Call that motherfucker out. We are too tight of a community here for everyone not to know. Everyone should be honest and up front and cool enough with each other to get everythign out in the open. You are not only possibly going to recoup your losses, but let everyone else know that this person is a possible shadester.
If you want to go the silent route, but dont want to go to court, take them to mediation. If you google it, basically you meet in a room with a person contracted by the state and you talk it out. They do this downtown in the Franklin County court building. If you initiate one, and the other person doesnt show up at the predetermined date, and then you take the matter to court, you will likely win based on them not making any effort to remediate the issue. I have used this and it works well.