Thanks for the Trackbacks, guys. Keep 'em coming!

Don't forget to mention "John Crovello" and "Long Island Custom Builders" in your post. Before you know it, anyone searching for this guy will see this post first. And since we know that the Internet is so critical to the decision-making process for considered purchases...Well, you get my drift.

At some point, I'll post details, but such things are difficult to pull off right now.

I live in Southampton. I signed a contract with John Crovello May 2005. Simple work. Has not completed. Everyday is one excuse after another. I don't know where to turn at this point. He has been paid almost in full for very little work done here. Just today have found that there are many complaints against him. Downloaded the News12 report from August. H
e is not licensed to work in Southampton, and since I live here I cannot report him to Consumer Affairs as Southampton Town is separate. I do not know where to turn. This is very frustrating, I feel powerless. I would appreciate it very much if you would contact me.
Thank you.

Lauran:

I e-mailed my home telephone number to the e-mail address you provided. Please feel free to call me over the weekend.

-TFH

I hired LICB about two years ago, lost alot of money and a shody job uncompleted. The man John Crevella is a criminal and should die a painful death

Tom, very good idea make potential consumers aware about John Crovello and long island cutom builders when ever anyone puts his name in a search engine. This will expose him as the criminal he is. I think his partners name is James Dwyer,and they have an office on north bicycle path road in Port Jefferson i didn't have much dealing with James, but probally a crook also. last time I checked the businees was under his wife name (maiden name) Renee smith. I too have lodged several complaints against him.

If you have had a bad experience with John Crovello and Long Island Custom Builders, please post what you can here. Please keep in mind that what gets posted here can be seen by anybody, so don't weaken your legal position, but if you feel the same way I do about LICB and Crovello, let the world know.

Thankfully, this post is now number one on both Google and Yahoo for "John Crovello" and "Long Island Custom Builders" (with and without quotes). The objective here is for people who search for LICB to encounter this post first.

Keep the comments coming, folks. And if you have a website that can link here to this post, please toss me a link. Thanks.

I believe that L.I.C.B. was unlicensed by Southampton in May of 2005, check this out if he did work and was unlicensed that is illegal by New York State law. Remember that the town of Southampton is in Suffolk County so the Dept. of Consumer Affairs should have jursdiction. As would the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. They are well aware of the actions of John Crovella and Long Island Custom Builders. Don't forget to write to your Legislator and the County Executive if you don't get satisfaction. Also be careful of James Dwyer and his company Lake Grove Construction. James Dwyer is also licensed by Consumer Affairs. The address that Consumer Affairs posts is John Crovella and Renee Smiths home address. The address that James Dwyer comes back to is also his home address. Don't forget that John's Brother-in-Law John Smith and James Dwyers daughter Nichole are also involved in the scam.

Mr. Hespos please be careful to direct your hatred towards the man and company whom you plan to destroy. Information about owners and partners are public infomation. If your post defames or brings any undue harm to helpless employees or workers that may have been involved on your project then you will be facing legal problems yourself. I will now be monitoring your post.Innocent peoples names are already being mentioned. ]

P.S. You should have done your homework and put as much effort into finding a contractor as you are with this post.

James:

You are incorrectly attributing comments made on this site, other than those directed at LICB and John Crovello, to me. Per my site's policy, anything listed under "Comments" is the property of the person who posted it. In short, you're complaining to the wrong person. If you have an issue with any of these comments, you need to speak to whoever posted it and you need to ask them to retract it.

James:

A few other things...

1) "Plan to destroy" is your phrase, not mine. I never said anything about destroying anyone. Look a few comments up for my description of the purpose of this post.

2) I've never mentioned any employees or workers that were involved in my project. Go ahead and monitor the post all you want - the original post hasn't changed. It's the comments you seem to be complaining about. So your threat of legal action is an empty threat - Go ahead and send your legal nastygrams to my home address. Just know that you're barking up the wrong tree, because I didn't leave those comments. So any defamation lawsuit you might plan on bringing would go pretty much nowhere.

James:
Since you "will be monitoring" this post so closely, are you aware the acts of defamation or libel pertain to false accusations and/or lies directed towards or about an individual. All of these people responding, as well as Tom, were victimized by this individual/ company and I'm sure there are many more. These are not statements meant to be malicious or untruthful, these are actual stories and exeriences from people who don't want others to have the same experiences. Have you ever been frauded, ripped off, or wronged by anyone? Its hard to understand (unless you know the company or individual personally) why you can't appreciate the frustration and heartache that all of these individuals have gone through and are still going through. All of the people who responded to Tom's post were simply exercising their First Amendment Rights (this does still exist right?). I don't see any difference between this post and all of these individuals standing in front of the company with a sign saying, "these creeps ripped me off". It's not an untruth, its a fact and each of these people have a right, as consumers,to express their dissatisfaction.

I don't think this was as much of a scam as it was just bad decision making... Perhaps horrible decision making. It seems like the company took on too many projects, took too much money up front, went through the money too quickly, and then didn't have the manpower nor the funds to complete all of the projects in a reasonable amount of time. Eventually this resulted in cutting corners just to try to keep above water, but along the way, this hurt alot of individuals.

After having signed with LICB and having my roof ripped off, I found out about the complaints and the News12 report, so I confronted John Crovello and expressed my concerns and doubts. He assured me that everything was being taken care of and that there were just some misunderstandings and I agreed to proceed. There were definitely times when my wife and I had to get a little angry to get some things done in a timely manner, but things did get done eventually and got done well for the most part. By not overcomplaining about every little problem, John knew that if I did yell, then it was important and responded accordingly.
My project did take ALOT longer than original estimates, and is still only about 99.5% complete, but then I still owe him about 0.5% of the money too, so I guess I was lucky.
I have been trying to get in touch with him to get the last 0.5% of the work done, but there is no answer. I was looking around on the web to try to find out if he fled the country or something and that's how I found your website.
Like I said though, the amount of money I still owe is reasonable for the amount of work still left to be done, so I am OK either way. But I do wish luck to the rest of you.
Let me also say that I don't think it is right to make assumptions about the employees of LICB. If there was a premeditated scam (which I doubt,) I think they were in the dark about it and were just trying to do their job and collect a paycheck, though under the undesirable conditions of a mismanaged company. James, the foreman, was generally very honest and apologetic for John's oversights, and his daughter Nichole was just a kid and as a secretary/receptionist, she probably had no idea anything was going on other than that there were alot of people calling in complaining. You can't blame James for standing up to defend his family's honor.

help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!iv been in contract since 03/04/05.

I understand there is a class action against LICB. We would be interested in joining.
Does anyone have information about this?

Hello RH:

Charlie Gardner's office at Suffolk County Consumer Affairs has been good about keeping folks up to date on how proceedings against LICB are progressing. I recommend that if you feel you've been wronged by Crovello and LICB, you file a formal complaint with Consumer Affairs. Send it registered mail.

If you have other questions you'd rather not discuss out in the open, please e-mail me privately at Tom@Hespos.com.

I too contracted Long Island Custom Builders to perform work on my home. I paid over $40,000.00 to these people and they left me with an exposed shell for the winter and a makeshift heating system. The rain has been coming into my home for months causing additional damages and I cannot get so much as a return phone call. My 7 year old wants to know why the house is cold and when the builders are coming back to fix it. Thank you for taking advantage of us and bringing so much misery to our Christmas. Anyone with a suggestion as to how to get justice in this please contact me. Particularly I would like to site the poor attitude on the part of James Dwyer would had the nerve to tell me not to get upset when I was sobbing in my foyer, explaining how they had destroyed my home. I can only home your family celebrated the same level of joy mine did on Christmas. May the New Year bring you all things deserved.

My dealings with LICB actually began back in December '02. My husband and I signed the contract in July '03. We were tearing off the roof of our house and building approximately an 800 square foot second floor to our home. In addition we were taking down a wall in our current family room and adding another 14 feet outward to enlarge the room. The work was to be started within 30 days of receiving the building permit (which we were informed could take several months). This was not a problem to us (at the time). Once started, the job would be completed within four months. As predicted, we waited several months for the permit. I believe we got it in May '04. (It wasn't until later that we found out they hadn't even applied for it right away). Needless to say, we were ready and so were they (they claimed). Within a week or two they began the job by pouring a cement foundation in the backyard for the addition to the family room, and they dropped a load of wood in my driveway for the upstairs. Now, mind you, the job was supposed to be completed within four months. After this day, we didn't even see them for at least four months, but they claim they were within the contract because they did start the job within 30 days of receiving the permit. I had a sloppy concrete job in the back and enough wood in my driveway to make it completely unusable. Oh yea, they dropped this big black dumpster on my front lawn which sat there unused for about 5-6 months...completely destroyed the lawn. It was probably close to a year before it was actually removed. The job that finally followed was a nightmare. Shells built, walls torn down, roof torn off, no insulation leaving the house uncomfortably cold (also during the holidays last year, I sympathize with the woman above. I know exactly what she is talking about.), and leaks everywhere. I literally had water pouring in, in some areas. Phone calls produced nothing but more aggravation. Excuse after excuse. And yes, James was our foreman, John's yesman! Oh sure, he could try to be the calming factor, but he was as phony as they come, and quite nasty. James probably does not know that we have filed a police report against him (I guess he will now.) on the last day he was ever at our house...the day we fired LICB. He had been at the house with an architect telling us that something we had contracted for could not be done as designed. He wanted to completely change the design. Now we were expecting this, so we had a friend over at the same time who had also been in construction for many years. He told us we could have it just as we wanted, but it would be more work for LICB. After a heated discussion, James stormed from the house continuing the argument into the street. Using extremely foul language, he not only threatened our friend, but he threatened us through our friend. He also basically informed him that our job would never get done. I had several people in the house at the time doing various jobs, all of whom suggested I file a report just to keep record of it. They also all witnessed it. So, it is on permanent record. It was that day that we decided we would no longer have anything to do with LICB. And just so you know, James, the ceiling in our den is just as we wanted it. As far as James' daughter is concerned, do not blame her for she is a victim here also. She is his daughter. I honestly think she tried to help where she could. As a matter of fact, it was she who recently informed my son of this website, and told him to tell his parents to check it out.
We were fortunate enough that we did not pay on demand as they requested. We tried to keep our payments fairly equal to the work that had been done. We eventually hired someone else to finish the job. It did cost us more to finish than what we would have owed LICB, so we are currently involved with a lawyer to try and recover some of the money. Our new contractor not only had to finish someone else's job, but also had to fix many mistakes along the way. Studs had to be furrowed out because air vents prevented the sheetrock from going on. They left us no walls, floors, ceilings, etc. Leaks were found in the preliminary plumbing. Much of the electrical work had to be redone. "Extra" jobs that had been paid for in advance, but never done by LICB now had to be paid for again. LICB left us a complete mess. Fortunately, pictures have been taken, work documented, damaged pieces saved, dates recorded...we have much proof as to the quality of LICB's work. However, I fear we will be fighting a losing battle. Unfortunately, these people have ways of hiding and protecting themselves. If there is anything we should or could do, please let us know.

Sorry to hear these horror stories, i'm sure there are many more out there. Does anyone know if the LICB crew is out there using another name (I hear this is common practice in the CONtractor world). I would be willing to protest at any work site that is associated with crovello and the criminals.

John Crovello is a joke!!!!
As pissed off as I am over my own situation I can't help thinking how tough it must be walking around knowing you are a complete loser!!!!
His day is on the way, and I think he knows it's coming.

Kudos to you for having a site that may help others fray from making a mistake with these clowns!

I made the terrible mistake of signing with Long Island Custom Builders in July 2005. My contract read he had to start immediately . OK Laugh! I have a trench in the back of my house 6 feet wide by 25 feet long and 5 feet deep/ I no longer can use the back entrance to my home. If you open the door you fall into this trench. The replacment windows are in but not finished. I have a blue tarp on my roof and the water pours into my living room. When it rains the water comes into my house through the windows he has yet to insulate. I gave him $53,780. He took the money and I have not seen him since.

In case you are not aware he has shut down his office. The phone no longer works. He has no staff and no workers. I have sent FEDEX to Suffolk County Consumer Affairs and to the Better Business Bureau where Long Island Custom Builders is still listed as a member in good standing! The BETter Business BUrequ told me to call him and try to wrok out a settlement. I would love to but he is out of business! Does anyone have an address or phone number other then the one listed. Suffolk COunty COnsumer Affairs has yet to respond to me. I sent them a packet FEDEX overnight which they signed for. I am sick over this. I am sick over my house and the loss of my money. He destroyed my home. It will cost me more to repair the damage he did.

Does anyone know where or how I can get help. How can he walk the streets and contiue doing htis to innocent people. I did my homeowrk in July I called Better Business Bureau they told me he was in good standing withhtier organization and that is the only reason I hired him!

We have been screwed as well. However, James told us he "heard" Crovella was arrested. Can anyone confirm?

Just confirmed Crovella was arrested on January 19, 2006 on third degree larceny. This means his theft were for amounts greater than $3000 but less than $50,000. Maybe this is the first of many.

Moving On - Can you tell us how you confirmed that Crovello was arrested? I'm interested in hearing about this.

I do not beleive this is true. Crovello was at my house this past Friday, Janaury 20 about 4 PM. He told my husband he lost his help, closed his office and was running the business fromhis home. He promised he would be here on Tuesday 1/24/06 to start the job. Of course we know that never happened. I have been asking him since July to start. He took over $53,780 of our money. I reported this to Suffolk County Consumer Affairs. I have not heard form them. He has yet to come back and "start". I see someone mentioned a class action law suit does anyone know how I can be part of this action?

My last question. Can anyone recommend a Contractor to repair the damage Crovello has done to my home?

Mary

in case you don't C.A. has revoked Crovellos license to do any contracting work in Suffolk county.Should he appear at your house to work it will be completely illegal!!!!!!!(not that his stealing hasn't been).
C.A. knows everything about him. Call the cops if he comes back.

I was recently emailed your website and was wondering if you were a customer of Long Island Custom Builders yourself? My husband and I contracted with this company to build an addition to our home and as you can imagine, we are deeply disturbed by what we read. Our addition was scheduled to begin in two weeks (mid february). We spoke with Mr. Corvallo just two days ago and there was no mention of any problems. I am going to attempt to contact him in the morning with my concerns and verify that your information about his license and arrest are true. Our work has not yet been started but already our story has many similarities to the ones we read and we are incredibly disturbed. What will happen to our project now just before it is set to begin? and what will happen to our $17,000 deposit.Maybe we should be happy there has been such a delay in starting it..If you have have any advice or comments please email us at
johnbeth91@aol.com...we are at a loss for words right now.

I would like to share with all of you that Suffolk County Consumer Affairs confirmed in writing today that Crovello has had his license revoked. I was just given my case number.

Now for the best part in all of this. I can file a claim with Consumer Affairs and try and recover a maximuum $5,000. How fair is this, when Long Island Custom Builders has $53, 780 of my money.
So if I understand all of this correctly, Long Island Custom Builders can STEAL yes steal, take keep $53,780 from a consumer.....and nothing happens to them! What is wrong with this system?

Our nightmare with LICB (and John Crovello) dates back to April 05. After meeting with several contractors we (Unfortunately) gave JC (What ironic initials) $10k DP on a room extension.
After giving him that money we're had nothing but abuse from this CON MAN (and his flunky James Dwyer - who always pretended to be clueless).
No work was ever done and eventually his lawyers ( he's had at least two since we started dealing with him) "promised to repay ALL of my $$$ ( and made me feel like they were doing me a favor).
JC also met with about 20 families at the SCCA office in November 05 and agreed then to repay money. Only one-third of my DP has been returned and his latest lawyer (Wasserman @ 631 755-1234) never learned how to return a phone call.
JC is from a prominent Port Jefferson family ( his old man James is a big shot doctor at Mather Mem Hospital and I believe his brother Steve is also practicing in the area . THey must be Soooo proud of their Johnnie.

If he is still soliciting business (without a license why can't the DAs office arrest him again?

Another ???. Does anyone out there know Johns Crovellos home address? If I want to file a small claims suit I want to make sure that I have the correct address.
Det, Schrier of the Das office has told me that LICB is no longer at The Bicycle Path address.
THe phone company gives an address of 70 Forest Ave in East Setauket for LICB.
Can anyone confirm that as the "current address" for LICB/Johns Crovello or both?

Thanks
DEJ, another member of the LICB fan club.

Consumer Affairs
Steve Levy
County Executive Charles A. Gardner
Director

10 Worst Unlicensed Businesses

Long Island Custom Builders Inc / John Crovello
70 Chestnut Ave.
East Setauket, NY 11733

Why don't you all start posting here as well:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=113%2C+395%2C+32&q2=New+York&q3=&q4=&q5=&q6=&q7=&SearchType=1&DateRange=6&hasPhoto=&Entry=1

Is there a lawyer that is handeling a class action suit against this company o does anyone plan one? if so can some one please e-mail me info, I too also had bad experience with Long Island Custom Builders and john "the Snake" Crovello

JOHN CROVELLO WAS ARRESTED ON JANUARY 19TH ON
CHARGES OF GRAND LARCENY. HE WAS RELEASED WITHOUT HAVING TO POST BAIL. HE HAS A COURT DATE
SET. HE IS NOT TO CONDUCT ANY CONTRACTING WORK IN SUFFOLK COUNTY. HE HAS NO LICENSE TO DO ANY SUCH WORK AND THEREFORE, IF HE SO CHOSES TO TRY TO WORK IN ANY HOME INPROVEMENT CAPACITY HE WILL BE ONCE AGAIN BREAKING THE LAW AND FACING MORE CHARGES.
ALL OF HIS VICTIMS SHOULD NOT JUST LET THIS GO.
YOU MUST CONTINUE TO PRESSURE THE SUFFOLK COUNTY DA'S OFFICE TO PERSUE THIS CRIMINAL.
FURTHERMORE, SHOULD ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN ROBBED BY CROVELLO HAVE ANY FURTHER CONTACT WITH HIM DIRECTLY FOR ANY REASON, EVEN A CHANCE MEETING OUT IN PUBLIC DO NOT SPEAK WITH HIM.
HE IS JUST WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ACT OR SPEAK
TO HIM IN A THREATENING MANNER SO HE CAN GO TO THE POLICE. PLEASE DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO BUT
DO NOT GIVE HIM ANY INFORMATION.HE DOES NOT NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S COMING. THIS IS NOT GOING AWAY
AND CROVELLO IS A PATHETIC LOSER WITH NO TALENT,
NO EDUCATION AND NO MORALS.

I checked on the court calendar website and found that Mr. Crovello is due back in court in Suffolk on May 19, 2005. I put a call in to the DA's office as I also intend to press criminal charges if possible.

In addition to Mr. Crovello's pending criminal case. I found 6 pending civil actions in Suffolk County Supreme Court. You can search them openly through this link as a matter of public record. This will not only give you the case information and status but Plaintiff and Defendant Attorney contact info.

If you seach by Defendant "Long Island Custom Builders" you will find these cases. Search by "Crovello" and you only find one against Renee Crovello (aka Renee Smith) and a pending Medical Malpractice suit against Dr. James Crovello.

http://portal.courts.state.ny.us/pls/portal30/CMS_DEV.ATTORNEY_COURT_SCHEDULES.show

Again this is public record, access is completely open.

I WAS SCREWED BY A BUILDER WHO USED LICB AS A SUB PROBABLY I NCOHOOTS W/ JOHN. I WAS WONDERING HOW THIS COULD HELP THIS / MY CASE????

Just in case anyone would like to see the mess John left behind take a look.

http://mlsli.com/uniDetails.CFM?MLNum=1795742&typeprop=1&start=1&rpp=20 I am now forced to sell the house as I can no longer live in it and can not get financing to repair it. Thank you John.

I was also screwed by LICB and chances look awfully dim for collecting any money back. Anyone have a good lawyer who moves pretty quickly or is interested in finding an Attorney to represent us all in a class action suit?

My husband and I signed a contract with LICB in October 2005. I live across the street from Ms. Wolf. My father took $60,000 out of his retirement to help us put the extension on. John has been paid 2/3 of the contract but less than 1/3 of the work has been done. We actually thought more had been done, until we went for our first inspection. We've had to take 3/4 of our siding down because he never put on hurricane straps. floor boards were never nailed down. They put in my stairs, which they tried to charge us for twice, cracked them and never put the support bracket on. We had to take the stairs down fix them and put them back up. John started our job without a permit, which cost us an additional $800.00 in fines. He left a dumpster in our driveway for months. After the dumpster was picked up, he came and ripped out a ceiling, leaving the mess in my driveway, as there was no place to throw it away. I had rented a pod for $125.00 a month that sat in my drive way for months and months. After spending $1,200.00 on that we finally unloaded it and sent it back. I have three children, all of whom are supposed to have their own bedrooms. They are sharing one 10x12 room now for over a year. I have no isulation and a lovely blue tarp that doubles for a wall. I love they way it sounds when the wind blows. The list goes on and on. We've refinanced our house so we can finish it, which we are doing on our own, I no longer trust any contractors. John Crovello is a crook, he has no morals and no heart. I hope he spends a long time in jail, but I don't think he will. People like him never seem to get their just desserts. Is his May 19 court date open to the public? Wouldn't it be something if we all showed up. If anyone knows anyhting about a class action suit I would like to be part of it. Please feel free to e-mail me.

I learned something very interesting today. Last week I received a letter from the Town of Brookhaven advising that my "chimney" or lack thereof was in violation of the New York State building code and directing me to make immediate repairs. So I called up a local guy to come and take a look and give me prices for said repairs. I ran into a problem when we realized I DO NOT have the plans for my dormer. Hopefully the Town can provide a copy given John and his crew actually submitted them. But what I found most interesting was the gentleman that came to give me an estimate told me he was recently offered a job with Long Island Custom Builders. I find this odd as my impression was that LICB is no longer licensed. Hmmm. I'll have to investigate this further. Will keep you all posted.

I am sorry for all of your losses by choosing LICB.I am a electrician that was also ripped off by John.If anyone needs the services of a electrician to help fix there homes you can contact me.My # is 631-767-7404.

"I find this odd as my impression was that LICB is no longer licensed. Hmmm."

Not only is he not licensed, out of business

check it out:

http://www.newyork.bbb.org/reports/businessreports.aspx?id=80061&pid=44&page=0&FindStr=long+island+custom+builders&SearchBy=company&Address=&City=&Phone1=&Phone2=&Phone3=&MembersOnly=False

To add further insult to injury I contacted the Town of Brookhaven and found that I have no Building Permit, I called the expediter I used AM/PM services and they advised me that they never received the drawings from Gary Osher, I called Gary Osher and he claims he never did any drawings and had severed his connections with John & LICB a long time ago. Now I really am back to square one and cannot sell the house in it's present condition. If anyone knows a reasonable Architect I can use please advise me. Thanks.

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THIS IDIOT IS WORKING FROM NOW OR UNDER WHAT NAME?

I spoke with the Detective assigned to Crovello's criminal case earlier this week and he is under the impression that John is now working full time in Manhattan. He offered nothing more and I'm sure in order to preserve the intrigity of the investigation he can not rightfully give out all details. I also learned that John/Renee have their house up for sale, in fact this past weekend they held an open house to buyers, it's a real shame I did not have this information to share earlier as I'm sure many of us would have enjoyed the opportunity to attend. I would very much like to see some judgments go into effect become they can close with a buyer. I urge everyone to contact the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and see what they can do to press criminal charges.

In respect to my last post above, I have an interesting thought but prefer not to post it openly. Anyone interested can email me.

Here is the listing for his house:

http://www.mlsli.com/unidetails.cfm?mlnum=1807076&typeprop=1&bn=1&CFID=13374723&CFTOKEN=69250468

Just for the record, I don't condone messing with John's open house. Don't weaken your legal position, people. Remember that John is likely looking for a reason to muddy the legal waters. If it were me, I'd leave him alone until my day in court.

Well I guess I'm just curious to see what all the stolen money bought us.

I would have loved to attend that open house. I have to have him served with papers, but I can't find him. That would have been perfect.

Shouldn't all his assests be frozen pending final outcomes from civil and criminal courts, this way the money can go to his victims? I believe anyone who has a pending case should notify their lawyers.

Does anyone have any information on the upcoming court date for Corvello? Is it still set for May 19 and where is the court located

Mary

I hope that people are not getting taken by Crovello's side kick James Dwyer who runs Lake Grove Construction. James was as bad as John. Don't forget that they both have children who could be out there screwing over the residents of Suffolk as their parents did. Renee Smith - Crovello was as bad has John in bringing people in to their ring of deception also.

I hope that people are not getting taken by Crovello's side kick James Dwyer who runs Lake Grove Construction. James was as bad as John. Don't forget that they both have children who could be out there screwing over the residents of Suffolk as their parents did. Renee Smith - Crovello was as bad has John in bringing people in to their ring of deception also.

LICB completed the dormer on my house in 2004. It took a few weeks longer than expected, there were minor problems and some corners were cut. I got the price I wanted so I accepted the cut corners and the slight delay. Overall, my experience was reasonable for any contractor experience.

I saw many pictures of their completed jobs and believe that their satisfied customers exceeded their unsatisfied ones at that time.

I had the opportunity to meet with John, Renee, James and others at LICB. It is my opinion that they never intended to defraud anyone. They had an ambitious plan to grow the business and I think they could not manage their growth. I think they tried to under-price their jobs, which left them insufficient funds to finish them. I imagine that they may have tried to use deposits from new work to finish the old work and got caught in a downward spiral.

I suppose the courts will decide who the responsible parties are and if there will be any restitution to customers.

I think it is unfair to label John's and James' children or drag any other family members into this mess. I also do not think it is fair to label James a crook or to try to hinder him from providing for his family.

This post is only my opinion. I hope that all parties from every side are able to get the best possible resolution to this.

Hey Joe, Thanks for you insight. But it is MY belief that John and his crew had every intention of doing what they did. If he hadn't he would have made good on our contracts and/or paid back the people he agreed to reimburse, but rather than do that he did what all rats do...he ran and hide when the noise started. Im gald you had your work completed, good for you. But that doesn't help any one who John has stolen from, it doesn't get my house fixed, and it most certainly doesn't make what he did right. "Under" pricing his jobs, in the hope of growing his business, does not give him the right to steal people's money! Which is exactly what he has done. I have had to refinance my house not once but TWICE and take money out of my 401K to try and fix his mess, which I have been unable to complete. Not to mention the money my father took out of his retirement. He certainly didn't work 35 years, so this asshole could take his hard earned money. Also, you should take at look at my neighbors house. Her roof leaks, she can't turn on her boiler. Why, because John and his crew vented it into her house, she has exposed wood, no siding, no hurrican straps, the list goes on and on. She can't finish it nor can she sell it. So thanks for your "thoughts" Joe, but they really don't mean much to the people who post on this web site. Maybe you can start your own web site known as: "The friend of John Crovello." Im sure you'll get lots of hits.

I agree with Cathy, without a doubt these two criminals knew what they were getting into. Joe I ask you this, If you knew that you may have taken on a little more then you can handle and were getting in over your head, would you buy a brand new corvette and parade around in it, or would you try to resolve your financial problems before dropping a heavy nut on a unnecessary expense? Both intentially defrauded and stole which makes them criminals. As for James he couldn't even handle assisting someone else (John) with a contract bussiness let alone run his own, I will tell people to be aware of this company also.

joe i went to high school with john. NO ONE trusted him not even his family. do you know about
his fake kidnaping in 77. his dads a shrink and john is smart. trusting john ranks with pulling a nail out of a board with your teeth. his real
partner in crime is not named in this blog. lets
just say i know john better than anyone here.

Thank you Cathy, I appreciate the mention. I am the neighbor she refers to. It's all true, not only did this man take my money and fail to complete the work he left me with health and safety violations and no permits or drawings. I spoke with Gary Osher, the gentleman hired to do the plans and he advised me that he was never paid for any drawings. What I found was they were working off a pencil sketch that was scribbled on the back of someones elses drawings they left up in my extention.

It has been a full year now and I am unable to complete the work myself. I re-financed to just about max and am not eligible for any aid due to the lack of permits. The Town of Brookhaven has shown no mercy whatsoever to my situation and at present I can not sell the house. I am facing another winter without a proper heating system, insulation or siding and a 7 year old daughter to raise in the midst. Eventually I will either have to abandon the property or find a cash buyer who can make me an offer that will cover my current mortgage.

I was more than screwed by these people, I am going to lose my house. A house I purchased with hard earned money as a single parent just 5 years ago. I find it disgusting that there is so little recourse as a consumer against snakes like these and no agencies willing to assist me if obtaining funding.

I would like to believe that in the end what goes around comes around, yet at this point I highly doubt it.

This is James Dwyer, i just wanted to make it very clear that i have nothing to do with John Crovello or LICB. I happen to have a very good standing in Suffolk County as a contractor. I am sorry if i have hurt anyones feelings or done anything personally to anybody on this site. If i could do anything for anyone or you would like to speak to me about anything here is my direct line you can call at anytime.... (631) 831-2339

How about a good deal on a real chimney James Dwyer? Any suggestions on how I can save my house James? You know whatever happened to the windows and siding I paid $6,000.00 for? I promise not to get "Upset" James Dwyer but after all I recall when we were introduced you were the job foreman for my contract with LICB. You knew peoples lives were being destroyed. Your apology comes up a little short. Perhaps you should donate your time and resources to helping some of us.

I happened to notice that a company with a very, very similiar name to LICB filed as a corporation in March of 2006. I am curious to know if John would be that stupid or arrogant.

Important Update. If you are a Crovello victim, please see the latest post.

http://www.hespos.com/archives/000948.html

This is important. Crovello will appear before a judge on 12/4 and it would make sense for you to see the information posted above.

I have to warn everybody NOT to hire the man and company that completely screwed us- Christopher Nullet from Joaam-Chrisotpher masonry. He is a liar and never finished the job. He took advantage of us, a new homeowning couple. We contacted Suffolk County Consumer Affairs and he now has a complaint against him. Watch out and tell everyone about him!

I was working with John and L.I.C.B. towards the end as an architect. While I have my own opinions about the way I saw that buisness being run, I think Jim Dwyer is a good builder and an honest contractor. And, depending on the kind of project, I would probably refer some of my clients to him.

Oh really? An architect huh? Well I paid for drawings that were never submitted to Brookhaven, do you have them? Care to stand by your buddies and do some for me? It would be a mighty human thing of you, score points with the man upstairs. You know this is not just about time and money. This is my home they destroyed. I do not think so much about the equity as I do in the shame of having to live this way. The fact that I do not want people coming here, even driving by. I have a young child who can not have friends here, I do not want her being teased because her house has no siding and there is tyvek blowing around. I never lived like this before and it is those jokers fault.