Avon contractor accused of taking money, not completing work

AVON, Ohio (WOIO) - Several Northeast Ohio homeowners are left in limbo. They claim they dished out money to a local contractor who is accused of doing a poor job and leaving behind unfinished work.

“It was not good. I couldn’t sleep. I lost 20 pounds randomly from it,” said Mohamed Muntaser.

Muntaser fell into deep depression after plans for his dream home fell apart. He claims Jeff Crawford ripped him off. Crawford owns Cleveland Custom Homes.

According to Muntaser, Crawford walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“He’s a crook,” said Muntaser

Muntaser chose Crawford and his company because they built Muntaser’s brother’s home during COVID.

“It went smoothly then. No problems. He actually finished the house in six months,” said Muntaser.

Muntaser signed a contract in April 2022. He says Crawford immediately asked for the down payment of $97,000.

“What was odd was that wasn’t the down payment from the bank, usually you take the down payment from the bank, so he took an extra $97,000 and he drew up a paper for me and one for the bank,” said Muntaser.

In November 2022, Crawford broke ground.

“The foundation was poured, and the framework went up. It felt like it was going fast, and we are like okay that’s good,” said Muntaser. “It was more so after the framework, that’s where it slowed down. It took extra-long to get a hold of anyone.”

“It was like a one whole month of nothing being done, then something, then nothing. There were rips and damages throughout the house,” said Muntaser.

Muntaser began to look for a new builder at the end of July. By then, he was out of $500,000.

“I even have a text that says hey I used your dad’s signature to release money to myself. So that’s how he got majority of the money,” said Muntaser.

19 News Investigates learned Muntaser wasn’t the only unhappy customer due to bad business with Crawford. In two separate complaints, one homeowner loss $595,000 and another person losing $613,000.

We talked to Cleveland’s Better Business Bureau. People started sending in complaints August 2023.

“Certainly we realize something may be going on,” said Ericka Dilworth.

Dilworth is the Director of Operations. She says they did talk to Crawford, but nothing was ever solved.

“He said he was aware of the complaints and at one point he did say he would address the complaints with us, but that did not happen,” said Dilworth.

Dilworth also tells 19 News Investigates that Crawford has a number of LLCs.

“This gentleman had several businesses that he had created through the secretary of state with very similar sounding names,” said Dilworth.

19 News Investigates went to his home. The garage door was open when we arrived. We knocked and no answer. The garage door closed when we left the property.

We called and left a message. We texted and he did not reply.

Dilworth has a message for anyone looking for a contractor.

“Do your homework before you give your money to any contractor and if you can in any situation always pay by credit card so there is some additional protection,” said Muntaser.

We also interviewed a subcontractor who says Crawford owes him $65,000. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed civil suit against Crawford on behalf of these customers. We will break down the lawsuit in part two of this series.