Why are we Suing Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services
By Willie A. Price
Willie A. Price
Why are we Suing Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services
During 2023, I was referred to & reluctantly, submitted my resume (highlighting: Certifications & 20+ years of residential & commercial property evaluating, inspections and rehabilitation monitoring to the Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services, Executive Director Stephen Karnath (716-852-3130) to discuss their needs for a Project & Rehabilitation Monitor for residential homes in the city of Buffalo. The SURPRISE on his face and response to see that I was a Black man (Karnath: “You’re Willie Price!”). The meeting ended with Karnath stating that I was “Pretty COCKY” (I believe he wanted to a say “UPPITY”) and I corrected him stating that I was “Pretty Confident”.
March 2024, We were referred to and contracted with the client who complained about the BFNHS Project Monitor missing and approving work that wasn’t done. The client stated she had $50,000 pre-development funds available for monitoring her exterior and interior project. We made 3 attempts to confirm the pre-development funds with Rosaura Romero (Center for Regional Strategies: CRS: 716-259-1050) and S. Karnath before we signed off on the All Inclusive contract (April 22, 2024) (Included All Evaluations & weekly reports, calls, and scopes of work, meetings, and monitoring). The contract was submitted to the client, CRS & BFNHS and approved and the work began. The Original contractor brought in by BFNHS was terminated after having him remove all siding. A Scope of Work was created (She never had one.) and new contractors were hired.
The Scope of Work Highlighted: Tyvek insulation, Secure & filling a ½ inch gap around the exterior foundation wall, which was allowing water into the basement. Secure the Live electrical wires tucked behind the siding. Secure a window no longer being used, insulate, frame, cover it & then cover with Tyvek insulation. Also applying brick and vinyl siding to the building front. Monthly invoices and status reports were submitted to Rosaura and BFNHS issued the checks from April to July 2024
September 20th, we received a call from the client stating that Rosaura informed her that she ONLY had $3,000 left in pre-development (Which wasn’t true) money & not enough to pay Majadi Enterprises, Inc. for August & September. We confirmed this with Rosaura & informed her that we wanted to finish out the project and were willing to work something out for our fee. The exterior was completed September 25th and a Final Report was submitted to the client, BFNHS & CRS.
Two (2) weeks later we received a call from the client stating that CRS had found extra funds for her interior project & she wanted the interior project monitored by Majadi Enterprises, Inc. We met with the client and created 2 floor plan design for the interior project for the contractor to follow. During the project (October – November) we addressed all aspects of the project from Air Quality concerns, Asbestos & Electrical concerns, and Fire Protection and Heat Loss & Insulation. We even created a reports and addressed incomplete HVAC concerns that BFNHS approved & paid the contractor over $40,000. The Heating unit was not connected, air sealed or insulated and gas line not setup and a New A/C unit was inoperable. Met with the contractor, presented report with concerns & monitored him addressing them. November the interior work was going well and the client informed me that additional funds were found by Rosaura to install a new fence around the rear perimeter yard and they needed an Excavation Report, which we created and submitted to the client, the contractor & Rosaura (CRS) on November 21st.
December 3rd we received an email & printout from S. Karnath stating that the client pre-development funds were NEVER $50,000 (ONLY $12,000 in April) and none of the extra funds was project monitoring. That the client only had $3,000 left to pay Majadi for the 4 months of work performed. We notified all parties that we would discontinue all work with Thousands of dollars owed and would be submitting invoices for 2/3rds of the funds owed and closing the account. January 2nd we received a check for 1/3rd of the amount owed. A meeting was held with Rosaura Romero & her supervisor Laura Quebral at the CRS office. I was informed by the client that S. Karnath was not willing to pay the 2/3rd that we were willing to accept. After speaking with an attorney, we sent a Demand letter (January 20th) to All for the 1/3 and not the full 2/3rd owed according to the contract to avoid court action and a possible Mechanics Lien coming into to the situation. No response.
Attempting to avoid legal actions we visited BFNHS (January 28, 2025) to Speak with S. Karnath to remedy the situation. I informed him “I’m here to see how we can work this situation out?” His response (S. Karnath): “Nothing to workout. We’re Not Paying You Anything Else!”