Posted on July - 03 - 2011
Consumers should take steps to prevent contractor fraud
KINGSPORT — He sounded honest, and Vickie Larkin wanted to believe him. In May 2008, Larkin’s family home in Kingsport was heavily damaged by fire, and most contractors who looked at the 1929 structure suggested razing it and starting over.
“The back side was destroyed — the kitchen, living room, upstairs bedroom and bathroom were gone. And everything else — it was all water damaged and smoke damaged,” Larkin said.
The insurance company said the house should be torn down, and most contractors agreed. All but one — New Vision Restoration, LLC of Kingsport.
“He said it had a solid foundation and walls — he could gut it and renovate it,” Larkin said of New Vision’s owner, Randy Jenkins. “He sounded honest.”
Hoping to save her old home place, Larkin contracted with New Vision, paying the company a total of $220,000 to complete the work.
After 10 months of construction, Larkin was able to move back into her home in the spring of 2009. And although the house is livable, Larkin said much of the work was never done, and some of it was less than acceptable.
“It’s not what I paid for,” Larkin said.
Read the expanded version of this report in the print edition or the enhanced electronic version of the Kingsport Times-News.
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