
HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — A Huntington man who was paid $62,000 for a home renovation project in Blackford County now faces four felony charges after allegedly failing to do that work.
Kortney Lee Elzey, 35, was charged last week in Blackford Circuit Court with two counts each of home improvement fraud and theft.
He also is accused of failing to install siding and a new roof on a Hartford City home after accepting $14,000 to start that project.
Two of the charges were Level 5 felonies carrying up to six years in prison.
According to court documents, work on the first local accuser’s home, along Blackford County Road 500-E, was started but then never completed.
A sheriff’s deputy wrote it appeared the work done to date “was done unprofessionally or just not done right.”
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The investigation leading to last week’s charges began in mid-December.
The homeowner said Elzey had “stopped all work to her house and keeps giving her excuses.” She said he had repeatedly referred to the COVID-19 pandemic to explain why work wasn’t continuing on the project.
On Jan. 8, a Hartford City couple told deputies they had paid Elzey a $14,000 down payment in November, to place new siding and a new roof on their home along East Grant Street.
The Huntington man never began work on that project, they said.
Elzey was also charged with home improvement fraud and theft in Huntington Superior Court on Friday.
Last August, he was convicted of three counts of home improvement fraud, and a single count of theft, in the same court.
The former Hartford City resident also has been convicted of check deception (six times) and driving while intoxicated (four times).
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at [email protected].