Marbea Nix decided to do renovations on her house, she thought she was doing all the right things.
When she chose Sid Albert of Southern Homes Remodelers, she made sure the company was licensed and recommended by the Better Business Bureau.
The fact that--three years later--her home is still under renovation is proof that the process didn't turn out as expected.
"You feel violated," Nix said. "I mean--honestly--you feel violated that someone could take that kind of advantage of you."
Even after all this time it is obvious Nix's emotions are in no better condition than her house.
After working on her home for four months, Nix said Albert walked off the job leaving unfinished rooms. She said it all happened after Albert repeatedly asked for more money while the job was nowhere near finished.
"He pulled up in the yard Sunday night and asked me for the check,and we said 'No. Absolutely not. The paintings not done, the sheetrocks not finished. All these items that had to be complete weren't complete *and* the work you promised to do over the weekend is shabby,'" Nix said, recalling a conversation she said she had with Albert.
That front-yard meeting was the last time Nix saw Sid Albert--until they met in court.
Legal documents show a jury awarded Nix and her family $101,400 in November 2005, but she isn't the only one to win against Sid Albert. Court documents in Lexington and Richland County show he has more than a dozen judgments against him totaling nearly $300,000.
Mark Curley was one of those plaintiffs and settled with Albert for $7,575.00. Besides using the same contractor, Curly has something else in common with Nix.
He says he still hasn't received the money Albert owes him.
Addie: "Have you seen a dime?"
Curley: "No, and we're finding more problems."
Curley said the biggest of those problems is water damage on the kitchen ceiling. They say it appeared after Albert's crews left the unfinished roof exposed for days.
That information shocked Ward Dunn, an independent contractor News 19 asked to inspect Curley's home. Before he even went inside, Dunn found a problem. He said the pitch of the roof isn't high enough to prevent drainage and leakage problems.
"If someone says they're going to do a roof at a 4-12 pitch--which is much steeper than a 2-12 pitch, then they should," Dunn said. "And that's why he's having problems. That's the largest problem I see."
News 19 took both family's complaints to Sid Albert who agreed to talk to us off-camera. Albert said the Curley's didn't give him time to fix the ceiling and wouldn't let him remove shrubbery that would have improved water flow.
As for the Nix, Albert said Marbea was a controlling and nit-picky customer who took pictures from day one like she was building a case. He maintains the job was 95% complete when he asked for the final payment and didn't get it. He also said the Better Business Bureau found no wrongdoing when Nix filed a complaint.
News 19 also took the concerns to the state's Residential Builders Commission to ask why Albert was still licensed.
Attorney Richard Wilson said the commission was only aware of one of the judgments against Albert and wanted to know how he could get copies of our information.
"That's the first we've heard of it," Wilson said. "So those additional judgments and offenses that are out there or you've been able to uncover--we would like to know that."
Wilson said the commission was unaware of all the lawsuits because Albert lied on his license renewal application. Documents show in July he said 'no' when asked if he had any judgments, liens or claim filed against him in the past five years.
He also said 'no' when asked in 2005 if he'd ever been convicted of a crime.
On the contrary, a SLED arrest record shows he's been convicted of traficking and distributing cocaine.
Addie: "If LLR had known that, do you think this man would be licensed?"
Wilson: "I can't say that. What I can say is he would not have been given a license without having appeared and explained this to the commission in full."
Wilson says until the state Supreme Court puts all county court documents online, there's no way to know when a judgment is awarded.
Richland County's documents are online, though, and a quick search would have found numerous lawsuits Albert has lost and not paid.
"How on Earth can these people be legally licensed to operate?" Mark Curley asked.
"They're still doing business but yet they're not paying any of the judgments," his wife, Niki, said.
That's a concern shared by Nix who is trying to get her house and her life back together. She says she's lost more than money, though; she says she has also lost confidence in the system.
"My whole point of doing it was to make him stop--to somehow make him stop. And he is still out there doing business," she said.
They also have a nice Vid.
http://www.southernhome.net/
http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=43812
Richland Co.) - When Marbea Nix decided to do renovations on her house, she thought she was doing all the right things.
When she chose Sid Albert of Southern Homes Remodelers, she made sure the company was licensed and recommended by the Better Business Bureau.
The fact that--three years later--her home is still under renovation is proof that the process didn't turn out as expected.
"You feel violated," Nix said. "I mean--honestly--you feel violated that someone could take that kind of advantage of you."
Even after all this time it is obvious Nix's emotions are in no better condition than her house.
After working on her home for four months, Nix said Albert walked off the job leaving unfinished rooms. She said it all happened after Albert repeatedly asked for more money while the job was nowhere near finished.
"He pulled up in the yard Sunday night and asked me for the check,and we said 'No. Absolutely not. The paintings not done, the sheetrocks not finished. All these items that had to be complete weren't complete *and* the work you promised to do over the weekend is shabby,'" Nix said, recalling a conversation she said she had with Albert.
That front-yard meeting was the last time Nix saw Sid Albert--until they met in court.
Legal documents show a jury awarded Nix and her family $101,400 in November 2005, but she isn't the only one to win against Sid Albert. Court documents in Lexington and Richland County show he has more than a dozen judgments against him totaling nearly $300,000.
Mark Curley was one of those plaintiffs and settled with Albert for $7,575.00. Besides using the same contractor, Curly has something else in common with Nix.
He says he still hasn't received the money Albert owes him.
Addie: "Have you seen a dime?"
Curley: "No, and we're finding more problems."
Curley said the biggest of those problems is water damage on the kitchen ceiling. They say it appeared after Albert's crews left the unfinished roof exposed for days.
That information shocked Ward Dunn, an independent contractor News 19 asked to inspect Curley's home. Before he even went inside, Dunn found a problem. He said the pitch of the roof isn't high enough to prevent drainage and leakage problems.
"If someone says they're going to do a roof at a 4-12 pitch--which is much steeper than a 2-12 pitch, then they should," Dunn said. "And that's why he's having problems. That's the largest problem I see."
News 19 took both family's complaints to Sid Albert who agreed to talk to us off-camera. Albert said the Curley's didn't give him time to fix the ceiling and wouldn't let him remove shrubbery that would have improved water flow.
As for the Nix, Albert said Marbea was a controlling and nit-picky customer who took pictures from day one like she was building a case. He maintains the job was 95% complete when he asked for the final payment and didn't get it. He also said the Better Business Bureau found no wrongdoing when Nix filed a complaint.
News 19 also took the concerns to the state's Residential Builders Commission to ask why Albert was still licensed.
Attorney Richard Wilson said the commission was only aware of one of the judgments against Albert and wanted to know how he could get copies of our information.
"That's the first we've heard of it," Wilson said. "So those additional judgments and offenses that are out there or you've been able to uncover--we would like to know that."
Wilson said the commission was unaware of all the lawsuits because Albert lied on his license renewal application. Documents show in July he said 'no' when asked if he had any judgments, liens or claim filed against him in the past five years.
He also said 'no' when asked in 2005 if he'd ever been convicted of a crime.
On the contrary, a SLED arrest record shows he's been convicted of traficking and distributing cocaine.
Addie: "If LLR had known that, do you think this man would be licensed?"
Wilson: "I can't say that. What I can say is he would not have been given a license without having appeared and explained this to the commission in full."
Wilson says until the state Supreme Court puts all county court documents online, there's no way to know when a judgment is awarded.
Richland County's documents are online, though, and a quick search would have found numerous lawsuits Albert has lost and not paid.
"How on Earth can these people be legally licensed to operate?" Mark Curley asked.
"They're still doing business but yet they're not paying any of the judgments," his wife, Niki, said.
That's a concern shared by Nix who is trying to get her house and her life back together. She says she's lost more than money, though; she says she has also lost confidence in the system.
"My whole point of doing it was to make him stop--to somehow make him stop. And he is still out there doing business," she said.
They also have a nice Vid.
http://www.southernhome.net/