JDA Construction, Inc.

Review: We hired JDA Construction Inc. on Nov.6,2013 to build an attached garage. The owner, John Hahn, gave us an estimate of about 3-4 weeks for its completion. We paid him $7,500 at signing the contract and the next payment of $7,500 was supposed to be due after the foundation was done,the last $5000 after the completion. However,he asked for money earlier as he "had to pay his employees" and "money was tight around the house for Thanksgiving." We paid him some extra money and then the remaining balance after the foundation was done. After that he kept asking for more money and we obliged since he had constant financial problems and we needed the project completed. We trusted him as he lives in the neighborhood. After he got everything except $87.05, he started often showing to work only for a couple of hours a day or not at all, sometimes leaving just one employee (whom he said he did not trust to work alone) or simply nobody at all, while he apparently was working on other jobs that were bringing him money. He was not here when they poured concrete so the floor drain was not made; the whole construction was done mostly without his supervision and has many problems, so much so that it did not pass the last inspection. He also hung drywall BEFORE having the rough-in electrical and construction inspection done, plus worked with an unlicensed electrician. After 2.5 months of on and off work, we requested that he finish by Jan. 27,2014 or return our last payment of $4912.95 that was really supposed to be paid after the completion. He signed the agreement but neither finished nor refunded us money. We gave him two more chances to finish it and he failed. His excuses range from sickness to being broke and having to make money since there is no money coming from us, or no excuses are offered. Now, after 3.5 months we need to hire other people to finally have this project done and asked him once again for returning our money or finishing. He stopped coming to work and did not return our money either.Desired Settlement: We want to receive the money ($4,912.95)that he took from us and that was supposed to be paid after the completion. We gave him MANY chances to finish it and he promised to do it every time but made NO effort to even work here every day. He has not showed up here at all for the past 4 days and did not contact us to explain his absence either. We cannot wait any longer and need money to hire others to have this project done.