ONLY ON 3: Homeowners warn about faulty construction

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Some Pender County homeowners are warning others about a contractor who they say runs a faulty construction business.

Burgaw Homeowner Melissa Rivenbark hired a contractor to build her a back deck and fix her roof for $9,000, but got something unexpected.

“The deck sunk,” Rivenbark said. “The roof started twisting.”

Rivenbark said they hired a pastor they knew named Salvatore Lana and his business partner Joey Lewis.

“We never thought that he would do this, so we decided to give a local person money,” Rivenbark said.

She said after just two weeks the deck was sinking, the roof was leaking and the wood was splitting. That is when she called a Pender County inspector.

“The inspector came out and said the only thing that passed code on the deck was some of the pickets and more or less we had a wooden trampoline,” Rivenbark said.

Then Rivenbark asked Lana to fix it.

“They said that they would fix it, but we would have to pay them more money to bring it up to code,” Rivenbark said.

In the mean time, Rivenbark said the inspector could not find permits or insurance for Lana.

“I have filed a police report,” Rivenbark said.

Then Rivenbark found almost a dozen other reports at the courthouse.

“They’ve got judgments against them going all the way back to the 90s,” Rivenbark said.

Rocky Point Homeowner Donna Ludlum said she also lost more than $5,000 after hiring them to replace her roof.  Rivenbark said their hands are tied now, but she wants to prevent it from happening again.

“I don’t want other people to go through what we’re going through,” Rivenbark said. “I don’t want them to take advantage of other people like they’re taking advantage of us.”

Rivenbark said the men have changed their business named multiple times. Right now, they go by Disciples of Christ Construction. Several calls made to the company have not been returned.

Better Business Bureau Representative Kathy Graham  said they have a report on file, but they need more than one complaint to investigate. Graham also said they have a report on Prime Design Builders. Rivenbark said that was one of the Lana’s business names before this.

Graham said in the state of North Carolina contractors do not need a license unless they are doing work that is more than $30,000.