Resoration Contractor Richard Zywarski intended to defraud me from the beginnning.
I was caring for my husband who was ill with advanced Alzheimer's disease when I hired Zywarski in 2009 to do a complete renovation of the exterior of our house. A job by a Chicago paint company 5 years earlier left the house in poor condition with. Paint peeling off and the black trim turned gray within the first year. I planned to have the house in excellent condition in preparation for putting it on the market.
Zywarski's contract included stripping, sanding, spray washing, painting, and carpentry to remove and replace poor or rotted areas of wood frame of house including windows/storms, sills, etc. Before signing, Zywarski encouraged I add anything else I wanted onto original contract. We sat together as he advised how to phrase it and we signed that day June 19.
More than a month into the work it was discovered Zywarski's men had filled holes, cracks and deeply grooved sills with soft putty and had painted over them. Also, rotted siding boards that were to have been replaced were painted over or crudely patched. Similar cover-ups were later discovered underneath the primed/painted upper level stucco.
When confronted, Zywarski became hostile and threatening. He said I owed him $10,000 more than the total $59,533 stated on the contract. He then pulled out the contract. Nothing of what he advised me to write was on it. It was blank. Only our signitures on both copies were identical.
With the job little more than half done, Zywarski handed me the bill for $10,000 saying if I didn't pay he'd pull his men off the job. He sent me a few letters with lies, distortions, and threats, acting as if he were the victim.
He had already coerced me into giving him $56,400 of the total plus an extra $800 for a front porch ceiling he said was not part of the contract — it was.
When I still refused, Zywarski loaded his equipment on his truck and took off leaving behind unfinished, windows, storms, doors, porches, stairs, trim of house and garage a cracked storm window and broken concrete urn. He left us with destroyed flower beds, shrubs and a yard filled with trash.
In October I filed a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General State of Illinois Fraud Division on advice from our City's Senior Citizen Ombudsman.in November I received a notice from United States Bankruptcy Court that Ryszard (Richard) Zywarski filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
Zywarski now lives at 785 High Ridge Rd in the unincorporated division of Roselle, Illinois in a home he purchased in 2008.
Even his 2001 First Place Award certificate and his printed brochures naming his company a 4 Time Winner in the "Painted Ladies Competition, " were frauds. On October 13, I spoke with the Executive Director of Chicago Paint and Coatings Assocition who sponsors these contests each year. She said they never heard of Zywarski.
My husband died in April. I am now faced with paying off the loan and all the other debts Zywarski incurred, and foregoing other plans.
I don't intend to put this matter aside. I know Zywarski will surface again under another company name. The past ones were "PAINTING 4 LESS", "Chicago Painting/'Rich Zywarski" and the most current "Richard Zywarski, Restoration Contractor. When he does I'm ready with all the documents, incrminating evidence and dated, detailed photo discs, copies now on file with State of Illinois Fraud Division.
I want to see Richard (Ryszard) Zywarski brought to justice so he can no longer prey on others.
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