COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Alvaro Sanchez specializes in roofing, siding and gutters, which is why a friend referred him to a Columbus contractor for some local projects. 

Sanchez said he and his brothers completed two jobs as subcontractors for him but they claim they weren’t paid, and don’t want this to happen to other people.

Sanchez said that the contractor wasn’t willing to pay the difference for the materials that he had to purchase in advance for those jobs.

Sanchez said he’s still owed almost $5,000.

Juan Turcius also worked alongside Sanchez, as a subcontractor for the same man.

“He owes me $2,000 right now. Maybe $2,000 is not much for him, but for me, it’s a lot of money,” Tarcius said. “How is he feeling when he goes to bed and is sleeping, and he knows he’s taking money from other people who have to put food on the table, pay rent, pay cars, pay bills?”

NBC4 reached out to the contractor, and he insisted he had no recollection of Sanchez or Turcius.

When provided with some of the invoices, he said he would look into them and see what he could find. He never gave a clear answer on if Sanches and Turcius were paid.

When asked what could be done to help Sanches and Turcius, a representative with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office said “payment between a contractor and subcontractor is generally not something we would address.”

NBC4 also reached out to the Ohio Contractors Association but never got a response.

“The city requires us to have a license, insurance and everything else to do our work… but when these people do this to us, we don’t have support. How can we fix this?” Turcius said.

At this point, the next step for Sanchez and Turcius is to continue to try to handle the matter privately with the contractor or take legal action.

There is the option of filing a mechanic’s lien to recover their payment, beginning 30 days after the payment is due.

Sanchez said he learned the contractor had issues paying another company for work.

Court records showed the contractor was listed as a defendant and was ordered to pay another company after not paying for labor and materials.