Business ProfileforUniversal Skyline Construction LLC

Beware! My wife used Thumbtack to find a contractor to remodel a basement & bathrooms. On September 19, the gentleman identified by the name of Elisha F****** came into our house and we showed him around. We discussed ideas & costs & agreed to sign a contract with him so his company, Universal Skyline Construction LLC could do the project. He requested that we put down a deposit of $20000 upon signature of the contract. After submitting the contract to us for signature, he came back the following day, September 15 to receive the deposit check of $20000. Check was cashed the same day he received it. When asked about starting date, he said October 3 because he will need to pull a permit, which could take up to 3 weeks. A few days prior to October 3, having never heard from him, my wife contacted him. He said he spoke with the building inspectors and "we should be good" but will need to come to our house to take measurements in order to submit the application. On October 11, he showed up. Skeptical, I discussed doing the project with or without permit. A friend advised me not to without permit. We ended up losing our son. On October 19, we informed him about our decision to put a hold on the project under the circumstances. We asked him to return our deposit now needed for funeral. He said OK but in order to expedite the process we have to cancel the first contract & sign a new one. Later on, he forwarded to us a receipt email from the Building Department showing he just submitted the permit application. We insisted to Cancel the contract and get our money back. He sent us the new contract to sign. However, he maliciously added "$20000 deposit already paid non-refundable", which was not in the initial contract. We confronted him on his malicious attempt to steal our deposit. Ever since that day, October 19, he's stopped responding to our calls or text messages and disappeared with our deposit. Now we have to rely on the Court to get our money back. *** * ******