Sunday, September 28, 2008

Wittek Development Rips Of Contractors

I am the owner of Kearsarge Quality Builders in Sunapee, NH. I guess you can say that I misjudged the ownership and management of Wittek Development based out of Fairfield, CT. I realize that most all commercial jobs come with a 30 day window in order to get paid. Well that 30 days has come and gone twice.
There project in Lebanon, NH is labeled Rock Ridge. We went up there and installed 90 square of asphalt shingles in 5 days. We invoiced for the job on July 22, 2008 with the assumption that a check would be ready on August 25, 2008.
On August 25, 2008, I was informed that there were no checks and no reason why or a new date was given. Eventually I was told that a pay date of September 16, 2008 was when I would have a check ready. That date came and went and I was told it was then going to be September 22, 2008. On Monday September 22, 2008, I received a call from the job foreman and he stated that no checks would be ready. Again, no new date has been made.
Upon doing my research on Wittek Development, I found out that the owner, Kurt Wittek was convicted of illegal loan participation and banker bribery. I wish I would of known this ahead of time.
Through all of this, I was always giving Wittek Development the benefit of the doubt as the market has taken a bad spill in recent weeks. But then when I arrive on the Rock Ridge job site, I see that they still have work going on there as of September 22, 2008. If they can't pay the contractors that have already provided work for them, then how can they justify have new contractors do new work?
So obviously by my talks with the job foreman Gary Tomlinson, the project is so far in debt to many contractors and suppliers that he claims to have left his job as the foreman.

Next brings me to the Project Supervisor Skip Kelleher. Skip has been the middle man in all of this. He claims that money is coming, but it never does. He could brag about his trip to Ohio to race, but the rest of us are still waiting on money.

Then I speak with the Chief Financial Officer Romano Orlando. He informs me that Kurt Wittek is meeting with new investors and blah blah blah. I'm pretty sure that he has still received his weekly salary while I wait for the check.

I know that there are other contractors who did work in the Rock Ridge site. If you haven't been paid, please respond to this blog. I am looking out for all contractors. If we as contractors took a deposit and did not do the work, we would be charge criminally. But since we do the work and don't get paid, its only a civil issue. The law should work both ways to protect each and every homeowner and contractor.

Below is the web site for both Wittek Development and Rock Ridge.

http://www.wittekdevelopment.com/
http://www.liveatrockridge.com

I hope that any of this information may potentially help someone from getting scammed by Wittek Development and its companies and employees.