Mr. Labate was hired to complete work at my home. I readily admit that he did some work but he did not adhere to our contractual agreement. I went above and beyond to be understanding as well as cautious. He said he needed money to pay for plumbing and permits in advance. Sadly, I paid him; he cashed the check and then never came back to our job.
I filed a complaint with the BBB of Central Texas and he replied to me in an email - threatening a lien on my property and he told me to "Keep it Up" so I did - I pursued him in civil court where he counter-sued me and said I was unwilling to meet with him or work things out. Too bad for him that I had the unclaimed, registered receipt letter I sent to his address where I asked him to return to work, we would sit down and agree on drawings, etc. If the project was going to cost more, we would work out our budget to get things done.
He misrepresented several facts in his counter-claim and then threatened to file bankruptcy if I didn't settle with him for a tenth of what he took.
Again, too bad for him that I KNEW he had filed for and received Bankruptcy protection in 2006! Can't file that twice! He tried everything to not pay including accusing me of derogatory emails and statements on Craigslist. I never posted anything on Craigslist and the one email he speaks about was from him (he used his wife's email address) asking if I knew anything about "Marc Labate and we should go to the cops." He is a piece of work!
I settled in mediation with Mr. Labate and am very happy that he is no longer advertising on Craigslist. He supposedly is being evicted from his home - search here on consumer complaints for details on that story. As far as I am concerned, he is getting all he deserves and more. I have met three other people he took advantage of and I heard stories about two more.
What is really sad about all of this - other than the $2000 I am still out, is that he has the talent to do the job but he chooses to take advantage of the situation and leave those who trusted him in a lurch. He should utilize his talents and be helpful to others and not harmful.
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