For Immediate Release: December 19, 2007                                 

Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 617-679-6522

Home Improvement Contractor Sentenced To State Prison And Ordered To Pay Restitution To Homeowners Failed To Perform Work On Homes In Natick, Marlborough, Arlington

CAMBRIDGE – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today that a home improvement contractor was sentenced to State Prison and ordered to pay restitution for his failure to do work that he had been paid to perform. 

Michael J. Corda was found guilty on November 19 by a Middlesex Superior Court jury of seven counts of larceny over $250 and 16 of 17 counts of 142A violations, the law prohibiting certain acts by home contractors. On December 17, he was sentenced to 3-5 years in State Prison for his offenses. As part of his sentence, he also received seven years probation from and after the State Prison term, was also ordered to pay restitution to the home owners (the amount is still being determined by the court), and is precluded from working as a manager of home contracting projects in Massachusetts.

“When homeowners enter into an agreement with a contractor, they deserve to be dealt with honestly and to get the services that they paid for,” District Attorney Leone said. “This contractor violated the trust of these homeowners and took thousands of dollars from them for work that he had no intention of performing.”

Michael Corda was registered as a home improvement contractor under the company name Northeast Building and Design. From November 2003 – August 2005, he entered into a total of eight contracts to perform home improvement services for various homeowners. Each of the homeowners paid the defendant thousands of dollars in advance based on the defendant’s representations of the work that he would perform. He also was paid for supplies that he failed to produce.

At trial, the Commonwealth proved that Mr. Corda had no intention of rendering the services in accordance with the contracts, knew that his company did not have the resources to fulfill the terms of the contracts, and ultimately never performed the services that he had committed to complete.

The communities in which the homes were located were Arlington (one home), Marlboro (one home), and Natick (five homes).

Corda was indicted by a Middlesex Grand Jury on September 26, 2006 on seven counts of larceny over $250 and 17 counts of violations of 142A, the law prohibiting certain acts by home contractors.  He was arraigned on October 18, 2006, at which point Middlesex Superior Court Judge Lauriat ordered be released on personal recognizance.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis of the office’s PACT Unit. The case was investigated by Natick Police.

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