Complaint Review: CTR Remodeling / Scott Overstreet - Westmont Select State/Province

I met with Scott Overstreet and his brother Harry Overstreet in Downers Grove in November, 2012.

They wanted to discuss a business venture that they were going to be involved and wanted to know if I needed work.

I did at the time, so I met with them to listen to what they had to say.

They explained how they had been working for a company (B) who was outsourced through a bigger construction company (Company A), that worked hand in hand with a large and very well-known bank.

Their job was to rehab foreclosed houses and get them compliant, so the bank could sell them off.

Scott, Harry and their “crew” of workers were the labor on these jobs. They would get a work order for a  house, with a list of things that needed to be done and a budget. Go in, complete the list, hand in the receipts, the paperwork and photos of the work and get a check cut.

Scott had told me that Company A had approached him and his crew and said that they were going to cut out Company B and that if Scott and his crew could handle the work, they would give it directly to him.

So Scott told me that he and Harry were going to be leaving that company and starting their own company. The work would be non-stop and guaranteed from day 1.

It sounded like a great deal for everyone and I agreed to come onboard as a driver/labor worker and learn how the business was run.

We also discussed how that with my business background and online business knowledge (website building, marketing, advertising, etc) , that I could be a huge asset to the new company and a partnership might be an option in the future, after things got going. It sounded like a great opportunity for me.

For about a month and a half, they kind of strung me along, telling me it was taking some time to get going. I kept in touch with them and told them to let me know when they wanted me to start.

In February Scott contact me again and wanted to meet for Breakfast to discuss the business again. When I met with him he was talking about how great it was all going. He showed me a handful of contracts that he had with Company A and the dollar amounts for each. It looked as though it was booming and they were ready for me to come onboard. He was really talking more about a partnership, but I told him I would have to do the work for a couple of jobs and understand the ins and outs of the business first, before I would want to be a full blown partner.

He told me that was fine and that I could start on the next job. Getting ready to go back to work, I had to buy work clothes, boots, as well as interview and hire a nanny, because it was going to be full-time, daily work, and I have 2 small kids.

Before I started Scott called me and said that he was in a jam with his last job and needed to borrow some money. He said that they needed money to finish this previous job and get paid before they could start the new one, I was to be working on.

He again assured me that the money would be there as soon as the job ended and he would give me a huge return on the money if I floated him a loan for a few days.

I had told him that this was a loan and he would need to sign a personal loan agreement for it and promise to pay the loan back within the week.

I met him at a building materials company and actually paid for the items that he needed.

A few days later, he said they were still running behind and could use me to finish the job, if I wanted to start early.

Which I did. While we were on the job, he needed me to get more materials because they were running out and were tapped. Which I did. A few hundred more dollars. Again, I was promised a bonus payback and I went to Menards to purchase the materials directly.

Within the next week, while we were waiting on our check, we did 2 other jobs. Both if which required me to lend more money for gas and materials. At this point they said they were picking up the check by the weekend.

Then there was a delay because one of the houses they were working on, got robbed and there was a police report and an investigation.  So there was going to be a delay. (The day I worked, is the day the officer came out to do the police report.)

Well, the weekend came and went and, I was not getting calls back. I was messaging Harry the whole time and he was giving me story after story about why they were not getting paid.

Eventually after months of trying, I have gotten no answers to my texts, phone calls or messages.

I am out 3 day’s pay, plus about $2100 of materials I paid for.

I kept all my receipts and I have emails, texts, Facebook messages that back up my whole story.

They are all a bunch of thieves and scam artists.

In the end, the way this is all run seems totally shady. It sounds like the bank and Company A are getting government money for these foreclosures and then ripping people off left and right, then all these sub-contractors are doing the same to the laborers. Someone should really look into the whole thing.