Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / May 24, 1990, edition 1 / Page 11
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New homeowners: We've been had From Page A1 his other customers said they weren't charged for the services, Mr. Campbell explained. The model number of the house agreed upon in contract was different from the one Mr. Witherspoon actually con structed. The, woodJuMtsed, o*<? the Campbell's said they requested Instead of double French doors in the kitchen/dining room, doors o f the side and back of house were hung. Windows are missing, mirrors were installed and later replaced at the Campbell's insistenceithe exte rior of the home was not painted correctly and Mr. Campbell had do that work himself, the water meter is not flush with the concrete drive way. Staff from the Housing/Neigh borhood Development Department, which administers the city's second -mortgage loan pmpir^ni| ^ poned their closing date twice to deal with the Campbell's com plaints. Eventually, the Campbell's accepted a promissory note in December 1989 from Mr. Wither spoon stating that he would pay them a little more than S 1,600 as reimbursement for money they put into the house for things he should have taken care of. He was also instructed to repair the driveway. The Campbell's said city offi cials allowed Mr. Witherspoon to - collect their closing payment on the house before they arrived at the meeting. They aHege that they were led to believe that Mr. Witherspoon was a licensed general contractor. In April, they took Mr. Witherspoon to court to collect on the promissory note^ which he was to begin paying on in January. To date, Mr. Wither spoon has only paid $200 to the Campbell's when the agreed upon amount was a little over $400 a month for four months. ; ' As a result of the Campbell's complaints, Mr. Witherspoon has been removed from the list of certi fied builders for the city's programs, said Monica R. Lett, director of Housing and ^development Dr. Lett and assistant city manager Thomas " W. Fredericks met with the Camp bell's Tuesday afternoon to hear - their claims that city staff members ~ mismanaged their money and mis represented their best interests when they closed on their home. "We understand their com plaints but we feel we have exhaust ~ed~all~remedies^we can-pTovide by removing the developer from the list as a direct result of their com plaints," said Dr. Lett. Because Mr. Witherspoon was listed as a developer on the city's list, she continued, it wasn't neces sary that he be licensed. Mr. Wither spoon's brother, Jerome, owns Astro - Construction Co., and the building permit from the city was in his com pany's name, she said, adding that the men are principal owners in each others businesses. A developer usually coordi nates the building process in a the general contractor gets the build ing permits and hires out portions of the project to subcontractors to build the actual structure. Still, the Campbell's maintain that the Witherspoon brothers have -pulled a "fast one" on them. In fact, their dilemma is similar to one experienced by Catherine Burton. Last year, Mrs. Burton filed a law suit against Leon Witherspoon, Oak Leaf Builders, Oak Leaf Corpora tion Inc. and Jerome T. Witherspoon andWoodcraft Buildersand Associ ates Inc. In January 1QK7, Mrg Rnrton entered into a contract with Oak Leaf Corporation to build the home she now resides in at 1105 Progres sive Lane, according to documents filed in Forsyth County Civil Supe rior Court The agreed upon cost of the structure, $60,990. "On or about August 3, 1987, the plaintiff began to occupy the Jiouse. Numerous defects in the quality of workmanship, unautho rized changes in construction plans, unauthorized substitutions of mate rials and uncompleted work were complained by the plaintiff to defen dants Leon Witherspoon and Oak Leaf Corporation," read the court briefs. "Despite numerous requests and demands by the plaintiff to cor rect the defects and omissions in the construction of the residence, her complaints went unaddressed. After giving the defendants Leon Wither spoon and Oak Leaf Corporation numerous opportunities to correct such defects and omissions, the plaintiff discharged them from per forming further work on her resi dence on or about March 17, 1990." Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Burton correct her home, according to court documents, and she spent in excess of $12,000 for that work and contin ues to incur expenses as new defec tions in workmanship are discov ered. In addition, she paid Leon Witherspoon and Oak Leaf $40,178 for "works and draws" for the con struction of her houseT After di scharging Leon Wither spoon, Mrs. Burton discovered that he was not a licensed contractor as required by the North Carolina's general statues. "Plaintiff also learned at this time that defendant Jerome T. With erspoon had allowed defendant Leon Witherspoon and Oak Leaf to use the general contracting license of defendant Woodcraft Builders and Associates to procreate a build ing permit for construction of the plaintiffs residence," according to the court documents in file 88-CVS 4588. "At no time did defendants tract with the plaintiff for construc tion of her residence, or act as the general contractor for construction of said residence." On Sept 14, 1988, Mrs. Burton filed the following complaints in -Forsyth County -Civil Superior Court: ?Breach of contract against Leon Witherspoon and Oak Leaf Corporation. ?Fraud and misrepresentation against all defendants named in the giiit ?Negligence and misrepresenta tinn apain<?t th* H^fPnf^nnh ?Punitive damages against all defendants. ?Unfair and deceptive trade practices against all defendants. In his judgment, Civil Superior Court Judge James T. Booker found Jerome T. Witherspoon and Wood craft Builders and Associates guilty of fraud. "Leon Witherspoon and Oak Leaf Corporation held themselves as general contractors for construction of plaintiffs residence in violation of the licensing requirements," the judge , wrote in his findings. T?.Jerome Witherspoon - knowingly and intentionally entered into an agreement and contrived with the unlicensed general contrac tors to circumvent licensing require -roem^wKJer-Nomk-C aroUna-General Statue...to defraud plaintiff. "Defendant Jerome T. Wither spoon intended to deceive plaintiff by agreeing and contriving with the unli censed general contractor to circum vent licensing requirements under North Carolina General Statue...there by, allowing the unlicensed general contractor to procure the building per mit for plaintiffs house," ?Finding Jsromc Wuherspoorv and Woodcraft Builders and Associ ates guilty of fraud, Judge Booker ordered defendants to pay $35,972 in damages taMrsr Burton:? When licensed general contrac tors allow other companies or gener al contractors that are unlicensed to_ use their licenses, the former can loi>c their license, arcordiiig to a~ - spokeswoman with the General. Contractors North Carolina Licens ing Board. Leon Witherspoon, if he was ever a licensed contractor, has not been licensed since 1985, the spokeswoman said. Leon Witherspoon maintains that he has done nothing wrong. I'm out of the business of. building homes because of Mr. Campbell," he said. "Once I let him into the house he started making demands that I had to this and that or he wouldn't close on the house because he said he knew how he could. gcLmc_ told her or anybody else that I was a general contractor. As far as I'm concerned I gave the Campbell's a house for much more than what I charged them. I promised to give them $1,600 but I don't owe them money. The only reason I agreed to_ pay them money is so they would close on the house." Leon Witherspoon has a record of not paying his debts in a timely manner. In March 1987, New York Carpet World filed a small claims ^suit against him because, after Willie _ Ashford Jr., 113 George Black Lane, paid I .pr>n Withpr<;pnnn S9 171 6S fn install carpet and cushion, he did not pay the company. The company vol untarily dismissed the suit in November 14, 1988. Blaze Air Inc. filed another small claims suit against Leon With erspoon in June 1989 for the $1,590 he owed them - he borrowed the money to invest in projects in East Winston or other predominately Afro-American housing projects. City officials told the Campbel l's Tuesday that they would "check into matters and get back with us," Mrs. Campbell said. "The fact is we did not chose Astro, but Oak Leaf. - We feel we have been taken advan tage of because of our inexperience as homeowners and we want our money back and we want the house repaired -?the- squeaky tile, from where the floor boards weren't nailed down properly, the driveway and everything else - and we want a lower price dn this house." "This has happened to other people in East Winston who have dealt with Leon Witherspoon because he takes people's money from one project and puts it into another," Mr. Campbell added. "We -were not treated fairly by the city or Mr. Witherspoon and we want jus tice." Williams honored for academics Nikkya Geneen Williams, a student at Kennedy Middle School will be honored for her academic achievement at a Grand Recogni tion Ceremony on June 3 at Duke University Chapel in Durham. More than 1,880 students from 16 states qualified for this honor. The Grand Recognition Ceremony is sponsored by the Duke Universi ty Talent Identification Program to salute the highest scoring seventh graders in TIP's 10th annual Talent Search. All students invited to this ceremony have earned scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the American College Testing Assess ment higher than 50 percent of col lege-bound high school seniors. The students will receive cer FOR SNUFF THATS SWEET AS HONEY (WF HONEYBEE ? 5 ra* Hilmc Tbbacco Company 9 tificates of distinction at the cere mony and books. The highest scor ers will also receive scholarships. Miss Williams is a seventh grade student at Kennedy Middle School where she plays bassoon in the Festival Band. She was selected to the All County Band. An avid = reader, her interests include drama, dancing, and art. She likes to swim and play video games. Her parents are Annette Scippio and Norman Williams. She is the granddaughter of Edythe Williams, Gertrude Scip pio and Sallie Salvage. i Nikkya Geneen Williams REDUCED FOR CLEARANCE Selected Groups of Dresses ! Reg. Sizes 6 thru 20 Half Sizes 121/2 thru 241/2 Petites 6-16 And Sportswear 628 West 4th St. 722-8203 I McLean Stevenson and over 100 of your favorite sports and entertainment stars are scheduled to appear at The Crosby again this year. For some of your favorite chari ties. It'll be four days of fun in the sun at Bermuda Run. ?>o come on out and have a good time for a good cause. MAY 31- JUNE 3 Call 1-800-345-BING Extf* ft* Seajvam's Extra Dry ? 6? ?? "^^?A .yy.1 <An ,\ ?>?>?<? * '?^t' ?A' s^W* v>a\nN ?'.? flSftfa >xyj?w **" ? ?g&m^ssaLfr ?1 ? OfeWtWX >vss.s:.n\.:vasv SEAGRAM'S GIN - AMERICAS NUMBER ONE GIN. .
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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May 24, 1990, edition 1
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