Residential builder gets sick a lot, then allegedly leaves and blocks his customers
Residential builder gets sick a lot, and also gets arrested a lot
Craft has a lot of problems with his customers and the law. One customer told FOX 2 that he is not welcomed back into their community, as they want him to "stop ripping people off." Adrienne hired Craft to build a small addition to her White Lake home with his company, Quality Craft Construction. She was told he had a license; his company was listed as "Quality Craft Construction." Adrienne and her husband, Matt, gave Craft $3,500 to get the job started.
(FOX 2) - Johnny Craft has a tendency to get sick and injured a lot, but according to officials, he also gets arrested a lot.
The backstory:
Craft has a lot of problems with his customers and the law. One customer told FOX 2 that he is not welcomed back into their community, as they want him to "stop ripping people off."
Adrienne hired Craft to build a small addition to her White Lake home with his company, Quality Craft Construction. She was told he had a license; his company was listed as "Quality Craft Construction."
Adrienne and her husband, Matt, gave Craft $3,500 to get the job started.
"He came out well, two days. The second day he got hurt," she said.
Craft left the job saying something fell on him, and that was as far as the project got. Adrienne tried to reach Craft, but he never came back, claiming he was too hurt.
"That's his text to Deanna?" asked Wolcheck.
"Yeah, stating that he's at her house in the morning and wanted to be let in the house to work, and this was two days after he told me he was injured," she said.
Apparently, Johnny was too hurt to work on Adrienne's addition but not too hurt to take on Deanna's basement remodel, a much more lucrative job.
"He told this other family that he was out of commission. He couldn't work any longer," Deanna said.
Deanna and Adrienne did not know each other and found this out long after they'd both been burned by Craft.
Deanna's basement remodeling was a disaster from the start and says Craft tore out the ceiling in her son's bedroom and didn't come back.
Deanna's husband, Juan, says Craft's communication clammed up.
"I would ask him a question, and he would ignore it or answer maybe five days later," he said.
Deanna and Juan had forked over more than $20,000 to Craft but that money seemed to just have gone down the drain.
"He went from professional to agitated. Angry that I was questioning why he wasn't here," Deanna said.
Meanwhile, Adrienne had to hire someone else to finish her project as Craft claimed he'd be out with his injury for a long time. But according to her, Craft blocked both her and her husband's phone numbers.
That's when Adrienne saw multiple Facebook public forum posts about Craft by Deanna, and discovered that while Johnny was claiming to be too hurt to work for Adrienne, he was at her house two days later working.
By the numbers:
After comparing texts and contracts, both Adrienne and Deanna ended up firing Craft.
He responded by suing both of them, claiming breach of contract. But then, according to Adrienne, Craft did not show up for either of their court dates.
Adrienne and Matt Slicker counter-sued and won a $3,500 judgment. Deanna and Juan also filed a suit against Craft and were awarded a $70,000 judgment.
Who is Johnny Craft?:
According to the Michigan State Police (MSP), he is a guy who's been arrested at least ten times, convicted of:
- Felony fleeing a police officer
- Felony assaulting a police officer
- Misdemeanor stalking
- Domestic violence
- Felony drunk driving, the third offense in 7 years in 2018.
The Secretary of State's office revoked his driver's license and, according to state licensing records, Craft nor his business have a builder's license.
But that's not stopping Johnny.
Big picture view:
A man named Chris needed a roofer and hired Craft for work.
"My dad thought he seemed like an all right guy," he said. "I trusted my dad's judgment. I guess I need to watch my dad's judgment just a little bit next time."
The job was to tear off the old shingles and put on a new roof. Craft got to work, until Chris said he threw out his shoulder on the job.
"And then he got sick, or so he said, to the point he was on the roof coughing," Chris said. "I don't know if it was real or not."
Immediately, the roof Craft put on started leaking and when Chris went into his attic, he found mold and water damage.
It turns out Craft didn't tear off most of the roof and just nailed new shingles over the old. Craft allegedly got paid and vanished, and like Adrienne and Deanna, he blocked Chris' number.
Timeline:
Craft went off the radar for a while, but now he's back, putting up a new ad and even in that he seems to be making excuses. FOX 2 also saw Craft, with a revoked driver's license, "driving" up to a house in Waterford to try to sell a remodeling job.
When FOX 2's Rob Wolcheck went to talk with Craft, we were met with no comment.
Craft has a warrant for his arrest for posing as a residential builder. When asked about this information, Craft said he had never heard of it.
FOX 2 did a new check on Craft and the Secretary of State said "his license has been revoked, and he is not permitted to drive."