Complaints of “broken promises” and delayed payments resulted in a 30-day window for a local contractor to pay his bills or risk losing his license.

Philip Cunningham, owner of Reliable Restoration Co., has 30 days to pay fees that are owed to sub-contractors or his license will be revoked indefinitely, the contractor’s licensing board decided Wednesday.

Two complaints have been filed against the company in the past six months, both alleging the company did not pay its sub-contractors. The complaints said Cunningham owed a total of about $16,000.

Paul Miller of Miller Construction filed a complaint saying he was not paid for three jobs he completed for Reliable Restoration, worth a total of close to $15,000.

“He basically told me the same thing, that he’d pay me, he’d pay me, he’d pay me,” Miller said. “I just don’t want it happening to somebody else.”

Amy and Daniel Pike (Daniel Pike is the Daily News’ sports editor) filed a complaint after American Plumbing, a sub-contractor that worked on a project with Reliable Restoration at the Pikes’ home, put a lien against their property for lack of payment. The Pikes reviewed a contract and discovered it was Reliable Restoration’s responsibility to pay the sub-contractor.

Greg Lucas, a representative of American Plumbing, testified that Cunningham repeatedly promised to pay his company, but has not yet delivered. Reliable Restoration owes him for three other projects aside from the Pike project, he said.

“All I get is broken promises and harsh words,” he said. “It got nasty, so I said I’ve had enough.”

Lucas said he plans to “ride the liens out” until he gets paid.

Both Lucas and Miller said they have worked on previous projects with Reliable Restoration and had no problems.

Cunningham acknowledged he owes the contractors money and that he has not been able to pay them yet. But Cunningham is experiencing a similar problem with receiving payments, which is why he does not yet have the money to pay them, he said.

The company recently saw a massive drop in sales and revenue, and it is still recovering, Cunningham said.

“Sales went into one-fourth of what they’ve been running and we went into serious problems,” he said. “I’ve had several thousand dollars embezzled, and I have every intention of getting these people taken care of. Whether you revoke my license or not, these people will get paid.”

Cunningham said he is still waiting for clients to pay his company for its work, and he expects that money to start coming in next week. Cunningham said his company does not put liens on customers’ property and he has lost thousands of dollars to unpaid jobs.

“I have lost many sleepless days because I owe them money, because people owe me money, because I’ve had money taken from me,” he said. “But I don’t make any bones that I owe them money. I make no bones at all.”

After discussing the testimonies, the board decided to give Cunningham 30 days to pay the complainants, after which his contractor’s license will be put on a one-year probation. If payments are not made in 30 days, Cunningham’s license will be revoked and he will be prohibited from doing contract work in Warren County.

“I think it’s a good decision,” Cunningham said after the hearing.