Complaint Review: Jeff Zima - Goodway Landscape & Design

I entered into an agreement (see attached contract) with Mr. Jeff Zima, the owner of Goodway Landscape & Design, on December 30, 2005 to have a backyard patio installed. Mr. Zima installed my backyard patio in such a manner that it does NOT properly slope away from my house. This is just one of multiple serious building code violations that Mr. Zima refuses to even acknowledge. Currently, my home is in serious jeopardy of sustaining major water damage if a rainstorm occurs. I have been told by another contractor that I need to have the patio taken out. Unfortunately, Mr. Zima has more than $21,000 of my money for work that has (1) placed my home in serious danger of water damage and (2) has lowered my property value substantially.

Furthermore, Mr. Zima is guilty of at least TWO CRIMINAL MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES due to his multiple violations of Section 7159.5(a)(1), Section 7159.5(a)(4), and Section 7159.5(a)(5) of the California Business and Professions Code. Please allow me to quote these laws. Section 7159.5(a)(1) states that a home improvement contract shall include the entire cost of the contract, including PROFIT, LABOR, and MATERIALS.

Nowhere in the contract is profit, labor, or construction materials mentioned. Secondly, Mr. Zima violated Section 7159.5(a)(4), which states that the contract shall include a schedule of payments SPECIFICALLY REFERENCING the amount of work or services to be performed and any materials and equipment to be supplied. Although the contract does contain an addendum listing the dates when progress payments were due, NO PART of this addendum references the amount of work or services that corresponded to ANY of the progress payments.

Finally, Mr. Zima violated Section 7159.5(a)(5) by continually demanding, accepting, and cashing checks for work that had not yet been performed (see attached copies of cancelled checks and compare to dates listed in attached Progress Payment Agreement.). This crime by Mr. Zima can be proven conclusively by three pieces of evidence: the contract plus addendum, the cancelled checks showing the amount and date of each payment, and the testimony of the subcontractor that Mr. Zima used in order to pour the concrete for my patio.

This evidence will prove that Mr. Zima was paid approximately 68% of the total contract price ($25,389) before pouring one drop of concrete for my patio. Furthermore, Jeff collected his first progress payment from me of $8129.66 on Saturday, January 7, 2006 the first day that his crew began working on the project. (See contract which identifies the start date as 01/07/2006. The copy of the cancelled check proves he was paid 01/07/2006.)

Please take careful notice that TWO of the violations that I described above are classified as CRIMINAL MISDEMEANOR OFFENSES based upon Section 7159.5(a)(8)(b) of the Business and Professions Code which reads: 'A violation of paragraph (1), (3), or (5) of subdivision (a) by a licensee ... is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5000), or by IMPRISONMENT in a COUNTY JAIL not exceeding ONE YEAR.'

The following documentation for this complaint includes: (1) Contract and Progress Payment Agreement (2) Cancelled Checks (3) Email messages from Mr. Zima making absurd and outrageous claims that I had not paid him enough money. (Note: Mr. Zima received and cashed EVERY payment in the Progress Payment Agreement, except the last payment. Moreover, even though many items of the job were still in need of fixing and re-doing (according to Mr. Zima's own admissions (see attached emails)), Mr. Zima still had the outrageous audacity to make the absurd claim that I defaulted on the agreement because I held back the final payment (see attached emails).

Lastly, it's important to mention one final important detail about the evidence in this case. Mr. Zima possesses a photo of what the finished job should look like. He showed it to me before I signed the contract and before I handed him a downpayment check for $1,000. The picture depicts shiny and beautiful concrete. It was the entire reason I signed the contract with Mr. Zima in the first place.

Unfortunately, I later learned from Mr. Zima that the photo he had showed me was a gross misrepresentation of what my concrete patio would look like. The reason it was a gross misrepresentation is that Mr. Zima did not tell me that the photo depicted wet concrete (which looks much more aesthetically pleasing than dry concrete), until AFTER I had already paid him more than $21,000. This is just another example of Mr. Zima's dishonest conduct. Also, it is important to mention that I asked Mr. Zima via email to include the photo in our contract, but he ignored my request.

In closing, please let me know if there is any way I can assist in your investigation. I believe I have provided irrefutable proof of at least one misdemeanor. Simply by looking at the contract, one can determine that no mention is made about profit, labor, or construction materials. The other charge I am alleging has very strong supporting evidence also. By the first day that Mr. Zima's crew began working, he already had cashed $9129.66 in checks from me ($1000 downpayment + $8129.66 first progress payment.) I understand that you might consider these misdemeanor offenses to be minor, but Mr. Zima has robbed me of more than $20,000 by building a worthless patio that (1) violates the building code, (2) directs water toward my house which can cause termite, mold, and other serious problems, and (3) prevents me from selling my house as I had planned to do this spring. Nobody's going to buy my house with a patio that is soon to cause serious water damage.

Gregory
Hayward, California
U.S.A.