York, Livingston County, N.Y. -
The new roof on the century old house belonging to the Curtis family looks pretty good. Until you peel back the layers.
In some places there is no plywood base, only tar paper. It gets worse. "I heard a big thud," says Lydia Curtis sitting at her kitchen table in York, Livingston County. "One of those big beams had fallen that they had broken loose."
Last year the couple who are both in their 80's also paid Jesse James Construction $3,800 for supplies and labor to re-finish an upstairs room. That's the last they saw of the money and of the contractor.
"After I gave him the money and after they stripped the room that was it," says Mrs. Curtis.
The room went through the winter bare to the studs in places with a leaking roof because they had no money to pay anyone else to fix it.
"I should have known better, I'm just too trusting," she says adding "He took advantage of an old lady."
Since 1997 there have been five judgments against the owner of Jesse James Construction. His name is not Jesse, its Doug Shanley Jr. Shanley also ran Five Brothers Construction- but shut it down and declared bankruptcy after being slapped with other judgments.
"He can just keep doing it and doing it and no one does anything to stop this," says daughter Kathleen DeMarco. "That's what's frustrating."
Shanley works out of a P.O. Box address. We tracked his family to Nunda then were able to reach him at a job site by phone. The conversation went partially like this:
Shanley: "My attorney advised me not to talk to anyone about it."
Reporter: "Do you ever have any intention of finishing that work?"
Shanley: "That matter is in court."
That's not exactly true. The Curtis' have won a court judgment for payment. From the courts prospective the matter is closed. Shanley says he plans to counter sue but could give no reasoning to back up why.
"I think if I had my way he would be prosecuted and put in jail," says Herbert Curtis. He has since learned from the District Attorney that there is no criminal case under the jurisdiction of Livingston County.
The New York Attorney General's Office investigates businesses with patterns of wrong doing. The Curtis family says that is what happened here and are putting together documentation to prove it.
This is the time in many scam stories where the reporter reminds people to do their homework and check out the background of contractors or anyone you hire. But in this case Mrs. Curtis did that.
She asked for references and even called some of them. She now suspects the references weren't from actual clients of Jesse James Construction. She suspects they will never be repaid. "I don't think its right," she says, adding: "even if I don't get my money back I want to stop him from doing it to somebody else."
