Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000
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Old 10-24-2006, 10:44 PM   #1
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Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

News article from today-

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Last update: October 24, 2006 – 9:24 PM

Contractor facing charges of swindling elderly couple of $789,000
Officials say the remodeler charged almost $800,000 for work that should have cost between $40,000 and $150,000.
Joy Powell, Star Tribune

A Twin Cities-area building contractor was charged Tuesday with swindling an elderly Minneapolis couple out of more than $789,000 for remodeling work that authorities say has left them with many code violations and a structurally unsound home.
Richard D. Gurewitz, owner of Home Update Co., performed work that should have cost between $40,000 and $150,000, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court charging him with five counts of theft by swindle.

"Justice won out, and I want to thank everyone who put all this effort into making it come to a head," Betty Caverly, 81, said Tuesday night.

Hennepin County sheriff's investigators arrested Gurewitz on Monday at his Plymouth townhouse, and he remained in jail Tuesday night in lieu of $100,000 bail. Detective George Bergin called the case "appalling."

The charges say Gurewitz told Betty and Gerald Caverly, 78, that they would need to spend $800,000 on several remodeling projects -- yet he has been able to account for only $80,000 of the money spent by his company.

Betty Caverly had hired Home Update, then of Minnetonka, to renovate her century-old home, which has a market value of $102,000. The bid included replacing ceilings and wallboard, upgrading electrical wiring and plumbing and other remodeling of the 640-square-foot house in the Longfellow neighborhood.

Gurewitz grossly inflated prices and misrepresented the scope of his work, authorities said. Bank records show that during the remodeling, from July 2003 to July 2005, about $420,000 of the Caverlys' money was funneled to Gurewitz, his parents and sister. Home Update accounts were used to pay NWA World Vacations $16,450, and the Minnesota Timberwolves/Lynx nearly $9,400, the complaint said.

During the two-year project, Betty Caverly cared for her husband, who has Alzheimer's disease, and tried to keep up with invoices, changes in the work and Home Update's demand for checks, she said. Early on, Gurewitz claimed he had lost the job paperwork and needed hers to make copies, then never returned her 20 or so pages, she said.

Last August, when her inheritance was drained, Betty turned to her son, Gordon, for another $31,000 to finish remodeling her 5-by-6-foot bathroom. He halted the project.

The Caverlys are left with ripped-out walls, code violations and structural hazards in the worst case that state investigators have ever seen, said Charlie Durenberger, head of investigations for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

Bergin, the sheriff's investigator, said that as he and another detective, Brian McKague, plowed through reams of paperwork, their outrage grew.

"Once we went to interview the Caverlys in their home, then you're just appalled by the condition of that house," Bergin said. "You realize they don't have to be living how they're living. They don't even have a functioning bathroom in that house to date, and they spent almost $800,000."

Betty Caverly told investigators that she had no idea how much remodeling projects cost and she didn't realize that she given Home Update more than $750,000 by the summer of 2005.

Gurewitz had owned and operated remodeling businesses under various names since 1990, drawing more than 22 complaints over the years.


Joy Powell • 612-673-7750 • jpowell@startribune.com

©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

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Old 10-24-2006, 10:49 PM   #2
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

thats disgusting I hope he rots in jail for a long time, I wish I lived near them I would go work for free nights and weekends to help get them a livable house again.
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Old 10-24-2006, 10:54 PM   #3
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

SCUMBAG!
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Old 10-24-2006, 10:59 PM   #4
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

Sometimes I think customers around here have no idea how many ass wipes there are in this business. I might have to print that article out and give it to new customers when I meet them.
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Old 10-24-2006, 11:04 PM   #5
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

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Sometimes I think customers around here have no idea how many ass wipes there are in this business. I might have to print that article out and give it to new customers when I meet them.
Here's the printable version-

http://www.startribune.com/467/v-pri...ry/764417.html
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Old 10-24-2006, 11:04 PM   #6
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

Cant believe the arrogance of that guy hope he likes his new cell mate!
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Old 10-24-2006, 11:06 PM   #7
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

why do they HAVE to call him a contractor??
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Old 10-24-2006, 11:32 PM   #8
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

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Originally Posted by Mike Finley View Post
Sometimes I think customers around here have no idea how many ass wipes there are in this business. I might have to print that article out and give it to new customers when I meet them.
make 2 copies, it will be in my presentation book in the AM.
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Old 10-24-2006, 11:45 PM   #9
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

What a dirt bag that guy is !!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 10-25-2006, 01:52 AM   #10
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

Did i read that rite. The total house was only 640 square feet? 800,000 for a remodel. YOu could have tore down and built new for probably 100,000. I feel sorry for that senior citizen. I think he should have to get up off of his town house for them.
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Old 10-25-2006, 02:16 AM   #11
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

That's just sickening. I'm so glad they were caught. Elderly are taken advantage of so often, it's not right.
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Old 10-25-2006, 06:56 AM   #12
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

I am sure a reputable firm will roll in and fix it all for the couple for free...that is the upside...the downside is the POS has blown all the couple's money, and tax payers will pay to keep his sorry azz in prizon for a few years....now, an effective punishment would be to have his kneecaps broken...then he wouldn't rip anyone off again.
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Old 10-25-2006, 09:25 AM   #13
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

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an effective punishment would be to have his kneecaps broken...then he wouldn't rip anyone off again.
I agree %100. What a waste of oxygen this guy is. They should hold a public shaming in the town square over Thanksgiving weekend.
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Old 10-25-2006, 04:54 PM   #14
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

People like him are exactly why we all have so much trouble getting a fair price. Contractors are by defininition (in the typical homeowner's mind) crooks, so we should be treated badly before we do it to them. When a straightforward, reputable guy tries to make a living, they HO will still go with the cheapest "tailgater", and when the guy f-cks up or dissapears with the money, they wonder why it happened to them!
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Old 10-25-2006, 06:43 PM   #15
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

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People like him are exactly why we all have so much trouble getting a fair price. Contractors are by defininition (in the typical homeowner's mind) crooks, so we should be treated badly before we do it to them. When a straightforward, reputable guy tries to make a living, they HO will still go with the cheapest "tailgater", and when the guy f-cks up or dissapears with the money, they wonder why it happened to them!
thank you!!!
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Old 10-27-2006, 10:20 PM   #16
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

another guy to give us contractors a bad name. too many shady guys out there like him. that's why most homeowners are skeptical of contractors.
not sure how the people got that much money anyways. all savings? if their home was valued at 102,000. why on earth would they even spend 400k on it?
i guess the elderly people didnt have anyone helping them do their banking or other items in the house.
that's really horrible. how can people even sleep at night knowing they are ripping off some elderly couple? wonder who else he ripped off.
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Old 10-27-2006, 10:27 PM   #17
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

My question is, - - where was their son during all this time??

Somethin' just don't sound right here.
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Old 10-27-2006, 10:33 PM   #18
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

Update-

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S19617.html?cat=1
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Old 10-28-2006, 07:56 AM   #19
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

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My question is, - - where was their son during all this time??

Somethin' just don't sound right here.
hmmm good point .... hafta get this guy to help perhaps



oh wait --- not him

this guy ---
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Old 10-28-2006, 03:21 PM   #20
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Re: Contractor Facing Charges Of Swindling Elderly Couple Of $789,000

The whole story is a shame, but did you take notice of that last line?

"Gurewitz had owned and operated remodeling businesses under various names since 1990, drawing more than 22 complaints over the years."

This guy was no drive by shyster. He's had a lot of practice. If he's had that many complaints of record, how many haven't been filed by owners who didn't know they'd been ripped off, chose not to persue any action, or were intimidated? I'll bet this guy stole from just about everyone he did a project for.

Frankly, for this joker to have ripped this elderly couple off the way he did puts him just half a step behind a pedophile.

I wrote on a similar theme yesterday, but more widespread in the wake of Katrina.

http://ronsblog.thisoldbuilder.com/2...ike-again.aspx
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