Homeowners and subcontractors who lost money when Holtzman Construction collapsed finally got to put questions to one of its owners on Monday, Nov. 9, at the Chapter 7 meeting of creditors for the Tempe remodeling group (via FOX 10 Phoenix).
Brandon Scott Holtzman, who testified that he owns half the company, was questioned under oath by trustee Eric Haley, attorney Philip Rudd and former clients and subs, many of them on Zoom. According to FOX 10, he blamed one salesperson for selling large jobs to several homeowners at unprofitable prices, and an operations manager for letting those jobs move through the company's system, which he said he built himself, as if they were profitable.
Four related companies, Holtzman Construction LLC, Holtzman Remodeling LLC, Holtzman Holdings LLC and Holtzman Staffing LLC, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Oct. 2. Arizona's Family reported at the time that customers and suppliers were owed roughly $8 million.
Holtzman testified that the company's leadership learned about two weeks before the filing that it couldn't pay its debts. From that point, he said, it stopped taking money for new projects but kept collecting progress payments on jobs already underway.
Clients pushed back hard. One said that when they checked with Pinal County on a permit, the company hadn't been in touch with the county for months, "but you took my check." Another asked why the company took on a disabled veteran's project and collected a large deposit. FOX 10 didn't report specific answers. Holtzman's general response, as quoted by the station, was that the company "had ran into difficulties, and it was unexpected."
He also testified that he wasn't really in charge of company insurance, that he stepped away from the business in May 2025, and that no internal investigation had been done into whether funds were misappropriated. When he said he had never prepared a financial statement for anyone but the trustee, an anonymous Zoom participant called him a liar, and Haley muted the other participants.
Holtzman told the trustee he isn't running any other construction companies. FOX 10 reported, though, that a Brandon Scott Holtzman is tied to a Holtzman Construction LLC in California that still shows an active license on the California State License Board's website.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office has told FOX 10 its Criminal Division is reviewing consumer complaints against Holtzman Construction, but said it can't comment on current or potential investigations. No one has been charged with a crime.
In early October, the companies' bankruptcy attorney, Joel Sannes, told Arizona's Family the failure came from a "fundamental business flaw": commission-based sales without enough oversight of whether bids were profitable. He said customer deposits went into construction, including other customers' jobs, and that recovery for homeowners is uncertain and could take months or years.
The state's Registrar of Contractors has received dozens of complaints, and the Holtzman licenses have been canceled, according to Arizona's Family. FOX 10 reported the company canceled them voluntarily rather than face suspension.
Why it matters for Contractors
If you're a sub or supplier owed money, the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund isn't your backstop. The ROC says it doesn't take claims from subcontractors, suppliers, laborers or other commercial entities. Your path runs through the bankruptcy case. Under federal rules, unsecured creditors in a Chapter 7 case with assets to distribute generally have 90 days after the first scheduled creditors' meeting to file a proof of claim. Watch the court notices, and talk to an attorney about any lien rights on specific jobs, since those run on their own clocks.
For homeowners, the fund pays up to $30,000 per residence and no more than $200,000 per contractor license, with valid claims prorated past that cap, according to the ROC and Arizona's Family. The contractor must have been properly licensed when the contract was signed, the first payment was made or work started. The ROC says a contractor's bankruptcy generally doesn't block a payout to an eligible homeowner, but suggests checking with a bankruptcy attorney. With dozens of complaints, that per-license cap could leave many people well short.
If you're being called in to finish an abandoned Holtzman job, know that your client may need proof of completion costs, and the ROC generally asks for three licensed bids when work hasn't begun. Clear, itemized bids help them and you.
And for any small remodeler, the testimony is a blunt look at how fast unprofitable bids and deposits spent on other jobs can sink a company.