ComplaintsforThe Verita Group

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We contacted ***************************** for our second floor addition. It was proposed to take about 4 months to complete. It has now been over a year with this project and there seems to be no end in sight. He continues to lie, cause delays and overcharge us for lots of things in the process of this project. His subs are always causing lots of delays with not showing up and completing their job in a timely manner. We waited 6 months for the plumber to finish 3 days of work to get the rough inspection done. We have had numerous meetings with **** as well as ******************************* when we found out he was the one who pulled our building permit that this is unacceptable with the delay of not being back home. We have pleaded with **** that we want to be home ( we have three children under 8) and he can never give us a timeframe of when we are moving back in. There was an issue where water damage ruined our finished basement and **** was aware that the basement was not part of this renovation but this is something we are dealing with Verita ****************** as the water damage was done when the house was vacant and they removed our kitchen cabinets.

  Customer response

  03/23/2024

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.

  Business response

  04/01/2024

  To who it may concern 

  This is in response to *************************** complaint.  In our original contract we have DEMO identified as an allowance due to unseen conditions.  This means demo is to be addressed as needed, upon receiving the request from my plumber and HVAC vendors to have the basement demoed I informed the Dibias of the extent of demo required and the reason for it. My vendors gave me a 4 day notice, which is plenty of time to demo the basement which was projected to take 2 days. We submitted a change order that represented the cost of *************************** daily rates (2 days for 2 carpenters=$2,000.00).  The husband took it upon himself to demo the basement to save money.  The demo took the husband approximately 25 days to complete.  I informed the Dibias this has created a delay that has voided the estimated schedule and now the vendors are on other scheduled jobs.  They will squeeze their schedules to fill in when they can but their window I scheduled them for has expired.

  I scheduled final inspection on the job for 3/26, the building inspector has requested the rear stairs to have a 3'X3' landing.  The client is responsible for the rear stairs, the husband informed me he will have his friend correct the stairs during the week or it will be completed by Monday 4/1.  The husband informed me today on 4/1 the stairs have not been completed and will not give me a date when they will be completed.  It has been 6 days since the building inspector has requested this.  This is just an example of the delays the clients have been creating. 

  I explained to the Dibias the project was moving very fast until they got involved with the work.  We had the site excavated, foundations poured, slab poured, house framed, siding and roof completed within 2 months giving us plenty of time to complete MEPs and finishes in the initial projected completion schedule of 4-5 months.

  As far as the water damage that occurred in their basement prior to us being contracted on site.  We assisted them in removing their kitchen cabinets free of charge in order for them to resell them which they did sell.  They submitted a claim to my insurance almost a year later which the adjuster came out to the site to inspect and has concluded in his report the damage was not caused by us and more likely someone came into the site while we were not there and turned the water main back on the day after we were on site removing the cabinets.  Upon the client informing me of the water in the basement we addressed the concern immediately.  

  I will attached photos of new MEP work that was completed in the basement, the original contract and Daily logs.

  I am also in contact with my insurance to receive the report so i can submit that as well

   

   

   

   

  Business response

  04/01/2024

  To who it may concern 

  This is in response to *************************** complaint.  In our original contract we have DEMO identified as an allowance due to unseen conditions.  This means demo is to be addressed as needed, upon receiving the request from my plumber and HVAC vendors to have the basement demoed I informed the Dibias of the extent of demo required and the reason for it. My vendors gave me a 4 day notice, which is plenty of time to demo the basement which was projected to take 2 days. We submitted a change order that represented the cost of *************************** daily rates (2 days for 2 carpenters=$2,000.00).  The husband took it upon himself to demo the basement to save money.  The demo took the husband approximately 25 days to complete.  I informed the Dibias this has created a delay that has voided the estimated schedule and now the vendors are on other scheduled jobs.  They will squeeze their schedules to fill in when they can but their window I scheduled them for has expired.

  I scheduled final inspection on the job for 3/26, the building inspector has requested the rear stairs to have a 3'X3' landing.  The client is responsible for the rear stairs, the husband informed me he will have his friend correct the stairs during the week or it will be completed by Monday 4/1.  The husband informed me today on 4/1 the stairs have not been completed and will not give me a date when they will be completed.  It has been 6 days since the building inspector has requested this.  This is just an example of the delays the clients have been creating. 

  I explained to the Dibias the project was moving very fast until they got involved with the work.  We had the site excavated, foundations poured, slab poured, house framed, siding and roof completed within 2 months giving us plenty of time to complete MEPs and finishes in the initial projected completion schedule of 4-5 months.

  As far as the water damage that occurred in their basement prior to us being contracted on site.  We assisted them in removing their kitchen cabinets free of charge in order for them to resell them which they did sell.  They submitted a claim to my insurance almost a year later which the adjuster came out to the site to inspect and has concluded in his report the damage was not caused by us and more likely someone came into the site while we were not there and turned the water main back on the day after we were on site removing the cabinets.  Upon the client informing me of the water in the basement we addressed the concern immediately.  

  I will attached photos of new MEP work that was completed in the basement, the original contract and Daily logs.

  I am also in contact with my insurance to receive the report so i can submit that as well

   

   

   

   

  Customer response

  04/03/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  The issue with the demo of our finished basement was that it was not needed. There were lots of misinformation from **** and the plumber (**** from **************** Plumbing). First, after Verita Builders caused water damage to our finished basement, they started talking about needing to demo the basement bathroom. They both communicated with us that the plumbing inspector from our town came and told them we needed to demo the bathroom or else we couldnt continue with our renovation. Once the demo of the basement was complete (which did not take 25 days- another one of Nicks lies. We have proof that the basement demo was complete within 7 days and we kept **** informed throughout the demo process) We have a site meeting where we discussed the disappointment in the demo of the bathroom because touching our finished basement was never part of the renovation project. We had called the building department and they told us that no plumbing inspector was at our house looking at our basement since our basement was not part of the renovation and it was not on the building permit. According to the building department, there were also NO notes stating that the bathroom had to be demod. We discussed this with ********************* and they then started saying that we misunderstood them- the inspector said we could have kept the bathroom, it just wasnt plumbed to code. At this point we were upset and disappointed in what we were dealing with as now there was no going back to getting our bathroom and basement to what it was like before we started this project.

  Demo of the cabinets were not free- there was a demo charge in the contract. They just took the cabinets down in a safe manner instead of destroying them. **** was not there while these cabinets were being taken down- he had two of his workers there. The house was vacant and we were no longer living there and the contract was signed prior to the demo of cabinets. Our architect has pictures and videos that our basement was finished and there was no water damage before the cabinets were taken down by Verita Builders. We would never create a major issue within our home and for this statement to be said by **** or his insurance that it was caused by someone turning the water back on and trying to put the blame on us is unacceptable. Verita Builders is responsible for what took place in our basement whether it was an accident or not- it was done under their care. We had discussed what took place with our own home insurance and they reassured us that it was ok to put in the claim once the house renovation was getting closer to complete as we were worried this was going to stop the little progress that we saw. Our architect came on site after the water damage to the basement and agreed that this was an issue that needed to be taken care of and to communicate with ***** insurance for the mistake that took place with the cabinet demo. **** was well aware that the basement was not to be touched as when we met before signing the contract, we discussed numerous times that the basement was not to be touched as it was finished and we wanted it to stay the way it was. 
  

  We have not caused any delays in the construction project as we wanted to be back home as quickly as we could. Basement demo took 7 days and after the basement was demod, it took **** 6-7 months to schedule the plumber and **** to come out and finish their rough wiring for the first round of inspections.  Proof is on the building permit with dates to reflect this. Every week for 6 months, we would ask him what is causing delays and why isnt anyone coming out to work on our house and he couldnt give us a clear answer. Lots of excuses were made throughout this period of time when no work was being done at our house and **** would keep bringing back the basement demo caused all this which is not ************** has an issue with accountability and communicating with his vendors and really being present ( following up with them when they report that they will be at the house) We begged and pleaded with **** for us to get back in the house before Christmas of 2023 and **** would never give us a timeline of when we would finish and be ready to move back in. 
  

  In regards to the statement that the final inspection was called for 3/26/24- ******************* to state that there were other things that needed to be completed by him and the **** vendor. Also, the weather was rainy that week and it was Easter weekend and all this was communicated with **** via text. Rear stairs were completed on 4/2/24 and a picture was sent to **** on 4/2/24. **** schedules the final inspection for 4/4/24. 
  

  We have also asked **** for copies of invoices a few times and he has yet to provide them to us. We believe that most of the extra money we spent in the beginning of the project was not accurately being used for what was stated in his change orders. 

  Also, we had been communicating with **** through an app called BuilderTrend since the beginning of the project. One day a couple months ago, I tried logging on and an error message showed up saying that the account was no longer active. **** was informed of this via text with a picture of the error message from the app and he is as going to look into it but it seems like it was deactivated on his end as we have no control over the app. 

  It has been very upsetting and stressful dealing with this construction project and **** as our contractor for over a year and all the misinformation and lies that we keep hearing from ****. 
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *******

   

   

  Business response

  04/08/2024

  At the beginning of the project the clients instructed me not to include HVAC in the original estimate. I provided them with an estimate of approximately $36,000.00.  I informed them by not including this line item in the original agreement it will come up and will need to be addressed.  The way it was addressed was I switched multiple vendors to save the clients $16,000.00 leaving them with a balance of $20,000.

  The demo of the basement was required to run new PVC drain lines, water lines, electrical wires, HVAC duct work, install 1 new LVL and 2 ***** columns.  The water damage that occurred in the basement was identified in the insurance report as not caused by Verita.  The water damage that occurred in the basement was on February 3, 2023.  I was informed by both the plumbing vendor and HVAC vendor on July 14, 2023 the majority of the basement needed to demoed in order for their work to continue.  I submitted a changed order to cover the 2 days it would take my 2 carpenters to demo the basement on July 17, 2023.  I received a picture from my HVAC vendor of a pile of debris unfit to work in that was left behind by the client on August 24, 2023 @ 10:30AM.  **** (plumber) verbally informed the client of his phone call with the plumbing inspector. The client is misinformed by saying a plumbing inspector came to the site to inspect the existing bathroom, **** (plumber) had a phone conversation with the inspector informing him of the status of the bathroom not being vented.  The inspector informed **** he will not be able to keep the existing bathroom active (connect to the new plumbing). I informed the client the new mechanical room would take up 3 of the existing bathroom making the bathroom useless.  In the area where the existing bathroom was located is the new water heater, HVAC furnace and electrical panel making it a perfect location to square off for a new mechanical room.
  

  The clients added Approximately 1,500sqft of new living space to their existing house.  There is physically no way to run all new drains, water lines, duct work and electrical from the basement to the first floor and second floor without disturbing the basement layout. 
  

  The client is correct by saying demoing of the cabinets was not free. Dismantling the cabinets and granite counter tops to save and resell was to help the clients.
  

  The client is not obligated to receive invoices or estimates from subcontractors hired by Verita.  The client is obligated to receive invoices or estimates from Verita with a Verita letterhead.   

  As contractors we strive to complete projects in a timely manner and as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, this project ran into delays which we talked about multiple times on site.
  

  As of April 4, **********************************************************************************************

  Customer response

  04/14/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  There has been enough back and forth as its very hard to communicate with someone who is always pointing a finger at others but doesnt like to take accountability for their own actions. We have spoken to numerous contractors and they were shocked to hear about our experience. The delays that were caused within this project was not because of our basement demo that took 7 days, when we kept asking for 7 months why the plumber wasnt on site to finish his job it was just excuse after excuse and the basement demo is the only thing that he could hold us for. We are finally able to be in our house but unfortunately some of the work was not done professionally and there are still things that need to be fixed. In regards to the claim for the basement, I will be contacting Veritas insurance company to get a response from them and have them provide us with a legit reason why they feel that Verita is not responsible for the damages they caused to the basement. There was never any mention of the basement needing to be demod to accommodate all the new pipes and HVAC ductwork as this was not part of our contract. We as homeowners are hoping to get our basement back that we originally had prior to this renovation. I dont think that is asking for much- we had a finished basement that we said multiple times prior to the renovation, that we didnt want to touch it as it was finished and it was not part of the contract and here we are now with an unfinished basement with no walls or ceilings, its just a mess!  

    

  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *******

   

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩