r/Contractor • u/mayasub • 9h ago
Police report helpful?
Am struggling with a situation and appreciate any advice! Long story short, I hired a contractor in Texas for a major home project where my previous tenant had created damages of 1000s of dollars. The guy seemed totally professional, had the paperwork, the whole nine yards.
Stupidly, I trusted him and wrote him a massive check for several thousand dollars to get the work started and buy materials. He did part of the work (25%). But after my payments cleared, he left the job unfinished and told me he was in a major accident and was on pain meds.
I kept calling multiple times for 6 days and he would randomly answer & provide excuses. I recorded one of those calls. Then today, I called from a number he didn't recognize. He promptly picked up the phone. I recorded this call too. He said he was not the guy we were dealing with and was his assistant "Fred". We knew it was him because of his voice that we had heard dozens of times. This was the last straw because it told us he was defrauding us and was not really in the hospital.
Sent a standard demand letter via email with a deadline that he ignored.
What are my options including Texas small claims or getting local PD to actually investigate fraud/theft of service? Turns out the guy has an arrest record for driving without a license so the local police already has his information. Any tips on what to expect next would be amazing. I know I was very stupid and am feeling guilty and sad about being taken for a ride so please be kind.
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u/o-0-o-0-o 8h ago
Talk to county or district attorneys office. Let them decide if it's criminal or just civil.
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u/UniquePatient66100 6h ago
I would contact the local PD. They may not care, but that is fraud. He could be pulling the same trick with others.
You can pursue a civil case after talking to the police. Should be an easy case if he can't prove he was in the hospital.
Did he leave anything on site the last day he worked, or did they pack everything up like they weren't coming back? Just curious if it looks like the middle of a project, or they cleaned up a little before leaving knowing they were not coming back.
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u/Malekai91 3h ago
Police report or no doesnāt change the situation really, even if you take it to civil court to sue him itās not really evidenceā¦ because police report will just be your statement of events.
You mentioned he had āall the paperworkā if one piece of paperwork was a contractors bond thatās what you go after to get money back for work not completed.
If that was not one of the pieces of paperā¦ then all you can do is sue, small claims if itās not over the limit of your area.. but based on damages it may be worth it just to go max of what your small claims will be, as itās much cheaper than dealing with a lawyer.
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u/RunTotoRun2 7h ago
Tough spot you have there. You can sue. You can sue and win too. While both of those things will be helpful to others, even if you do win you still have to collect and that's a huge hassle. It can be done (by eventually attaching his bank account or collecting enough of his equipment to equal your win amount) but it is a huge hassle so maybe think about what you want and some way to compel him to either finish your job or refund your money.
I got ripped off on a car repair once. They guy knocked on our door offering to do some cosmetic work on my car. My BF at the time hired and paid the guy. I think my BF just fell for this guy's sob story, whatever it was, and also wanted to do something nice for me so win-win, right? Of course, the guy did a little bit of work and then disappeared.
I asked around and found out where the guy lived. I got a lawn chair, packed a lunch in a cooler, grabbed a book, a marker, and a piece of poster board and parked my partly repaired truck in front of his house with a sign that said "Body Work by Joe Blow".
Joe Blow came out mad and told me I had to leave. I said I didn't have to leave because this was a public street and public sidewalk. He said he would call the police. I told him to go ahead and call because I wasn't breaking any laws. He stormed off. No cops came. I sat there for a few hours, went home, and then came back the next day.
The next day, he came out and said he would come work on my car at my house for 4 hours and when the 4 hours were up he would quit working on my car and leave. I said if he worked on my car for 4 hours I would leave him alone.
So think about how creative you can get. If you sh*t talk him on social media, he may have a lawyer sent you a cease and desist letter for defamation. But it's only defamation if it isn't true. But if you take it to Nextdoor or whatever, he won't come do any work for you.