R.A.S Painting Co

This company is owned and operated by a young man from Brazil. He gave us an estimate to paint our house and stain our deck for $4,500, and requested a $1,500 down payment (we paid him with a check). He said he would be done in 4 days. He began the work, and all was going well. He found a few minor carpentry-related repairs that needed to be made, which increased the total amount to $5,700. We agreed to tis verbally - it was not added to written estimate. As the work was progressing, he began to ask for more money, which we gave him ($200, $1,000, $1,800, $500, $200). His wife had just had a baby while he was working at our house and we felt sorry for him because he was saddled with medical bills. Then he started not coming back - for weeks he would reply to our text and phone messages saying he would come to finish the job, but he never did. We haven't seen him in over 3 weeks, and his tools and ladder are still scattered over my yard. We will have to hire someone to finish the work. In all, we paid him $5,200 of the $5,500. I figure he owes me $200. I will never see it and I want to make sure he doesn't get any work in this area again.