Complaint Review: Encore Builders LLC

I contracted with John Johnson, owner of Encore Builders for concrete work that totalled around $100K. He kept pressing me for the deposit eventhough he would not be starting for another month. I gave him a $19k check and he signed a conditional lien release. 

When it was time to start work he told me that he could not perform the work and the deposit would be mailed immediately.  We played "check is in the mail" game for 2 weeks and then he stopped responding to emails and calls. 

I have now filed a lawsuit for damages.  I see he has a house for sale but has been on the market for awhile and continues to drop the price.  It seems he is financially in trouble and used by deposit to buy time.  I tried to get him to be open and his honest about this situation but he chose to take the path of other shady contractors.