A North Texas contractor is accused of accepting $23,000 for a renovation then ghosting the homeowner.
Michael Haefner, 48, was arrested Monday. He faces a charge of felony theft of property. Haefner was released Monday after posting $10,000 bond. He did not respond to request for comment.
Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier said in a news release Wednesday a homeowner hired Haefner’s company, Freedom Remodeling LLC, for a renovation in May 2022 after a water leak caused extensive damage to her Weatherford home.
Freedom Remodeling quoted the job at more than $23,000 and accepted an up-front payment of $18,000, according to the release, but was nearly impossible to reach until August 2022, when a worker finally showed up to start the remodel. The representative completed minimal work, however, and never returned to finish the job.
The homeowner tried to contact Freedom Remodeling numerous times, but the company made repeated excuses about why the work was not finished. In September 2022, the woman requested a refund and was contacted three days later by the worker, who said he longer worked for the company and recommended she reach out to Haefner, who’s the sole owner.
Haefner told the woman that he would both finish the job and issue a refund, the release said, but he provided excuses for why the work hadn’t been completed and then was unreachable for months.
The woman got in touch with Haefner again in February 2023, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said, but after acting as though he didn’t know who was messaging him, he said the issue was with the former worker, not the company, then cut off contact. The woman also sent a demand letter that was returned.
The woman filed a report with the sheriff’s office in April 2023, and investigators issued a subpoena for Freedom Remodeling’s records. They found evidence of the woman’s payment, the incomplete job and that the company owed her more than $9,000 for unfinished work.
According to sheriff’s department spokesperson Danie Huffman, Haefner told the homeowner and investigators he used the funds to do additional brick work and installations in the master bedroom but records showed otherwise.
