1st Choice General Contracting

Brian Elliott and his company 1st Choice General Contracting were hired in January of 2015 to construct a screen porch at my residence and given approximately $2400 as a 1/3 deposit for the work. Mr. Elliott delayed the project for 3 months, misrepresented the permitting process (never obtained any permits), came and dug a hole at our residence and then decided that additional work would need to be done and would cost my wife and I thousands of dollars. When we ultimately fired Brian Elliott and 1st Choice General Contracting, he became extremely uncooperative and refused to give us back any of our money. I also found out during this time that Mr. Elliott was not the licensed contractor which he portrayed himself to be (as the license is in wife's name). I ultimately had to file with small claims court and Mr. Elliott again refused to answer any of the complaints sent to him by the court. A judgement was entered against Mr. Elliott and 1st Choice General Contracting and he has yet to return our money or attempt to make a partial payment (the judgement is still active in Charleston and Dorchester County). Mr Elliott will say that the deposit was NON REFUNDABLE, however it was ordered to be returned by a judge in Charleston County. It is our belief that Mr. Elliott and 1st Choice General Contracting never intended to complete any work at our residence. Due to the issues that we have had and Mr. Elliott's refusal to cooperate with any legal processes, I would strongly not recommend that anyone hire Brian Elliott or 1st Choice General Contracting. UPDATE 08/2017: Mr. Elliott still refuses to comply with the court order and had not attempted to make any payments on the judgement against him. 1st Choice General Contracting was also found guilty of failing to obtain a building license by the South Carolina LLR Contractors Board.