@Joseph Cornwell when I deal with unknown Solo contractors, I check online civil court databases of surrounding counties for any civil lawsuits. 

Last year, that investment went belly up, it is now in litigation and they will probably lose their entire investment.

The defendant lawyers who were litigating the federal case have filed a lawsuit for non payment of fees.

Under Ohio law, performing any of these acts without a license constitutes a first degree misdemeanor and subjects the offender to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars per violation.

Be careful.The last thing I'll advise you is, without proper permits and inspections if something happens after you sell the property, you are opening yourself to civil liabilities.Best of Luck!

I don't have actual numbers I could give you, but might have contacts that I can try putting you in touch with.I work for a small Civil firm here in SD and we do a pretty broad range of stuff from land use to final engineering and condo conversion.

It was a pretty clean process, but the loans were purchase money, so California civil code of procedures 580D came into effect during negotiating.

Go see a real estate business litigation attorney to review your closing docs you signed with your partner along with other documentation pertaining to this purchase.You need to do this now before any liens are placed on this property you co-own together.Many more liens may be on the way depending on how many more problems your partner has that you are not being told about.

I guess this question has not been litigated(at least online) or sorted out?

It's basically a civil suit.