BROWN DEER, Wis. — A Brown Deer man is warning others about a local roofer who he says took a $7,000 down payment to fix his roof, then blocked him on social media and never finished the job.
J. Wolf trusted Oscar Scott from Oscar and Sons Roofing — someone he had known for almost 40 years and considered a friend.
"We really wanna get the word out that this guy is bad news. If he's done it to us, he's probably doing it to other people," Wolf said.
Wolf had used Scott's services before when shingles blew off his roof. Scott even told him at the time that he would need a new roof in a couple of years and to call him for a good price.
When Wolf's roof needed replacement in February, he called Scott to get the job done.
"He came, we filled out a contract, and we went and picked out the shingles and everything like that," Wolf said.
The contract outlined the work Scott would complete starting March 1 and finishing March 7. The project's total cost was $14,000, according to the contract.
"We gave him a half-down deposit. So it was supposed to be half down up front, so we could get all the materials and the dumpster, and then half once the job was all finished," Wolf added.
Wolf paid Scott $7,000 in cash for the down payment, and then Scott started delaying the job. Things got worse from there.
Watch: Brown Deer man warns others after roofer takes $7,000 payment and disappears
"We realized his social media was taken down, or we were blocked. We started getting really worried about that. When he started making all the excuses, started getting even more worried about that. We went to Menards and found out there was no materials ordered like he said there were," Wolf explained.
Concerned that something might have happened to his friend, Wolf sent another message.
"I sent him a message saying, 'Hey Oscar, this has gone on too long, if you don't respond to us, we're going to take the next legal steps,' and still never heard anything back from him," Wolf said.
Wolf said he never heard back, so he reported the incident to Brown Deer Police, who have referred theft by fraud charges to the district attorney's office. A spokesperson with the DA's office says the case is still under review.
Wolf also sued Scott for the $7,000 down payment in small claims court. On Monday, a judge ruled in Wolf's favor after Scott failed to show up in court.
"We had to go, and we had to get a whole new roof, so we had to find a whole new company to come out and do the roof. The price was obviously more than what we were going to pay for our friends and family rate," Wolf said.
Wolf still has not heard from Scott.
TMJ4 News' Jenna Rae talked with Scott on the phone Tuesday. When she told him why she was calling, he said, "we already went to court for that" and then hung up.
Rae tried calling Scott back several times, but the call kept going to voicemail. Rae also sent Scott several text messages asking for his side of the story. He never responded.
"Oh, I mean it hurts, it really kinda shakes you to your core," Wolf said. "It feels violated and makes you just feel like it breaks your trust, and it really hurts."
"Do you ever think you're gonna get your money back?" Rae asked.
"We honestly don't think we'll get our money back. You can't get nothing from nothing," Wolf said.
Wolf's message to other consumers is clear.
"If he did it to us, he did it to a friend; he can very easily do it to someone else," Wolf added.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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