Man says his building was rebuilt poorly

MORGANTOWN - A Pennsylvania man says his duplex was damaged by fire and then the company he hired to repair it did not perform adequately.

Bruno Manderano II filed the lawsuit July 18 in Monongalia Circuit Court against Larry Leach Sr., individually and as owner of L&K Services, and Larry Leach Jr.

Manderano is the owner of a duplex in Morgantown that was damaged by fire March 21.

On April 11, he says he hired the defendants to rebuild the duplex for $64,808 by July 15.

"Throughout the months of April, May and June, the defendants continued to request additional money from the plaintiff even though little work was being performed on the structure," the complaint says. "The plaintiff continuously attempted to contact the defendants to try to get the work performed on the subject structure."

Manderano says he paid the defendants $51,198.13 and "little work had been performed."

"The work that had been performed was not done in a workmanlike manner, was in violation of building code and was unsafe," the complaint says.

Manderano says he has had to hire another contractor to complete the job and charges the defendants with unjust enrichment, fraud and breach of contract.

He is seeking compensatory damages for all monies paid to the defendants as well as lost rents for the failure to comply with the terms of the contract, $750 every week the rebuilding is not complete from July 15 forward, punitive damages and court costs.

J. Bryan Edwards of Morgantown law firm Cranston and Edwards is handling Manderano's case.

Monongalia Circuit Court case number 06-C-470