'Afraid and Desperate': A Wilton Senior Seeks Advice

I am an 83-year-old widow who hired a contractor to replace my roof in August. By the end of September, he said the roof was "done" and I went into the hospital and had surgery; when I came out of rehab, there were leaks in the roof, inside the house was ripped out and my bedroom was unlivable. We had given him a $6,000 deposit upfront on a $10,000 job.

The roof was done wrong and is damaged, now, the contractor put a lien on my home and won’t come back to finish the roof unless I pay him an additional $14,000 upfront for work that was never authorized but he says we owe him for.

We tried to get another roofer to finish, but everyone who sees what a wreck it is says it [needs to go] to court and [therefore] no one wants to get involved. The lawyers are expensive and they say this case is too small to be worth it. The buildings department says they are not allowed to climb ladders or get on top of a roof so they can’t fully inspect the job. The Department of Consumer Protection is looking at the case, but winter is coming and I don't have a roof to protect me.

I am afraid and desperate - and don't know where to turn.  

-Name has been redacted by request

[Ed's note: For legal reasons, any responses attempting to identify the contractor will be removed and the user risks having his/her username banned]