Pro Trades

Review: I hired [redacted] owner of Pro Trades LLC, to paint the interior of my home for $6200. I signed a contract in which 50% was due upon hiring him and 50% due upon completion. He was contracted to strip the wallpaper in my halway, master bedroom, upstairs bathroom, patch some holes in the plaster walls, then spackle, sand and paint my three bedrooms and closets, my upstairs bathroom, my hallway, living room, dining room and kitchen. After removing all of the wallpaper in my upstairs, we met at my house on March 19, 2014 in which we discussed the state of my master bedroom walls after the wallpaper had been removed. They were a little rough, but nothing major. We agreed that no one would notice in the hallway as it wasn't that bad and that I would like him to skim coat my master bedroom, but leaving the bathroom rough to put textured paint on the walls and make it look like it was on purpose. He wanted to charge $1600 to do the three, but we agreed it would only be the bedroom. I have pictures and text messages to corroborate this, however he did all three anyway (and the bathroom looks worse now because it was never finished). The trim was never spackled or sanded in the ENTIRE upstairs and he claimed he "thought I would like it." It looks horrible. He demanded to be paid for the entire $1600 right then and there and ceased to continue work until he had been paid. I was stuck as my contractor said unless I want to take him to court over $800 I was screwed. My contractor is controlling the funds of my 203(k) loan and he paid him 80% of the initial contract as well, since [redacted] claimed that he didn't have enough money to buy the paint and pay his guys to finish the bathroom and the entire downstairs. And that was the last I heard from him. He has been flaking on my contractor for one month and is now ignoring all communications. He never came back to paint the bathroom, fix the trim or do ANY of the downstairs. At most he's done 60% of the work and has been paid 80% plus $1600. SCAMMERDesired Settlement: For the past couple months I was placated in just having [redacted] coming back to fix my trim and doors upstairs and paint my downstairs, but after a month of skirting mine and my contractor's phone calls and now just blantantly ignoring them, I don't trust him to finish the work, let alone correctly or in a timely fashion without trying to scam more money out of me. I want 20% overpayment (allowing for him to keep 60%) so $1240 plus the $800 he managed to swindle from me = $2040.