BATON ROUGE - Authorities have charged a man with contractor fraud after he agreed to repair a home without a license and failed to complete the work.

On September 27, 2018, the victim contacted the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office in reference to a residential contractor fraud complaint.  According to the victim he entered into a "turn key" contract with Paul Bryant owner of Bryant Building Construction Inc. Bryant was supposed to repair the home that was damaged in the 2016 flood. The victim agreed to pay Bryant $82,853.20.

After Bryant and his crew installed the hardwood flooring and repaired the walls of the home, the victim said the crew began coming to the home only a few days a month. In May 2017, Bryant informed the victim he hadn't received a payment of $25,000. The victim told authorities he paid Bryant, but noticed not enough work was done.

The victim confronted Bryant, who gave the victim back $20,000. Bryant allegedly said he needed the last $5,000 to pay for a rental fee for his office building and would pay the victim back.

Authorities say the victim sued Bryant in small claims court and won the case because Bryant never showed up. After the victory in court, the victim learned that Bryant had left the state to do repairs in Texas following Hurricane Harvey.

The victim had to spend another $19,544 to finish repairs on his home. In an effort to retain some of his losses, the victim contacted the Louisiana Board of Contractors to complain about Bryant. It was then that the victim learned Bryant only held a commercial license to do specialty driveways, concrete, foundations for buildings, and asphalt.

Bryant was later arrested and charged with residential contractor fraud.