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650802/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2017

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK
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217 TRUST, Index No.:

Plaintiff, Date Purchased: February 14, 2017

-against- SUMMONS

VIR CONSTRUCTION INC., Plaintiff designates New York County

VIR CONTRACTING, INC., as the place of trial.
VIR DESIGN CONSULTANTS INC.,
PETER VUCETIC and IVAN VUCETIC,

Defendants.
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TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to

serve a copy of your Answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a

notice of appearance, on the plaintiff’s attorneys within 20 days after the service of this

summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this

summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); and in case of your

failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded

in the Complaint.

Dated: New York, New York

February 14, 2017
LINER LLP

By /s/ Jeffrey L. Schulman

Jeffrey L. Schulman
Liner LLP
18 East 41st Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
jschulman@linerlaw.com

47623.001-3735391

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-and-

Kirk A. Pasich (to be admitted pro hac vice)

1100 Glendon Avenue, 14th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3518
kpasich@linerlaw.com

Attorneys for Plaintiff

Defendants’ Addresses:

VIR CONSTRUCTION INC.

c/o Miljenko Mezic CPA
33-19 30th Avenue
Astoria, New York 11103

VIR CONTRACTING, INC.,

157 Spring Street
Staten Island, New York 10304

VIR DESIGN CONSULTANTS INC.,

56 Beaver Street, Suite 301
New York, New York 10004

PETER VUCETIC
3518 37th Street, Suite 1L
Long Island City, New York 11101

IVAN VUCETIC
3518 37th Street, Suite 1L
Long Island City, New York 11101

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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK
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217 TRUST, Index No.:

Plaintiff, VERIFIED COMPLAINT

-against-

VIR CONSTRUCTION INC.,

VIR CONTRACTING, INC.,
VIR DESIGN CONSULTANTS INC.,
PETER VUCETIC and IVAN VUCETIC,

Defendants.
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Plaintiff 217 Trust (collectively, with the settlors of the trust, “217 Trust”), by its

undersigned attorneys, as and for its Verified Complaint against Defendants VIR Construction

Inc. (“VIR Construction”); VIR Contracting, Inc. (“VIR Contracting”); VIR Design Consultants

Inc. (“VIR Design”) (collectively “VIR Defendants”); Peter Vucetic and Ivan Vucetic

(collectively, the “Vucetic Defendants” and collectively with the VIR Defendants, the

“Defendants”), states as follows:

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

1. This is an action by 217 Trust against Defendants for negligence and the breach of

a contract to perform a general construction/renovation project, including labor, services and

materials, under a written contract (the “Contract”). A copy of the Contract is annexed hereto as

Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference.

PARTIES

2. 217 Trust is a revocable trust that holds, administers and distributes the rights to

purchase and/or the ownership of 217 East 62nd Street, New York, New York (the “Premises”).

3. VIR Construction is a domestic business corporation organized and existing under

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the laws of the State of New York with its principal place of business located at 35-18 37th Street,

Long Island City, New York.

4. VIR Contracting is a domestic business corporation organized and existing under

the laws of the State of New York with its principal place of business located at 35-18 37th Street,

Long Island City, New York.

5. VIR Design is a domestic business corporation organized and existing under the

laws of the State of New York with its principal place of business located at 35-18 37th Street,

Long Island City, New York.

6. Peter Vucetic is an individual residing in the State of New York and, at all

relevant times, was a principal of the VIR Defendants.

7. Ivan Vucetic is an individual residing in the State of New York and, at all relevant

times, was a principal of the VIR Defendants.

8. Upon information and belief, one or more of the VIR Defendants was doing

business as VIR Builders, Inc.

9. VIR Builders, Inc. was formally dissolved on September 28, 2016.

10. VIR also does business as VIR NYC.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

11. This Court has jurisdiction over this action, pursuant to CPLR 302(a)(1), because,

upon information and belief, all parties reside in and/or transact business within the State of New

York.

12. Venue is proper under CPLR 503 based upon the location of the Premises that are

the subject of the Contract.

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FACTS COMMON TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION

A. The Project

13. Prior to April 2013, 217 Trust purchased the Premises to be the primary residence

for the settlors of the trust and their children.

14. 217 Trust is the title owner to the Premises.

15. 217 Trust intended to undertake a renovation of the Premises (the “Project”),

which, upon completion, was to be the settlors’ primary residence.

16. 217 Trust hired Defendants in or around November 2013 to facilitate the

completion of the Project.

17. Defendants remained at the Premises until approximately January 2017.

B. The Contract and Defendants’ Conduct

18. Under the Contract, Defendants were responsible for providing a wide range of

general construction and general contractor services including, but not limited to, excavation and

demolition; carpentry; electric, plumbing and HVAC; lighting, windows and doors; stone and

tile; drywall, painting and finishes; and overall protection, supervision, management and control

of the Project.

19. VIR Builders Inc. is identified as the “Contractor” in the Contract.

20. Under the Contract, Defendants were required to be knowledgeable about, use and

refer to the architectural plans and to complete the Project in accordance with those plans.

21. Under the Contract, Defendants were required to “supervise and direct the work”

and was to “be solely responsible for and have direct control over construction means, methods,

techniques, sequences and procedures, and for coordinating all portions of the Work under the

Contract.”

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22. Under the Contract, Defendants were “responsible . . . for acts and omissions of

the Contractor’s employees, Subcontractors and their agents and employees, and other persons or

entities performing portions of the Work for or on behalf of the Contractor or any of its

Subcontractors.”

23. The Contract prohibited Defendants from “permit[ting] employment of unfit

persons or persons not skilled in tasks assigned to them.”

24. The Contract included a warranty by Defendants “that materials and equipment

furnished under the Contract will be of good quality, . . . that the Work will be free from defects

not inherent in the quality required or permitted, and that the Work will conform with the

requirements of the Contract Documents.

25. The Contract required Defendants to purchase and maintain insurance for, among

other things, “claims for damages, other than to the Work itself, to property which may arise out

of or result from the Contractor’s operations under the Contract.”

26. To date, the Project is not “Substantially Completed” as that phrase is defined in

the Contract.

27. The preliminary estimate for the Project totaled approximately $881,000 but was

subsequently increased to $995,400.

28. By November 2014, the estimate was increased to approximately $1,500,000.

29. The total cost of the Project, including amounts incurred by 217 Trust to rectify

defective work, damages and breaches of the Contract total an amount in excess of $2,000,000.

30. In December 2014, a third party estimated that it would cost an additional

$1,394,592 to complete the Project.

31. Defendants recommended various subcontractors for each of the necessary trades

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which were retained for the Project based upon Defendant’s recommendations and 217 Trust’s

reliance on those recommendations.

32. To date, the Project is still not completed and the actual cost of completion,

because of Defendants’ breaches, errors, and omissions, is and will be substantially higher than it

should have been and more than Defendants represented and agreed it would be.

AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

(Breach of Contract)

33. 217 Trust repeats and realleges the allegations stated in each of the foregoing

paragraphs 1 through 32 as though stated at length herein.

34. The Contract is a valid, binding and enforceable agreement, through which

Defendants assumed the obligations to serve as the general contractor, and to timely complete the

Project at the Premises within the agreed-upon budget and to do so in a professional manner.

35. 217 Trust and Defendants operated under, and agreed to be bound by, the terms of

the Contract.

36. 217 Trust performed all obligations required of it under the Contract.

37. As the general contractor, Defendants failed to provide the particular bargained-

for result of completing the Project on time and on budget.

38. Defendants breached the Contract by failing to perform the scope of work

contemplated under the Contract.

39. Defendants breached the Contract by failing to properly perform the scope of

work contemplated under the Contract.

40. Defendants breached the Contract by failing to complete and/or correct defective

work and to properly supervise the Project, the Premises and the subcontractors.

41. 217 Trust duly demanded that Defendants satisfy their obligations under the

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Contract, but Defendants refuse to do so.

42. Defendants’ failure and refusal to satisfy their obligations under the Contract

constitute a material breach of the Contract.

43. As a result of Defendants’ breach of the Contract, 217 Trust sustained damages

including costs associated with the need to perform extra, additional and/or repair work; loss of

productivity; loss of use of the Premises; alternative living and travel expenses; and escalation in

costs of labor and materials.

44. As a result of Defendants’ breach of the Contract, 217 Trust has been and

continues to be damaged in an amount to be determined at trial.

AS AND FOR A SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION

(Negligence)

45. 217 Trust repeats and realleges the allegations stated in each of the foregoing

paragraphs 1 through 44 as though stated at length herein.

46. Beginning in or around November 2013, and at all relevant times herein,

Defendants owed a duty to 217 Trust to perform and oversee the Project as the general

contractor.

47. Defendants were negligent and failed to properly perform the services and

functions of a general contractor on the Project in accordance with the Contract.

48. The Vucetic Defendants’ actively interfered and obstructed the completion of the

Project and their conduct constitutes gross negligence, bad faith and/or reckless indifference to

the rights of 217 Trust as the Premises owner, none of which was contemplated when the

Contract was entered into.

49. This conduct included, or had the intended result of, 217 Trust performing extra

and/or additional work without compensation; performing the Project in an inefficient,

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disorganized and uneconomical manner; creating poor working relationships with subcontractors;

causing damage to the Premises; and causing unreasonable delays in the completion of the

Project.

50. While Defendants were engaged in the aforementioned conduct, the Vucetic

Defendants repeatedly and routinely made knowingly false and reckless representations about the

status of the Project and its anticipated completion date.

51. 217 Trust relied on those promises and representations in making alternative

living arrangements and incurred exorbitant costs for years as a result of the Vucetic Defendants

not honoring those promises and making those representations knowing that they were false.

52. The Vucetic Defendants exercised complete domination over the VIR Defendants

with respect to the Contract, the Project, and the Premises.

53. The Vucetic Defendants used that domination in furtherance of their repeated and

routine representations regarding the skill and ability of subcontractors, the timing of completion

of the Project, and the payments to the VIR Defendants and the subcontractors.

54. The Vucetic Defendants and/or VIR Defendants entered into the Contract for the

construction of the Premises as the alter ego of VIR Builders Inc. in order to induce 217 Trust to

enter into the Contract and to then conceal the multitude of reasons causing the Project to be

years behind schedule and massively over budget.

55. The Vucetic Defendants were integral to all of the aforementioned events in their

capacity as principals of VIR Builders Inc. and the VIR Defendants.

56. The Vucetic Defendants used the corporate form of VIR Builders Inc. and the VIR

Defendants to participate in the commission of a tort causing damages to 217 Trust.

57. Upon information and belief, the Vucetic Defendants failed to adhere to corporate

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formalities.

58. Upon information and belief, the Vucetic Defendants interchangeably use the VIR

Defendants’ names for purposes of, among other things, procuring insurance and accepting

payments and then transferring those payments between and among the Defendants and/or

subcontractors on this Project and/or other projects on which the Vucetic Defendants

simultaneously work.

59. There is such a unity of interest between the VIR Defendants and a degree of

control over the VIR Defendants by the Vucetic Defendants such that the VIR Defendants cannot

and should not be considered separate entities.

60. Upon information and belief, the VIR Defendants and VIR Builders Inc. share

common office space, addresses and telephone numbers both with each other and with the

Vucetic Defendants and the dealings between the Defendants and VIR Builders Inc. are not at

arm’s length.

61. As a result of Defendants’ negligence, 217 Trust sustained damages including

costs associated with the need to perform extra, additional and/or repair work; loss of

productivity; loss of use of the Premises; alternative living and travel expenses; and escalation in

costs of labor and materials.

62. As a direct and proximate result of the Vucetic Defendants’ conduct and their

abuse of the privilege of doing business in the corporate form, the corporate veil of VIR Builders

and the VIR Defendants should be pierced and the Vucetic Defendants should be held personally

liable for 217 Trust’s damages.

63. As a direct and proximate result of the Vucetic Defendants’ conduct, the corporate

identities of the VIR Defendants should be disregarded and the Vucetic Defendants should be

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held liable for the torts, acts and omissions, and misrepresentations of the Vucetic Defendants.

64. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ negligence, 217 Trust has

sustained and continue to sustain damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

AS AND FOR A THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

(Negligent Misrepresentation)

65. 217 Trust repeats and realleges the allegations set forth in each of the foregoing

paragraphs 1 through 64 as though set forth at length herein.

66. At all relevant times, Defendants, individually or in the aggregate, represented to

217 Trust that Defendants could and would serve as the general contractor in connection with the

Project.

67. Defendants knew, when they represented to 217 Trust that they could and would

serve as the general contractor, that 217 Trust would agree to enter into the Contract with

Defendants as opposed to some other general contractor.

68. 217 Trust relied on Defendants’ purported ability to serve as the general

contractor.

69. 217 Trust placed all of its trust and confidence in Defendants based on

Defendants’ representations and Defendants’ obligations under the Contract.

70. Defendants created and/or allowed 217 Trust to believe that Defendants created a

special relationship of trust and confidence which required Defendants to impart correct

information to 217 Trust.

71. 217 Trust relied on Defendants’ representations and statements and relied on

Defendants’ promise to fulfill their obligations under the Contract.

72. 217 Trust relied on Defendants’ representations and statements to their detriment.

73. As a result of the foregoing 217 Trust has been damaged in an amount to be

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determined at trial.

WHEREFORE, 217 Trust demands entry of judgment against Defendants, as follows:

(i) Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial but no less than

$2,000,000, which continues to accrue at the applicable interest rates, together with attorneys’

fees, costs and disbursements;

(ii) Special damages in an amount to be determined at trial but no less than

$3,000,000, which continues to accrue at the applicable interest rates, together with attorneys’

fees, costs and disbursements; and

(iii) Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: New York, New York

February 14, 2017
LINER LLP

By /s/ Jeffrey L. Schulman

Jeffrey L. Schulman
Liner LLP
18 East 41st Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
jschulman@linerlaw.com

-and-

Kirk A. Pasich (to be admitted pro hac vice)

1100 Glendon Avenue, 14th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3518
kpasich@linerlaw.com

Attorneys for Plaintiff

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VERIFICATION

Jeffrey L. Schulman, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice law in the State of New

York, affirms the following under penalty of perjury:

I am a Partner of Liner LLP, attorneys for the plaintiff herein. I have read the foregoing

Summons and Verified Complaint and know the contents thereof, and upon information and

belief your affirmant believes the matters therein alleged to be true. The reason this Verification

is made by your affirmant and not by plaintiff is that the plaintiff is a trust with a trustee that

resides in a county other than the one in which your affirmant maintains his offices. The source

of your affirmant’s information and the grounds of his belief are communications, papers, reports

and investigations contained in the file.

Dated: New York, New York

February 14, 2017

/s/ Jeffrey L. Schulman

Jeffrey L. Schulman

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