PITTSBURGH — Two North Side families say they’re out over $50,000 after hiring a contractor they said took their money, but didn’t finish the job.
Daniel Meyer says he was left with a deck that had no floor, railings with gaping holes and stairs that weren’t bolted down. He said it was a significant safety issue.
“When you pushed on it, it would fall,” Meyer said. “Mind you, we’re 20 feet up on concrete. This is not pretty.”
Meyer is a veteran and said he hired Mark Kaltreider, who advertised as a fellow vet to help support someone like him. Meyer paid him tens of thousands of dollars and said he started on the work but then stole the lumber and Meyers’ tools before going off the grid.
“I looked up the records,” Meyer tells 11 Investigates. “The man has no construction insurance, the man has no licenses to work in the city.”
In 2021, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed a 50-page lawsuit, saying Kaltreider broke consumer protection laws and must be stopped from doing business with a permanent injunction for the good of Pennsylvanians. A judge agreed and in 2023, Kaltreider was ordered to stop doing home improvement work in Pennsylvania and pay restitution. That didn’t happen and the AG’s Office says he was found in contempt of court.
“One month before he was taking $14,000 off of me, he was convicted of contempt of court for doing the same thing to other people,” Meyer said.
11 Investigates reached out to Kaltreider. He told us that he had done nothing wrong and all of his work had passed inspections. He said he is currently paying restitution to other victims in previous cases charged by the Attorney General’s Office.
Since our story aired on Tuesday, another victim has come forward.
The Attorney General’s Office tells 11 Investigates, “We encourage any Pa. consumer who feels they have been harmed to file a complaint with our office and we will act promptly and accordingly.”
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