The following email from Debbie Cortelyou, a resident of Lenexa, KS, describes the shoddy remodeling of their home done by Kitchen Design Gallery (KDG). Debbie points out that because of the business practices of this firm, the fact that this was their kitchen being remodeled, and that Debbie's husband was going through hip surgery, they were virtually forced to live in their basement for almost a year.

This is but one of many letters that have recently been sent to NeighborhoodNet, Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD), and, most importantly, the members of the Kansas House Committee on Business, Commerce, and Labor. The hope is that the heart felt letters from homeowners, along with the publicity (see articles in the Johnson County Sun and the Kansas City Star) will persuade legislators that they need to do something immediately. Representative Ray Merrick has submitted bill HD2835 to begin addressing these problems. Representative Al Lane, Chair of the Committee, has stated that there is not enough time to do anything about this legislation.

We fervently hope that Representative Lane and his Committee will find a way to address this legislation after all - that they will understand that the time has come to do their duty.

Please reconsider passing bill #HB285 for the citizens of Kansas. At least it is a beginning to protect new homeowners. Perhaps then you can move on to the remodeling industry. Don't listen to the builders! Why?

My husband and I contracted with Kitchen Design Gallery, a high end kitchen remodeler, in March 2000. We did not get our kitchen finished until July of 2001! Note complaint #156822 filed on November 10, 2000 by us at the Better Business Bureau against Kitchen Design Gallery. Not only did we have numerous problems with them but also with the city of Lenexa who approved the electrical wiring for our remodel. Because the seams were showing in the new ceiling KDG had installed, we asked them to put in another new ceiling. We discovered that the electrical wiring approved by the city of Lenexa was faulty and could have at some time caused a fire! The excuse of the codes administrator when brought to his attention was that the inspector who originally came out was a new homes inspector and was inexperienced with remodels!

We had no place to turn to hold our own city accountable! We also had no place to turn to hold KDG accountable because there is no protection for homeowners in this state! We would have had to pay court costs of at least $20,000 to take KDG to court and even then there would have been no settlement for the emotional stress we encountered with them!

The reason our kitchen wasn't finished until July 2001 was because KDG breached its contract with us. Finally, after months of errors and mistakes by them the owner/designer decided not to finish and install some major appliances until we paid the balance of our contract. This payment wasn't due until satisfactory completion of the job. The second set of subcontractors who quit KDG came back and finished the work for us. It cost us an extra $6,000. We did not have a fully functioning kitchen until January 2001 - 10 months after our kitchen was gutted! The fireplace was finished in July 2001.

One final note. KDG knew my husband was having hip replacement surgery during the time it breached its contract. The only functioning kitchen we had was a small one in our basement. We basically lived down there for almost a year because of the mess we had to live in!

Please reconsider and help us.

Thank you.

Debbie Cortelyou