PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach County schoolteacher came to one of our Let's Hear It community events after losing thousands of dollars to a contractor who vanished mid-project. Her story reveals a systemic issue that could affect your next home improvement project.
Choosing the right contractor can be challenging. When Alisa Wright of Boynton Beach came to Let's Hear It, she said she thought she'd made the right moves when she hired someone to renovate her bathroom.
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From the start, Wright wasn't asking for much.
"I just go to work and I just want to come home and take a nice shower," Wright said.
By the time the Palm Beach County schoolteacher came to WPTV, she wanted to get the word out.
"Because I don't want anybody else to run into this individual," Wright said.
That individual was the man she hired to remodel her bathroom.
"This is the way he left me," Wright said, showing photos of her demolished bathroom.
Wright said she chose her contractor, a man named "Victor," because she saw him working on a construction site near her house. They agreed to a three-payment schedule for the $9,800 remodel: $3,000 upfront, another $3,000 midway through, and the rest upon completion.
Wright made the second payment in July after Victor demolished the bathroom. She said she never saw him again.
"There was every excuse. He said his engine went out in his vehicle, he said his daughter was getting married. He said he was hospitalized," Wright said.
Her bathroom was left in shambles.
"I work hard! Teachers — you know, we're already underpaid, and I'm giving $6,000 for unfinished bathroom?" Wright said.
State business records for "SW Florida Services LLC" — the name of the business listed on Wright's contract — reveal Victor's full name: Vittorio Bonanno.
He's based in Charlotte County, where he has multiple convictions showing a track record of dishonest dealing, including, according to court records:
- 2007: A worthless check
- 2010: Giving false information to law enforcement
- 2015: Grand theft, for skipping out on a contracting project
- 2017: Contracting without a license
- 2021: Felony contracting fraud after another unfinished contracting job
All of these convictions resulted in probation — in one case, concurrent with a previous probation. The court records show multiple probation violations over the years — the most recent in 2024, for failing to pay thousands in restitution and court costs for the 2021 conviction.
The court reduced what he owed to $565 after determining he was unable to pay the full balance.
Vittorio Bonanno's name does not appear in Palm Beach County, Charlotte County, or Florida's contractor license databases.
"This is all news to me. I'm shocked," Wright said when learning about Bonanno's past.
After Let's Hear It, Wright filed a report with Boynton Beach police, which advised her to send a certified letter to Bonanno asking for her money back.
The letter was returned to Wright's home and marked as "undeliverable."
"I trusted a stranger. I trusted a stranger. It's very embarrassing," Wright said.
WPTV reached Bonanno over the phone. He said he was on a job in North Carolina and that he would share his side of the story when he got off work that evening. He did not respond to our attempts to reach him after that initial phone call.
"How is he able to operate?" Wright asked.
"Unfortunately, here in Palm Beach County, unlicensed contracting is a big problem that we're dealing with," said Rick Torrance, director of contractor regulations in Palm Beach County. "I don't think there's enough laws in the books."
Torrance pointed to a new law that took effect in July 2025, ending local contractor license requirements for certain specialties with a goal of making it easier to get projects done. But Torrance warns it could make it easier for an unlicensed contractor to slip through the cracks.
"I think we're going to see in a few years that's going to come back to bite them, because there's no regulation on a lot of these trades, and we have no recourse to address any issues that they present," Torrance said. "I see it getting worse."
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But there is some hope, Torrance said, in a newly-proposed law adding criminal penalties — including possible jail time — to certain unlicensed contracting offenses that are currently civil matters.
In Wright's case, the man she hired has already been convicted of misdemeanors and felonies related to abandoning contracting jobs and pocketing the cash. Yet he's never been sentenced to time behind bars.
"Yeah, that's ridiculous," Torrance said.
Asked why Bonanno never received a jail sentence, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office covering Charlotte County replied: "I do not summarize cases as each case is based on the totality of evidence." She didn't respond to follow-up questions.
In the meantime, Torrance recommended Wright file an official complaint with his office so his team can build a case.
"I wanted the public to know this information to prevent this from happening to someone else, because it's not fair," Wright said.
But at least now, Wright has one of the things she wanted: that beautiful, new bathroom, thanks to the legitimate contractor she paid to finish the job.
"I'm excited, I'm happy," Wright said during a tour of her completed bathroom. "I can take a shower as many times as I want now without any interruptions and distractions."
"Hard work paid off. Hard work paid off. I love it," Wright added.
If you're looking to vet a contractor, you don't need to visit a construction site. Every county and the state of Florida has licensing databases where you can find the right person to get the job done.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.