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Lee's Summit man pays thousands for roof never installed

Roofer has history of legal troubles
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Ralph Sytkowski has had two by fours nailed to the roof of his Lee's Summit home for months.

"That's where they had all the shingles," he said.

A man named Jason Stewart convinced Sytkowski to pay for those shingles and Stewart promised to install the new roof.

But after months of waiting, Stewart never made good on that promise.

"It was so surprising, he was so legit and when you talk to him, he was just really a nice guy and everything that I never suspected a thing," Sytkowski said.

He says it all started when Stewart came to Sytkowski's home after severe weather hit in 2015.

Stewart convinced Sytkowski's insurance company to pay for a new roof.

Sytkowski gave him the money up front, more than $8,000 to do the work.

But although the shingles came, Stewart never installed them.

Frustrated, Sytkowski went to court and in August won a more than $9,000 judgment against Stewart and his company Apex Roofing which included Sytkowski's legal expenses.

Although Stewart has promised to pay that judgment, Sytkowski has yet to collect any money.

"I've been on the phone with him, I've texted him and he just lies and lies and lies and lies, but he's so good at it," Sytkowski said.

The 41 Action News Investigators went to Stewart's home to try to get answers, but he declined to comment.

While Stewart wasn't talking, court records the 41 Action News Investigators obtained spoke volumes.

They include a more than $72,000 judgment against Stewart and Apex Roofing in 2015.

There's also a nearly $25,000 judgment against him in 2011, a more than $11,000 judgment against him in 2008 and a state of Missouri tax lien of more than $3,000 in 2013.

Stewart also has issues in Kansas.

A court order against Stewart and his business temporarily bans him from doing business in the state.

In a pending case, the Kansas Attorney General accuses Stewart of receiving money for two Johnson County roofing jobs, but not doing the work.

State records also show Stewart is not registered as a roofing contractor in Kansas as required by state law.

Sytkowski says his mistake was not checking out Stewart's background online.

"I just can't believe that I was so easily conned by somebody," Sytkowski said. 

After the 41 Action News Investigators confrontation with Stewart at his home in late February, he promised to pay Sytkowski within three weeks and do a sit-down interview with the Investigators.

So far, Stewart has yet to deliver on those promises.

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Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.

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