Middletown masonry contractor continues 7-year effort to collect a bill

Antonio Spadafora, a Middletown masonry contractor who claims he was tricked into renovating an auto repair shop in 2014, is still trying to collect the bill.

Spadafora & Son Inc. sued Russell and Tara Dupper, the president and owner of Cartech Service Center in Pine Bush, on Feb. 25 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Poughkeepsie, to stop them from freezing the debt.

Spadafora won a judgment, according to court records, but the Duppers filed for bankruptcy protection twice, automatically stopping creditors from pursuing collections.

Spadafora says the Duppers hired him in 2014 to repair their repair shop for $22,900. The work included replacing stucco, blocking four garage windows and powerwashing the building.

The Duppers allegedly told him they were buying the building from the landlord, the landlord would pay a portion of the repairs, and time was of the essence.

Spadafora says he felt rushed into doing the work and lulled into believing he would be paid quickly.

He wasn”™t paid, and there was no deal to buy the building, according to a 2015 lawsuit he filed in Orange Supreme Court, accusing the Duppers of unjust enrichment.

In 2019, RMD Automotive Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Cartech Service Center, petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, days before the company was to be evicted.

RMD declared up to $50,000 in assets and from $100,000 to $500,000 in liabilities.

Russell Dupper attributed financial difficulties to a rent dispute. Debts could be restructured and a landlord-tenant dispute could be resolved, he said in an affidavit, with the help of bankruptcy court.

Six months later, Russell Dupper asked that the case be dismissed because RMD and East End Realty, the landlord, were unable to restructure the lease. East End Realty claimed it was owed more than $300,000.

The case was dismissed. By then, the Duppers had petitioned for personal Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.

They declared $379,920 in assets, consisting mostly of their house in Newburgh, and $1.3 million in liabilities, including $482,997 in state and federal taxes.

In both bankruptcies, the Duppers do not dispute the Spadafora & Son debt.

Spadafora”™s attorney, David B. Gilbert, claims the Duppers may not use bankruptcy to stop collection. The bill, he asserts, is an exception to bankruptcy rules because the debt was obtained by false pretenses, false representations or actual fraud.

The Duppers”™ attorney, F. Bryan Paz of Walden, declined to convey their side of the story.