Complaint Review: Kenneth R. Staiger

All anyone ever has to do, is look up the term economic fraud on the internet and see how fraud deeply affects the individuals or victims involved. I should know. For the first time in my life I became the victim of economic crime.

Through a website called "Service Magic", I detailed a listing of what I needed done within my home. I desperately needed a Bathroom and Kitchen renovation. Our home was in bad shape and needed the attention of an expert contractor. Within a day or so, I received various emails. One of them from Kenneth Robert Staiger. He identified himself as the site coordinator for Renovay, LLC. Since, I was setting up numerous estimates, I decided to also get a proposal from him and this company that I never heard of before. 

My father died of cancer and I took over his house - promising my father that I would take great care of his wife. My now dependent 90 year old mother. I made some good decisions and I made some very bad decisions during my tenure as caregiver. However, this life lesson concerning Kenneth R. Staiger became an absolute horrendous nightmare.

I was leaning in the direction of a private contractor out in Radnor. He gave me a reasonable 6800 dollar estimate for my Kitchen only. Kenneth Staiger's estimate came to 8200 dollars. Being a person of limited means, I informed Staiger through emailed correspondence that I was going with this other contractor. When Staiger found out about the 6800 dollar estimate, he related, "I really don't see what kind of quality work you are going to receive from such a low proposal". It was than that I informed Staiger that I also had to keep a Bathroom in mind. That somehow I had to fit a Bathroom renovation into the equation. After finding this out, Kenneth Staiger insisted that I at least allow him to see my Bathroom, which by the way - was in absolutely horrible shape. I reluctantly agreed and had him come out to my house. It was than that we discussed my budget. In no uncertain terms I related that I had 10,000 dollars and that I desperately needed to stay within the confines of that budget.

His answer to me? "No problem, I can do your Bathroom and Kitchen for 10,000 dollars". Flabbergasted I related, "Do you mean that?" Staiger related, "Absolutely, where there is a will, there is a way". In retrospect and hindsight, I should have completely saw through the smoke screen of deception here. Considering the bad shape my Kitchen and Bathroom were in - I should have declined. He purposely low balled the other estimates just to lure me in. He knew I did not have much money and that I was supplementing the  social security income of a dependent parent. One that suffers from an eating disorder. He knew he was going to get as much of that 10,000 dollar contracted price as he possibly could - without ever finishing the job. He did. He received a total of 9,500 dollars. The remaining 500 was due upon job satisfaction. What a joke.

Almost exactly one year and nine months after my contract signing with Renovay, LLC (By the way, there are three separate business titles in terms of this deceptive establishment) - I still have an incomplete kitchen. No sink, no sink hardware, no back splash, incomplete cabinetry with no hardware. Torn out moldings and sub par work that has to be redone. No lighting. The ceiling has to be torn out in order for an electrician to see how the wiring was left and how to best complete it.  

How has all of this affected me? From an emotional standpoint it has affected me deeply. In the months that followed the fraud that was committed against me, I am very lucky that It did not cause a heart attack or stroke. The great emotional stress and duress it put me through is totally unimaginable. It caused me great embarrassment, many family arguments and many a ruined day. It has caused my entire personality to change. I am a far cry from the person that I once was. And that is a bad thing.

The economic fraud committed against me caused me to reluctantly hire an expensive Attorney - to protect what little interests I had. The fraud caused me to go into emergency funds that are now no longer existent. It has caused me to sell off personal belongings such as my beloved guitars (I am a musician songwriter - and have not picked up a guitar since) - just to be able to pay taxes on my home.

That dependent Mother that I promised my father on his death bed that I would take very good care of, has been through a remarkable amount of grief and hardship because of not having a functioning kitchen. Dining off of paper plates and plastic eating utensils because of no sink. Eating microwavable dishes. Well, it has certainly taken it's toll.

So, where am I going to get the money to finish my Kitchen? I really don't know. I had to finance my Bathroom, because I could not pay for it outright. Kenneth Robert Staiger never touched the bathroom nor did he ever have any intention to.

Most of all, it was the emotional pain that this economic fraud caused me. What a terrible thing to go through. 

The law says, "You have to prove criminal intent". They need to take the heavy weight of that laughable burden of proof out of home improvement contractor law. How can anyone proof what is going on in a person's mind at any given time. Failure to deliver materials and services PAID FOR - should be the only burden of proof one has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Criminal intent within the context of home improvement contractor law is totally laughable.

Kenneth Robert Staiger severely damaged me. Emotionally and financially. One could only hope that justice is served in some way, shape or form. 

In the past year, Kenneth Robert Staiger appeared in Montgomery County Courthouse, Pa. for three separate cases. Two cases were thrown out by the perspective Judge, in lieu of Civil Court. One was settled out of criminal court with Staiger paying 30,000 dollars in restitution for that particular case.

Question? When is the County or State going to view him as a "criminal" and not as a civil liability? Excuse me. If I was a judge, and I saw this particular contractor appearing in the same county courthouse on three separate occasions for the same repetitious pattern of fraud and deceptive business practices, I would think that these charges could not possibly be "unwarranted" or without merit. Wouldn't you start seeing this contractor in a criminal light and not a civil one? With so many repetitious fraudulent actions and deceptive behavioral patterns - doesn't a repetitious pattern of fraud constitute criminal intent?

I contracted a kitchen and bathroom renovation from Kenneth Staiger on November 29th, 2011. One year and nine long months later, I still do not have a completed kitchen. I simply do not have the money to finish the work. Mr. Staiger's deceptive business practices and fraud caused me to go into funds that I had set up as emergency accounts. His deceptive contract and fraud caused my financial accounts to "s****.>

One year and nine months later, I am dining off of microwavable dishes and plastic eating utensils - since I do not have a kitchen sink. 

In fact, I have no countertop, no back splash, no sink or sink hardware, incomplete cabinetry with no hardware, ripped out moldings, screwed up wiring - that no electrician can understand how to go about completing.

My life has been a living nightmare since signing a contract with Kenneth Robert Staiger. I have suffered great emotional duress and it has changed my personality completely. I supplement a 90 year old mother's social security income. Something Mr. Staiger fully knew about.

I implore the judges of Montgomery County to view Mr. Staiger as a criminal and not a civil liability. The D.A.'s office is supposed to protect it's citizens from economic crime. Where is the protection?