Contractor/tenant got me good

[John Lewis]

Talk about a double whammy! I recently started renting out a property to a so called contractor.  We agreed on him doing some work on one of my other units and I've paid him $8,100 so far for a job that was supposed to take 10 days is going on 2 months.  Not only that but he has told me that he can't come up with the rent for this month.  Looks like I'll be handing out my first eviction but I'm not sure what I can do to recoup the money I've paid him for the incomplete work plus whatever it takes to get the job completed.  Has anyone had any success actually collecting money from a contractor in small claims court?