KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A contractor has agreed to pay restitution for a job he never started. Two years ago, the contractor was paid thousands of dollars to begin building a garage, but work never started. Now, the first payments have already been made to a Knoxville man.
So far, a little more than $1,500 has been returned to Jim Koren. He said he never expected to hear again from the contractor whom he had paid $12,000 as a down payment to build a small garage. But it never got started, and efforts by Koren to get his money back failed. That was until the contactor had a change of heart.
TBI investigating incident involving officer in Hancock County
There’s a new garage in Koren’s backyard, but it wasn’t built by the man originally hired to do the work. Koren signed a contract in March 2023 after he hired Enoch Schmaltz of EAS Property Services, with addresses in Knox and McMinn counties. The contractor received a cashier’s check for $12,000, 25% of the total cost. Schmaltz’s mug shot is on record with the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office after being charged with theft in early 2023.
“It has [taken more than two years to get the garage built]. Having to go through the experience with Enoch Schmaltz and the failure of that,” said Koren…