Thomas Atlas was hired to do a complete renovation of my house. Instead, the house is now in worse condition than it was when he started. My grievances with this contractor during the contracting period are detailed more below, but I will summarize:
1. Consumption of Alcohol onsite during the workday
2. Poor Quality Work
3. Expensive work that has to be redone because he did not hire licensed/qualified subcontractors for plumbing, foundations, or electrical
4. Starting about a month into the renovation, he and his crew only appeared onsite once or twice a week - then disappeared for weeks at a time
5. After I fired him, he filed a fraudulent lien on my house in the amount of $100,000. The total contract amount was $86,000 and he had already signed lien waivers for $65,000. So at a minimum, he lied about $79.000.
6. I am suing him to get the lien removed - but I have little hope of getting any damages out of him, which have been substantial.
7. He even stated that he would file a lien on my house "so that no one else will work on it"
Below is my letter to Thomas Atlas detailing the issues I had and offering him the opportunity to correct them. He refused, and was terminated:
October 26, 2017
Thomas Atlas
Atlas Green Homes
Houston, TX
Re: Notice of Default of Contract and Opportunity to Cure
Dear Mr. Atlas,
This letter is to notify you that you are in default of contract and have the opportunity to cure the default and return to good standing according to the conditions outlined below. You are not allowed onsite until the provisions of this notice are accepted in writing.
You are receiving this notice of default for the following reasons:
Failure to perform quality work.
Paint splotches on all walls
Messy paint at borders in need of touch-up
Floors, which were in excellent condition at the time of purchase of the home, were stripped, and are now coated in paint from the walls. The floors will need to be re-sanded in order to finish. This item is also under ‘Destruction of Property’
Inconsistent wall texture throughout the house.
Use of both satin and matte paint on several walls.
Tile in shower pan was poorly installed with crooked grout lines, inconsistent grout widths, and inadequate drainage.
Failure to perform work in a timely manner.
Minimal progress has been made on the project since the previous draw on September 25, 2017. Several items are at 30% completion or less, including all cabinetry work, doors, bathrooms, fixture installation, siding/soffits, and patio.
Contractor has since abandoned the project, last appearing on site on October 19, 2017. Contractor refuses to return to project citing a pending change order.
Destruction of property.
Front door was broken by General Contractor’s personnel.
Wood floors were stripped and are now covered in paint.
Contractor’s trailer, which sat on the front lawn covered in garbage, killed 80% of the grass underneath it.
Owner’s personal items, including a chair and microwave, have been coated in paint.
Failure to adequately communicate.
Owner requested status updates from contractor in the form of texts and emails, to which the contractor made false claims about timing of certain items, particularly completion of the bathrooms and flooring.
Those false claims led to undue and burdensome inconvenience for the owner. For example, contractor claimed the flooring would be completed the week of October 15, 2017. Owner made plans to be out of town to accommodate the contractor’s work and indication from the contractor that the floors could not be walked on for 2 days after application of polyurethane coating. Owner requested a status update on Saturday, October 21, to which Contractor replied that the floors would not be completed, or even started during that time.
Owner has repeatedly stayed in hotel rooms at great expense based on indications from the General Contractor that the home would not be habitable due to the work being done at that time. Each time, the owner returned home to discover no work of the kind indicated by the contractor had been performed.
Failure to address changes made by owner to accommodate contractor’s scheduling.
Due to Contractor’s failure to maintain an adequate schedule, the owner has made accommodations in order to convenience the Contractor and further progress on the project.
One such example is the reduction of wainscoting by 67%.
Another such example is Owner ordering most of the fixtures required for the bathroom and kitchen, and ordering the kitchen flooring and backsplash.
Contractor gave no verbal indication that any changes discussed on the project would be an extra expense.
Owner attempted in good faith to reduce scope of certain items (wainscoting, kitchen sink, guest bathroom shower, master bathroom tub, combination washer/dryer) in order to speed up progress and reduce cost.
However, contractor has instead presented owner with a change order totaling over $8,000 for these items months after they had been discussed and agreed to.
Failure to order materials in a timely manner or at all.
At the Contractor’s request, Owner put together an order at Moore Supply for the bathroom fixtures. This order was sent to the contractor on July 27, 2017. Contractor placed the order for the items on September 25, 2017. Invoice was sent to Owner on October 16, 2017. Contractor ordered the wrong materials. Order of new materials would take another 30 days. A change was made by the owner, in good faith, to instead use a drop-in acrylic bathtub which could be ordered and installed the same day in order to keep the project moving forward. The owner sacrificed the original vision and design for the master bathroom in order to convenience the contractor and move the project along.
Consumption of alcohol on premises.
Numerous beer cans and the remnants of 24-packs of beer have been seen all over the property. On at least two occasions, owner has smelled a strong scent of alcohol coming from workers onsite.
Rude and disrespectful behavior toward owner.
Contractor has repeatedly berated, insulted, and lied to the owner. This behavior will not be detailed in this letter, but is readily available and documented in texts and emails.
Upon adequate completion and inspection of the project by the owner, Contractor will in turn be paid 100% of retainage owed to him.
Please sign below indicating you agree with the terms as outlined in this notice. Failure to agree to these terms by October 26, 2017 at 5:00 PM CST will result in immediate termination of the contract.
Atlas Green Homes Reviews
Thomas Atlas was hired to do a complete renovation of my house. Instead, the house is now in worse condition than it was when he started. My grievances with this contractor during the contracting period are detailed more below, but I will summarize:
1. Consumption of Alcohol onsite during the workday
2. Poor Quality Work
3. Expensive work that has to be redone because he did not hire licensed/qualified subcontractors for plumbing, foundations, or electrical
4. Starting about a month into the renovation, he and his crew only appeared onsite once or twice a week - then disappeared for weeks at a time
5. After I fired him, he filed a fraudulent lien on my house in the amount of $100,000. The total contract amount was $86,000 and he had already signed lien waivers for $65,000. So at a minimum, he lied about $79.000.
6. I am suing him to get the lien removed - but I have little hope of getting any damages out of him, which have been substantial.
7. He even stated that he would file a lien on my house "so that no one else will work on it"
Below is my letter to Thomas Atlas detailing the issues I had and offering him the opportunity to correct them. He refused, and was terminated:
October 26, 2017
Thomas Atlas
Atlas Green Homes
Houston, TX
Re: Notice of Default of Contract and Opportunity to Cure
Dear Mr. Atlas,
This letter is to notify you that you are in default of contract and have the opportunity to cure the default and return to good standing according to the conditions outlined below. You are not allowed onsite until the provisions of this notice are accepted in writing.
You are receiving this notice of default for the following reasons:
Failure to perform quality work.
Paint splotches on all walls
Messy paint at borders in need of touch-up
Floors, which were in excellent condition at the time of purchase of the home, were stripped, and are now coated in paint from the walls. The floors will need to be re-sanded in order to finish. This item is also under ‘Destruction of Property’
Inconsistent wall texture throughout the house.
Use of both satin and matte paint on several walls.
Tile in shower pan was poorly installed with crooked grout lines, inconsistent grout widths, and inadequate drainage.
Failure to perform work in a timely manner.
Minimal progress has been made on the project since the previous draw on September 25, 2017. Several items are at 30% completion or less, including all cabinetry work, doors, bathrooms, fixture installation, siding/soffits, and patio.
Contractor has since abandoned the project, last appearing on site on October 19, 2017. Contractor refuses to return to project citing a pending change order.
Destruction of property.
Front door was broken by General Contractor’s personnel.
Wood floors were stripped and are now covered in paint.
Contractor’s trailer, which sat on the front lawn covered in garbage, killed 80% of the grass underneath it.
Owner’s personal items, including a chair and microwave, have been coated in paint.
Failure to adequately communicate.
Owner requested status updates from contractor in the form of texts and emails, to which the contractor made false claims about timing of certain items, particularly completion of the bathrooms and flooring.
Those false claims led to undue and burdensome inconvenience for the owner. For example, contractor claimed the flooring would be completed the week of October 15, 2017. Owner made plans to be out of town to accommodate the contractor’s work and indication from the contractor that the floors could not be walked on for 2 days after application of polyurethane coating. Owner requested a status update on Saturday, October 21, to which Contractor replied that the floors would not be completed, or even started during that time.
Owner has repeatedly stayed in hotel rooms at great expense based on indications from the General Contractor that the home would not be habitable due to the work being done at that time. Each time, the owner returned home to discover no work of the kind indicated by the contractor had been performed.
Failure to address changes made by owner to accommodate contractor’s scheduling.
Due to Contractor’s failure to maintain an adequate schedule, the owner has made accommodations in order to convenience the Contractor and further progress on the project.
One such example is the reduction of wainscoting by 67%.
Another such example is Owner ordering most of the fixtures required for the bathroom and kitchen, and ordering the kitchen flooring and backsplash.
Contractor gave no verbal indication that any changes discussed on the project would be an extra expense.
Owner attempted in good faith to reduce scope of certain items (wainscoting, kitchen sink, guest bathroom shower, master bathroom tub, combination washer/dryer) in order to speed up progress and reduce cost.
However, contractor has instead presented owner with a change order totaling over $8,000 for these items months after they had been discussed and agreed to.
Failure to order materials in a timely manner or at all.
At the Contractor’s request, Owner put together an order at Moore Supply for the bathroom fixtures. This order was sent to the contractor on July 27, 2017. Contractor placed the order for the items on September 25, 2017. Invoice was sent to Owner on October 16, 2017. Contractor ordered the wrong materials. Order of new materials would take another 30 days. A change was made by the owner, in good faith, to instead use a drop-in acrylic bathtub which could be ordered and installed the same day in order to keep the project moving forward. The owner sacrificed the original vision and design for the master bathroom in order to convenience the contractor and move the project along.
Consumption of alcohol on premises.
Numerous beer cans and the remnants of 24-packs of beer have been seen all over the property. On at least two occasions, owner has smelled a strong scent of alcohol coming from workers onsite.
Rude and disrespectful behavior toward owner.
Contractor has repeatedly berated, insulted, and lied to the owner. This behavior will not be detailed in this letter, but is readily available and documented in texts and emails.
Upon adequate completion and inspection of the project by the owner, Contractor will in turn be paid 100% of retainage owed to him.
Please sign below indicating you agree with the terms as outlined in this notice. Failure to agree to these terms by October 26, 2017 at 5:00 PM CST will result in immediate termination of the contract.