ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park couple says that they are out more $100,000 and are living in shambles after they claim a Frankfort contractor ghosted them partway through a renovation project, turning their plans for a dream home into a nightmare that has no end in sight.
Jim and Jessica Jordan are working with local authorities to seek criminal charges against Jeff Battistoni after the couple maintains that he deserted the $185,000 project three months in, leaving them to deal with a half-dozen sub-contractors pressuring them to pay for work that was completed, but that workers maintain was never paid for after they said the contractor’s checks bounced.
The Jordans told Patch this week that two months after they provided Battistoni with a $60,000 deposit — including $30,000 in cash — to begin work on improving their home, the contractor disappeared, claiming that his former business partner, Tom Whited, drained their company’s bank account, leaving him with nothing.
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Battistoni did not respond to a voicemail left for him by Patch on Thursday afternoon.
Now, they say their attempts to reach Battistoni are being blocked as they continue to live in limbo and are left to clean up the mess. What was to have been a 12- to 16-week job that was slated to be done in June when the couple welcomed their third child remains a stressful day-to-day existence dealing with threats to have liens placed on their home — all because they say Battistoni claims to have run out of money.
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What’s worse, the Jordans say, this isn’t the first time Battistoni has followed a similar script.
“We spent a lot of money trying to create a dream home for our family and this contractor has turned our dreams into a nightmare by leaving us with an unfinished product,” Jessica Jordan told Patch on Wednesday. “This has caused a tremendous amount of heartache and tension for my whole family.”
And at least for now, there’s no telling how long that will last.
The Jordans signed a contract with Battistoni in February after the contractor came recommended by one of Jim Jordan’s best friends. The friend had worked with Battistoni in construction and said that he had even done a project for his mother. The couple looked into Battistoni on Google and said they didn’t find any negative reviews of his work, which prompted them to move ahead with the project.
Battistoni had come in with the lowest bid for the project, which was to include building an addition to their home. In addition, the project was set to include an open-concept remodeling of the home’s kitchen and living room.
The project was estimated to take 12 to 16 weeks and Battistoni said he hoped to have the job completed by Mother’s Day, a few weeks before the Jordans were to welcome a new son, adding to their family. However, the project was immediately delayed after crews began demolition of the couple’s kitchen and ripped the roof off the house to begin the addition, which would have given the home another bedroom.
Jim Jordan said he wasn’t initially worried about the delays, understanding that Whitestone Properties was a small operation. But before long, the couple says that Battistoni began asking for more money beyond the $30,000 that the Jordans had put down upfront.
Based on Jim Jordan’s friend’s recommendation and Battistoni’s personable nature, the couple never thought twice about continuing to fund the project.
“We trusted him — you need more money, sure,” Jessica Jordan told Patch. “You need more money for supplies? Sure. Oh, this is on back-order? OK. ‘I need to pay my employees.’ He gave us an excuse for everything that he requested more cash for.”
But before long, the excuses grew tired, the couple says.
Most of the communication between the Jordans and Battistoni took place over the phone or via text message, Jim Jordan said. But as up to six sub-contractors Battistoni had hired to work on the house continued, Battistoni claimed in a text message that his business partner, Whited, had drained the company’s bank account, leaving him with nothing.
Jim Jordan said that Battistoni promised to make things right. He said that he would obtain a loan to cover the amount that had supposedly been stolen. But then, Jim Jordan says further delays continued. He says Battistoni claimed rather than the loan check being deposited into his account, it was being mailed, creating a 10-day delay. He then said that the check had been deposited but that due to the size of the check, the bank had put a 10-day hold on it.
After waiting for another 10 days, the Jordans were told that Battistoni was being charged criminally after a complaint was filed by his former business partner, which led authorities to freeze his account.
Two months after the excuses started, Battistoni told the Jordans that he didn’t have the money to finish the project.
“Work was still being done and so we never figured there was an issue,” Jim Jordan told Patch on Wednesday, adding, “I never thought the guy wasn’t on the up-and-up.”
But by then, Jessica Jordan says, she had reached a different conclusion.
“He was more a BS’er and a schmoozer than anything,” Jessica Jordan said. “He basically sat down and said he was our friend.”
The Jordans said they received an invitation to Battistoni’s Frankfort home so they could see a new front door that he had just installed that he got from the same sub-contractor that would provide the Orland Park couple with a new door.
Jim Jordan says that Battistoni boasted that he was doing well enough to take his entire blended family of nine kids and five kids on a cruise. But now, between the work that Battistoni was having done on his own home and the cruise, the Jordans figure that the money being used to cover the contractor’s personal expenses was coming from the cash they had given him.
Meanwhile, checks provided to the sub-contractors hired by Battistoni were bouncing, the Jordans were told. Three checks — including an $11,000 check to the roofer, a $10,000 check to an electrician, and a $6,000 check for granite work — all were returned due to non-sufficient funds, Jim Jordan said.
The Jordans said they consulted an attorney, who told them that going after Battistoni legally would likely be “throwing good money after bad.” The attorney said that if they sued the company and Battistoni, they would need to pay an attorney a $5,000 retainer to file the lawsuit, which likely would bankrupt the company, leaving the couple with nothing and an additional $5,000 out-of-pocket expense.
According to Will County court records, the Jordans did file a small claims court suit against Battistoni seeking between $2,500 and $10,000 after Jim Jordan said the couple sought legal action because of a promissory note that they said Battistoni signed for repayment of our countertops because that granite vendor threatened to put a lien on the Jordan’s home.
The Jordans first went to the Orland Park Police in early August to file a complaint. They were told that they needed to allow the 12-to-16-week timeline Battistoni had originally laid out to expire so that he couldn’t come back and say that he was still within the timeframe he had given them to complete the work.
The couple sent a registered demand letter to Battistoni, Whited and Whitestone Properties. They said that the letter to Whited was returned and although Battistoni signed for the letter, he never responded. Jim Jordan says that after Battistoni pushed for an in-person meeting to explain things, he stopped responding and has since blocked Jordan from texting him.
“He basically up and left our house,” Jessica Jordan said.
Battistoni, who previously operated a construction company called For Him, has since started a new company, GMJ Properties, which the Jordans say he operates with two of his former company’s employees. According to the site completed.com, Battistoni was previously self-employed by 4Him Remodeling, worked as a union ironworker for Gateway Construction Services, and as the owner of All-American Construction.
The couple has filed a formal complaint with the Orland Park Police Department and a detective has told them they are possibly filing a complaint with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office. Jessica Jordan says that she has turned into a Facebook stalker and has located at least four other customers who claim that Battistoni walked away from projects dating back to 2009.
Commander Ken Rosinski confirmed to Patch on Thursday that there is an active investigation involving Battistoni. However, due to the active nature of the investigation, the department is unable to comment at this time, Rosinski said. He also declined to address a possible formal complaint being filed by the department with the State Attorney’s General’s Office and said he did not have a timeline of when the investigation would conclude.
Carole Cheney, a spokeswoman for the Will County State’s Attorney, told Patch the office is unable to comment on the matter or a possible investigation.
However, Rosinski said that if other local residents have been the victim of home repair fraud involving Battistoni’s company, they should contact the police department. He said that the department completes numerous investigations involving complaints involving home repair fraud each year.
“Not only did we get screwed out of quite a bit of money, but he gets away with it,” Jim Jordan told Patch. “He’s been doing this for so long and he gets away with it.”
Orland Park Police conducted a background check on Battistoni, and nothing came up, Jim Jordan said.
According to the couple, their project is the biggest that the contractor has walked away from, leaving them to chip away at projects themselves. Jessica Jordan says that they have had to continue to put in their own money while borrowing more money from family to have siding and insulation put in to ready their home for winter.
Jim Jordan says that the house is livable for the time being despite exposed electrical outlets that remain and exposed nails in unfinished floors that aren’t conducive to having a 1-year-old son walking around on.
While the couple waits for a possible complaint to be filed by police with the State’s Attorney’s Office, they are doing their best with what they have. Jim Jordan said the plumber who is owed money, Steve Suarez from RJ Graham Plumbing, has agreed to put the couple on a payment plan while completing the work he was hired to do.
The electrician who had a $10,000 check bounce and is owed a total of $18,000 for the project, Mike Joy, from King Electric, is also working with the Jordans and got the couple a furnace at cost. Jim Jordan says while he is grateful for the sub-contractors who are trying to make things right, he remains uncertain whether anything will ever happen to Battistoni.
“Honestly, that’s the worst part — I don’t know what to expect,” Jim Jordan told Patch on Wednesday. “The worst-case scenario is that nothing happens and he’s able to do it again.
“I’m just hoping at this point that he just gets charged and it will be out there. …but I guess if we can keep even one person from hiring this guy, it will be worth it.”
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