News anchor Liz Cho sued by Irish Bronx contractor over failure to pay up

Cho and her husband claim Irish builder overcharged and left renovation incomplete

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News anchor Liz Cho

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Cathal Maguire, a contractor based in Yonkers, in The Bronx, has filed papers claiming that WABC-TV news anchor Liz Cho and her husband Evan Gottlieb failed to pay him over $100,875 for the renovations he carried out on their Westchester mansion.

In the papers Maguire filed last month, he claimed that between April and October 2011 his company carried out renovations with a bill of $430,875. He says the couple failed to pay $100,875 of this bill.

Cho and her husband have filed a counter claim against the Irish construction company owner in the state Supreme Court in White Plains. They said that Maguire inflated his prices, charged for work that was not done and did a “shoddy job” according to New York Post reports.

Their claim lists 105 examples of “substandard work” which they claim will cost them $300,000 to fix. These include faulty toilets, uneven floors and an “unusable” powder room. They also list a “misshaped” driveway that is difficult to navigate.

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In April 2011, Cho (41) and Gottlieb (50) paid $2.2 million for the nine-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion in Westchester.

Maguire’s lawyer, John Murtagh, from the firm Gaines, Gruner, Ponzini & Novick, said the couple had never complained about the building company’s work. These issues were only brought to light when Maguire confronted them about “failing” to pay the bills. Maguire then filed a “mechanic’s lien” with the Westchester clerk’s office in December.

Murtagh told the Post, "If [Cho and Gottlieb] truly had such a laundry list of problems with the work, then why did they wait so many months to complain?...This is classic example of people trying to get out of paying for work they contracted."

According to Cho and Gottlieb, they had a verbal agreement that the bill for all construction done would not exceed $343,000. They say he’s in breach of agreement by “misrepresenting” work performed and material purchased.

The couple’s lawyer, Matthew Parrott, from the firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, said they had not realized the extent of the “damage” until they bought in another building company to finish the job. He said they are looking “forward to having their rights vindicated in court”.

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