KIYC investigation finds multiple complaints against contractor Chris Aldarelli and his companies

A family from Manalapan says they had a bad experience with a home improvement contractor.

Walt Kane

Jun 21, 2023, 2:34 AM

Updated 540 days ago

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A family from Manalapan says they had a bad experience with a home improvement contractor. A Kane In Your Corner investigation finds it’s not the first time the contractor has gotten complaints.
Jennifer and Tommy Martinez still remember the moment they realized they had a problem with their new vinyl siding. Four months after it was installed, on the first warm day of the year, the siding seemed to be buckling.
“We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on siding that is bubbling and warped, and it almost looks like it's melting,” Jennifer Martinez says.
They also say the job was never finished and some of the work that was completed was not done well. For example, they complained that the new bricks on the garage seemed to be bulging.
Kane In Your Corner spoke to Chris Aldarelli of CRA Site Lawn & Land Development. He promised to fix the siding issue but said nothing else was his company’s fault.
“The job was done for months before they had an issue,” Aldarelli says. “Let's just clarify that - the job was done. Three months later, we get a phone call that they put in a claim about the siding.”
Kane In Your Corner found this isn’t the first time someone has complained about Aldarelli or his companies. Lisa Coryell, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, says the Division of Consumer Affairs has about 10 consumer complaints on file against CRA Site Lawn & Land Development, “Three of which are open and under review.”
The Division of Consumer Affairs charged Aldarelli and two of his companies in 2017 with defrauding Superstorm Sandy victims. Aldarelli said he had done nothing wrong, but signed a consent order, agreeing to pay $250,000 in fines.
“They found no fault in 2017 at all,” Aldarelli says.
But the Division of Consumer Affairs says it believes Aldarelli and his companies violated that consent order.
“If the judge were to find that defendants violated the Final Consent Judgment, that finding would be referred to Licensing and Registrations within the Division, where the process for suspending or revoking the defendants’ HIC registrations could begin,” Coryell says.
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