VICKSBURG, Mich. -- Shellie Harrison is frustrated with contractor Mark Boyer. She said she hired him to build a patio and a deck with a staircase to connect to her balcony.
"I gave him $4,000," Harrison said of the deposit.
She said she paid the deposit in late June and was to pay the other $2,500 upon completion. Harrison said Boyer promised to have everything finished by the end of July. She has the contract. But she said he didn't start work until August.
After an inspector noticed the work taking place in her backyard without a permit, she said the inspector told her Boyer was taking short cuts.
"Then they realized the work he had done was not up to code," Harrison said.
She called the FOX 17 Problem Solvers, and Boyer showed up to her home while the news crew was there. He claimed Harrison didn't pay him what he is owed -- $6,500.
"So you expect her to pay the full amount upfront?" the Problem Solvers asked him.
Inspector Steve Seigwart said the posts in the ground aren't up to code material-wise and they aren't deep enough. Seigwart also confirmed with the Problem Solvers that Boyer failed to pull a permit for the deck and after getting caught, Boyer pulled it with another contractor's name without that contractor's permission. Seigwart said the contractor found out after the fact. However, the contractor approved as long as the work was completed and done right.
Boyer said he pulled the permit late "because we were forced into it, and I don't agree with it."
The Problem Solvers responded, "You don't agree with it, and because you don't agree with it, you're circumventing the law?"
Seigwart said Boyer will be prosecuted next time if he's caught doing construction work without a permit again.
Boyer said he's going to get his lawyer involved.
