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Church alleges Rochester contractor cashed checks but did no work
The governing body for the United Methodist Church on Chili Avenue alleges a contractor accepted money in 2018 and 2019 but never performed roofing repairs. (Photo by Kevin Oklobzija)
The governing body for the United Methodist Church on Chili Avenue alleges a contractor accepted money in 2018 and 2019 but never performed roofing repairs. (Photo by Kevin Oklobzija)
Church alleges Rochester contractor cashed checks but did no work
The governing body of the former United Methodist Church in the city’s Bull’s Head neighborhood alleges in court papers that a Rochester-area contractor accepted up-front payments on a roofing contract five years ago but still hasn’t started work on the project.
Though Carter Exteriors, Inc., cashed two checks totaling $191,842.86, the Gates-based firm has yet to do any repairs on a roof damaged in a March 2017 wind storm, according to a civil complaint filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Monroe County.
The complainant is West Avenue UMC, whose assets are being administered by the Board of Trustees of the Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The church property at 56 Chili Ave. no longer operates under an affiliation with the United Methodist Church.
The complaint alleges that in March of 2018 the contractor entered into a restoration agreement to repair damages caused in the storm.
Based on a line item estimate prepared by Carter Exteriors in September 2018 and included with the court filing, the church’s insurance company issued checks for $45,030.21 in October 2018 and $146,812.65 in June of 2019. The written estimate totaled $297,126.78.
UMC endorsed the checks to Carter Exteriors, which deposited them into a business account, the complaint alleges.
The contractor told UMC that work would begin “sometime between September to early October 2019,” the complaint says.
Because no work had ever started, legal counsel for UMC — in a letter dated February 7, 2022 — demanded return of the checks but Carter Exteriors refused to do, the complaint alleges.
Subsequent letters were sent on Feb. 25 and July 29 of that year asking that the checks be returned or that repair work begin. Carter Exteriors did neither, the complaint states.
“To this day, Carter refuses to take any steps to repair the roof or return the checks to West Avenue UMC,” court papers say. “This is derogation of West Avenue UMC’s rights because Carter’s refusal to perform its obligations under the restoration agreement means the checks rightfully belong to West Avenue UMC.”
The complaint, filed by Peter H. Abdella and Michele R. Di Franco of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, asks for a judgment in the amount of the two checks, plus interest, as well as fees and costs related to the legal action.
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