ROCKWALL, Texas – Jerre Loftus, 71, bought a century-old home in Rockwall last year. She knew going into it, the house would need repairs and remodeling.
Loftus put aside $110,000 to fix the home, and started searching for a contractor. She found a man on Facebook who was eager to do the work. Loftus said, “He was a very, very quiet man, very likeable, young man.”
She said everything seemed right. “He had gone to the city and got a permit, which made me feel very safe.” The man started working on her house. Loftus said she was paying him $5,000 per week by cashier’s check. When it came close to the end of the payments, she felt like he was pulling away.
Eventually, Loftus said she never heard from the man again. She lost $110,000 and the home is still unfinished. “Close to 70 to 80 percent of the house is open,” said Loftus. And she means there are no solid walls or ceilings on the majority of her house.
Loftus is washing dishes in her bathtub. She has limited electricity in the house and extension cords are being used to bring her power. Her ceiling in her bedroom also cracked after the man started doing construction. Loftus can only live on one side of her house.
She said she filed a police report and the district attorney is working on her case.
At 71-years-old, Loftus is working and cleaning homes to make the money back.
In the meantime, her neighbors are coming together to help her. The City of Rockwall is supporting her through its Hardship Assistance Program. Home Depot, Mishler Builders, Inc, and the North East Texas Community Development Corporation are chipping in to make Loftus’s home livable again.
Donations can be made in Jerre Loftus’s name to The North East Texas Community Development Corporation NETCDC at 787 Hail Drive, Rockwall, Texas, 75032 or 972-722-7316.
A GoFundMe has also been set up by her friends.