On today’s Troubleshooters, a woman gives a roofer a $3000.00 down payment to put a new roof on her house.
Last year.
This is the kind of story we hear about all the time.
People pay contractors up front, then they wind up calling the Troubleshooters for help getting their money back because the job wasn’t done to their satisfaction, wasn’t completed, or wasn’t done at all.
So we are looking for a contractor named James Fleet.
Last November, Angie Garza gave him this check as a payment for putting a new roof on her house.
According to the contract both parties signed; the job would be done the next day.
"To start on November 25th and completed by November 26th," asked Andy. Angie replied, "Yeah."
The roof looks great today, but Fleet didn’t do the work. Garza paid somebody else to do it.
But Garza says she called us to help her get her money back after Fleet came up with a story.
"He came up with this telling me that his secretary had taken $4200.00 of his money," she recalled.
She’s tried everything else, like sending Fleet a demand letter which was returned to her.
In February Garza filed her case in Precinct 2 Place One JP Court.
Now she claims the court told her she has come up with a Military Status Affidavit on Fleet.
This Military Clause reads in part ‘plaintiff in any civil proceeding in which the defendant does not make an appearance to file with the court a military status affidavit stating whether or not the defendant is in the military service.’
"They said I needed that so they could file a default judgement."
Garza says she’s tried, but admits to not having a full grasp of how to search for information online.
"Yeah?"
"You Mr Fleet?"
"Yeah."
" Andy Liscano with the Troubleshooters."
We found Fleet at his apartment on the city’s southside. "We’re doing a story today on one of your clients Miss Garza with the property over there on…"
"I know all about it. Good bye," Fleet says.
