Wichita-area construction contractor who was paid for work he didn’t do owes $106,000

A Wichita area construction contractor has been ordered to pay three customers as well as civil penalties after ignoring two consumer protection lawsuits.

District Attorney Marc Bennett announced in a news release that Christopher Goodman, who did business as Custom Carpentry, has been ordered to pay more than $106,000. One default judgment was entered in Sedgwick County District Court this week and a previous one was entered last summer.

Court records show that in the more recent case, Goodman was ordered to pay two customers a combined $6,028 in restitution. The contractor from Derby was also ordered by Judge Deborah Hernandez Mitchell to pay $2,000 in civil fines and penalties — $1,000 for each violation of consumer protection law — and $32.55 in investigative fees and expenses.

The prosecutor’s office had alleged Goodman, of Derby, was paid for work he never started.

One customer from Sumner County is to get $4,615.50 in damages. The homeowner paid Goodman half of the estimated cost to build a new fence, but he never started the work or refunded the customer. She filed a complaint about five months later.

A second customer from Butler County is to get $1,412.50 in damages. She wrote a check for half of the estimated cost to replace part of her fence, repair a gate and add a rail to stairs. Goodman never started the work on the project and didn’t provide a refund. The El Dorado woman filed a petition in small claims court about five months later.

The judge found that the allegations against Goodman were “deceptive and/or unconscionable acts” that violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

The district attorney’s office had originally requested $20,000 in civil fines and penalties and an additional enhanced civil penalty of up to $20,000 because the victims were elderly.

The case is the second where Goodman failed to respond to a consumer protection lawsuit.

Court records show Goodman still owes the full amount of a $98,300.68 judgment that was entered against him last year. He was ordered to pay about $18,120 in restitution, about $181 in investigative fees and expenses and $80,000 in civil fines and penalties for violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act — or $20,000 per violation.

The county attorney’s office alleged in that case a disabled, elderly woman in Wichita paid him $13,180 for a new fence, which was completed. But several other projects were either never completed or never started.

The woman paid about $7,948 for a remodel of a bedroom and closet and approximately $7,684 for a remodel of a bathroom that were never completed. She also paid about $4,408 for new flooring on the first floor, about $3,563 for new flooring on the second floor and about $5,342 toward new baseboards and crown molding, but work was never started on those projects.

Investigators found that Goodman was not a licensed electrician or a licensed plumber, that he did not pull a permit for the job and that no inspections were requested through local code enforcement.

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 9:40 PM.