I lived in the condo for about 13 years.

I’d hoped to buy the condo from my landlord one day, but she passed away.

Her children wanted to sell the property but after 13 years, I knew the HOA was poorly managed and the dues were excessive.

The condo was built in 1978 and was pretty much in original condition.

Buying the condo would have been as stupid as putting 20% down on a house that starts sliding off its foundation…

Around July of 2023, my neighbor downstairs decided to install new flooring in his unit.

The new floors turned out really nice.

He then made the mistake of giving his wife a blank check to remodel the unit.

And so it began…

They decided to tear out the brick fascia on the fireplace and replace it with marble.

It took their contractor a week to complete the project.

Never pay a contractor by the hour…

I named him “Nickle and Dime Freddy”.

During the tear down, I could hear and feel the banging and pounding created by the contractor.

A week later, it was finally done.

Then, it was time to replace the drywall in the living room and expand the remodel project (blank check).

Ok, here comes some more banging and pounding.

Right around this time, there was a forcasted hurricane that turned out to be a steady rain storm for a few days.

I could hear the sound of a drop of water hitting a metal surface during the rain storm.

I checked the inside of the fireplace in my unit and along the walls adjacent the fireplace but there was no water penetration in my unit.  The photos to the right show the fireplace and flue are completely dry.

After a few days, the neighbor downstairs asked if my unit was leaking from the rain – nope – I sent him the pictures I’d taken.

The neighbor said his contractor (Nickle and Dime Freddy) told him the water damage in his new walls was because my unit was leaking down into his unit.

It couldn’t possibly be all that banging from tearing down the bricks from the fireplace.

The neighbor sent his contractor to my unit to put up a plastic tarp to cover my rear door because that’s where his contractor told him the water was leaking into his unit.

The contractor dragged a filthy black tarp through my unit, and hung it up over my rear door with a strip of duct tape.

The tarp had fallen off before the contractor had even made it back to the neighbor’s unit downstairs.

Um, here’s a tip – a single strip of duct tape will not hold up a 10 pound plastic tarp on a hot summer (dry) day, let alone a water logged stucco wall during a “hurricane” (ok – tropical storm).

I called the neighbor downstairs and told him his contractor’s tarp had fallen off.

The neighbor told me to fix it.

I told him I wouldn’t touch his contractor’s work because I would be liable for the moron’s incompetence.

My neighbor told me if I didn’t fix the tarp, he would sue me.

After 13 years, this person whom I considered a friend, threatened to sue me because of his worthless contractor’s incompetence.

Oh, and on top of that, the tarp he brought through my home left flies in my unit for a month.

The pictures to the right are the contractor’s attempt to re-install his filthy tarp – note the duct tape on the lower picture.