Grand Jury Indicts Virginia Contractor at Center of BLG Litigation
A Grand Jury formally indicted Richard “Craig” Tadlock, the Virginia-based contractor at the center of several lawsuits being pursued by Bosson Legal Group on behalf of victimized families. Tadlock, the owner of T&S Homebuilders, LLC, faces six criminal charges including obtaining money under false pretenses and advance pay. If convicted at trial, Tadlock could face up to 20 years in prison. BLG’s attorneys are currently litigating three civil suits against a real-estate agent and brokerage that are alleged to have helped connect Tadlock to the homeowners he victimized. Tadlock’s scheme received widespread public attention after a number of victims came forward to investigative journalists at WUSA9.
Though the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) found Tadlock violated Virginia contracting regulations, Tadlock maintains his accusers are “lying and conniving people.”
The indictment seeks to rectify Tadlock’s decades-long pattern of fraud schemes that spanned several states and at least four separate companies. To begin his schemes, Tadlock would present himself to unsuspecting families as an experienced, high-end contractor. Unaware of his history and unlicensed status, victims would hire Tadlock after he promised to build them the home of their dreams at a price and timeline he knew was impossible. Tadlock would then drain the family of resources by inflating change orders and demanding payment up-front for work that was either shoddy or never completed. Families were effectively held hostage as Tadlock threatened to stop work if payments weren’t made on-time. After enough victims eventually caught onto his schemes and filed lawsuits against his business, Tadlock would bankrupt his business and start again with a fresh company.
BLG’s litigation centers on a real-estate agent and brokerage firm that are alleged to have enabled Tadlock’s most recent fraud scheme. Three lawsuits filed in Fairfax Circuit Court accuse the real-estate parties of presenting Tadlock as a quality builder, despite knowing he was unlicensed and had been sued by numerous homeowners. According to the lawsuits, the real-estate parties granted Tadlock a veneer of legitimacy he otherwise lacked. In exchange, Tadlock and T&S Homebuilders gave the real-estate parties a sizeable commission on each new contract.
Tadlock’s business, T&S Homebuilders, LLC, could lose its license to build homes at a hearing this year. Meanwhile, BLG is set to go to trial against the real-estate parties on behalf of three of Tadlock’s victims in 2025.
Attorneys Timothy Bosson and Arie Jones represent the Plaintiffs in BLG’s litigation against the real-estate agent and brokerage firm.
For more details, see: James Ferrell and Jenna Ferrell v. Johnny Benson and Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., CL-2023-0014205, Fairfax County Circuit Court; and Heejung Son and Taro Arai Ferrell v. Johnny Benson and Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., CL-2024-0001568, Fairfax County Circuit Court.