Build it Back Uses Firm Accused of Defrauding Sandy Victims Out of $1.1M
(DNAINFO) James Fanelli | February 26, 2017 — New Jersey’s state attorney general filed a complaint against contractor Shore House Lifters last month.
A father-and-son construction firm has been getting paid to elevate homes in the city’s Build it Back program despite accusations they scammed more than $1.1 million from New Jersey victims of Superstorm Sandy, according to sources.
Last month the New Jersey attorney general and that state’s Division of Consumer Affairs filed a civil fraud complaint against Paul Zaidinski, his son, Paul Jr., and their company, Shore House Lifters, saying they took part in “unconscionable consumer practices.”
The complaint says they performed substandard work on Sandy victims’ homes and, in some cases, abandoned repair projects altogether.
Despite the Jan. 26 complaint, the city didn’t stop contractors from using Shore House Lifters to elevate at least six homes in the Rockaways to prevent them from future flooding, according to sources.
Shore House’s services were being used by companies in a section of the Build it Back program that allows homeowners to choose their own contractor. In turn the city reimburses that contractor for the work.
The largely federally-funded Build it Back program helps Sandy-struck homeowners rebuild, renovate or elevate their houses.
Shore House Lifters has already completed the elevation of two homes for the contractor Malbro, sources said. The company was also scheduled to lift four homes for the contractor Volmar, according to sources.
The Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery, which oversees Build it Back, said it began reviewing Shore House Lifters weeks ago after learning of the attorney general’s complaint.