She saved for years. She picked out every material. She was packed up and ready to move out during the renovation. Then the contractor went quiet — and $52,500 of Johnnie Coletto’s money went with him. The Tempe, Arizona homeowner’s story, featured in an azfamily “On Your Side” report this week, has become the human face of a contractor collapse now rippling across the Phoenix metro — one that ended with four companies filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
“I’m like, ‘Hey! I’m ready to get started,’” Coletto told azfamily’s consumer team. The response: they’d submit a permit. When the Tempe-based contractor asked for more money, she paid. Then, she says, she heard nothing about her project — a kitchen and bathroom remodel that was supposed to include raising the ceiling in part of her home — until a few weeks ago…