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LITTLETON, Colo. — Home improvement can be stressful and expensive. A Littleton couple reached out to Contact7 after they said a contractor cut corners and as they found out, has a history of cutting checks to himself.
From the outside, Baron Phillips' home looks done, but on the inside, it’s a different story.
"Just bare wire wrapped around each other with no junction box," said Phillips, as he showed the poor electrical work done in his home. “[It] threw sparks and all my insulation was burnt. And I was told if I didn't have spray foam insulation, my house would have burned down."
Last October, after a referral from a friend, Phillips hired OXBO Services, LLC to add on another 600 square feet to his home. They had a contract, and all the work started promptly.
"Oh he was real nice and charming," said Phillips.
But then a three-month job turned into five months, then six months.
"Oh yeah, yeah we'll be there today. We'll be there tomorrow," said Phillips, recounting his conversation with the general contractor.
Nine months and nearly $70,000 later, Phillips said he’s shelling out more money to fix OXBO's shoddy work. In addition, he has had to pay the subcontractors himself, as Osborn allegedly never wrote checks to the worker's he hired.
“He steals your money and then leaves your house like this, a fire hazard," he said.
Philips did a quick Google search and found plenty of hits on his general contractor Erik Osborn, who he says is the same man pictured in a 2009 Denver7 story.
The man was accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from major downtown Denver development projects he was hired to work on — glaring red flags Phillips said he missed the first time he researched him.
Denver7 reached out to Osborne, who said he completed the work he was contracted for on Phillips' home and is willing to finish any work claimed to be outstanding but said the obstacle is the homeowner’s aggressive behavior.
Phillips said that’s not so and has a warning for the public.
"I want to let everybody know not to hire this guy, and hopefully he doesn’t kill somebody or burn their house down," said Phillips.
An electrician that has worked for Erik Osborn told Contact7 he is still owed money for several projects. Several people have confirmed that Osborn has started a new company OZZCO Construction. Osborn told Contact7 he is only a supervisor.
Another person reached out Contact7 and described a similar situation of shoddy work and not paying his subcontractors. The woman said she had to spend several more thousand dollars to finish the project herself. She also said a reference from her is listed falsely on the new company's website.
