Several Valley families are speaking out, frustrated after they paid tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars for home remodel projects that were never finished.
"We thought we did our due diligence," Leticia explained. She and her husband, Joseph, say they researched and leaned on recommendations before signing a contract with Mat Truman, owner of Truman Construction and Design.
Terry and Peter said they did the same, researching through the Registrar of Contractors to see if there were any complaints against the company.
Austin and Gabby said they felt good about their choice after learning, as Austin explained, "he's licensed, bonded, insured, all the things you look for when you're going to pick a contractor."
But Eileen said the experience has left her family reeling, saying, "we feel like we lost a year of our life just dealing with him."
Each family had a vision for their home.
For Joseph and Leticia, after a difficult medical diagnosis, they wanted their space to have a fresh start and space to share with their family.
Austin and Gabby hoped to bring new life to Austin's grandfather's original home. That way it could stay in the family, but with an upgrade for modern life.
Eileen and her family planned a major upgrade to fix parts of their home that weren't working for their lives.
Terry and Peter bought a house that needed some TLC, diligently saving and planning to make it into their dream home.
The families contracted with Truman Construction and Design for their respective projects. At first, they say things went well. However, each family says, that at some point, their project stalled and communication became more difficult.
"He stopped coming to meetings on site," Joseph said of Truman, the company owner.
Austin and Gabby said there was always an excuse as to why work wasn't being done, as well as an ask for more money.
"He keeps hitting us up for more checks. The whole time it was like, 'I need a check. We're...getting this going. I need to get it. I need a check for that. I'm getting this going. I need a check for that,'" Austin explained.
Meanwhile, Terry and Peter said they wrote checks for specific items they never saw.
"We wrote him a check to pay for the windows and doors. He said, 'great, they're going to be delivered.' They were never delivered," said Terry.
Worried about her project, Eileen asked Truman for answers.
"We were supposed to have a phone meeting, because I started getting some red flags, and then he sent us a text, or an email, saying, 'We don't need to meet. I'm planning to file for bankruptcy,'" Eileen said.
As of today, the Let ABC15 Know team has not found a bankruptcy filing for Truman or Truman Construction and Design.
We reached out to the company and Truman by phone and email trying to learn more about why the projects stalled and what could be done for the families. We have not received an answer.
In the meantime, the families are out after paying anywhere from an estimated $60,000 to $430,000 - each! -with their dream homes left in disrepair. For some families, this has spanned years, adding stress to all facets of their lives.
Leticia and Joseph said they are paying multiple mortgages because their family needed a place to live as their home remodel left parts of their house open to the elements.
As for Austin and Gabby, they're in the same boat. Their home remodel never made it past demolition, as Gabby explains, "there's not a home there. It's just ripped-up shreds."
Unable to continue paying rent and a mortgage, Terry and Peter have taken to working on their home to enclose it so they can stay there. However, they've learned some of the work completed by Truman has to be redone.
"We later learned that the drywall was done without a permit. He failed to run all the electrical in the walls prior to drywall," Terry explained with frustration.
Joseph pointed out concerns about their home's structural integrity, saying, "all the windows that they put in and the beams that they put in, none of this was submitted to the city, so there's no architectural drawing for what went in here."
Now, the families are fighting to be made whole, filing with the ROC for abandonment, but it hasn't been easy. Several families also filed in court. After that, they received a letter dismissing the ROC case while litigation is underway.
The families tell us, it has left them feeling "stuck" and without an advocate on their side.
Recently, there has been some action. As of late August, Truman Construction and Design's contracting license with the ROC has been revoked. The ROC tells us it was due to a failure to pay civil penalties.
While that's a step towards protecting potential future customers, these families are left with the same big question: where did their money go?
As Leticia explains, the families are also searching for ways to move forward.
"We've essentially been misplaced and are now trying to make our way back to our home."
