NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Farah Desormo is one of the brave emergency room nurses who have been tending to sick COVID-19 patients for months, as the coronavirus pandemic impacts Miami-Dade County.
Desormo is a hero, but instead of being able to come home to relax after the stressful chaos, she was faced with an unresponsive contractor.
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Desormo paid $16,000 in February. The permits were pulled months ago, but nothing had been done at her home in North Miami on Friday.
“I just need this to go away,” she said through tears. “This is giving me a lot of stress. I reached out because I’m frustrated. Seven months and this is the state of the front of my house. I feel like they don’t even care anymore."
Desormo has a contract with JDP Construction. John Della-Pietra, the owner of JDP Construction, was furious when confronted with the case. He said he didn’t know every single job that his company is handling.
Della-Pietra called his operations manager, Larry Cohen, and appeared to demand an explanation during an expletive-laced tirade.
“You hide everything from me,” Della-Pietra said.
According to the Better Business Bureau, JDP Construction has been the focus of 20 complaints in the last three years. In 2015, Local 10 News investigated a similar case.
“I have a lot of [expletive] I’m trying to clean up because of him,” Della-Pietra said.
Desormo said she didn’t know JDP Construction’s reputation.
“That’s my mistake as a new homeowner," Desormo said. "This is the first time I am dealing with anything like this.”
Della-Pietra said “God’s honest truth” is he didn’t know Desormo’s situation. He has promised to do right by her. The promise: The concrete will be poured on Saturday and the fencing will be done on Wednesday.