Home remodeler accused of taking deposit for work in Pine that was never completed

Northern Regional Police accused a home improvement contractor from Ohio of taking a $2,700 down payment in May to remodel a basement in Pine and never showing up to do the work.

Joseph Wayne “Joey” Ward, 32, of West Manor Avenue in Youngstown was charged Sept. 6 with felony counts of home improvement fraud and theft by deception.

He was released from custody on a $10,000 unsecured bond to await a preliminary hearing before District Judge William Wagner on Nov. 1, according to court records.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint charging Ward that in July the owner of a home along West Wild Cherry Drive reported that Ward was hired on May 31 to remodel a basement for $6,800 and was paid $2,760 by check to cover the cost of materials.

About two weeks later, Ward contacted the homeowner and told him the materials that were ordered were not on the truck scheduled to deliver them.

The homeowner asked for his deposit to be refunded and Ward told him he would receive a check within three business days, the complaint said.

After the check never arrived and the homeowner could not contact Ward, he tried to resolve the issue through Thumbtack, which is the the website used to find Ward Construction, the complaint said.

The company’s solution center was unable to get Ward to refund the homeowner’s money, the complaint said.

When Northern Regional Police tried to track down Ward, they learned that he was arrested on July 23 and being detained in the Portage County Jail “for a similar case of contractor fraud that took place in Ohio,” according to the complaint.

Police also were able to use the license plate on Ward’s GMC pickup truck to determine that he was driving in the area along Route 228 and Pittsburgh Street in Adams Township as recently as July 10, the complaint said.

Investigators got a search warrant for the homeowner’s financial records with PNC Bank, which showed that Ward used his Ohio drivers license for ID to cash the check at a branch in Cranberry.

Ohio court records show that Ward was charged with a count of felony theft by Canfield police on Nov. 8, 2021. Ward was ordered to stand trial but it has not yet been held, records show.

Court records show that Ward was found guilty on Feb. 8 of a felony count of grand theft filed by Canfield police in January 2022. He is still awaiting sentencing, according to the docket.

A listing on the HomeAdvisor website for Southern Style Renovations, which is operated by Ward, show that it has a rating of 1.5 stars out of 5 and that seven of the 10 verified reviews detailed instances in which he took money for work that was not completed.

The company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which assigned it an “F” rating for failing to respond to customer complaints.