ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Drive through the Portofino Bay community in St. Lucie County, and you can’t miss the tarps that have covered roofs since Hurricane Milton.
“You could hear the roof damage during the storm,” homeowner Ann McFate told me. “You could hear the tiles just being ripped off.”
McFate is a single mother who needed her roof repaired quickly after last October’s storm.
I listened as she told me she hired Family First Roofing Group to do the job – and paid a $15,800 down payment.
When I asked her how much work was done: “Nothing,” McFate replied. “They took my money, and I haven’t seen them back.”
WATCH BELOW: WPTV listens to dozens of homeowners now left with damaged homes and no answers
According to McFate, rain has leaked through the unrepaired roof damaging a bedroom, bathroom and floorboards in the kitchen.
“I’m lost as to where to go from here,” she said. “I don’t have the means to just recoup that money again and just come up with it and say, ‘OK I can fix it.’”
She’s not alone.
A blue tarp also covers her neighbor’s roof.
Steve and Melanie Goldstein told me they paid more than $15,000 to Family First Roofing Group in November.
When I asked if she thought she'd get her money back, she replied, "no."
Kevin Parker is renovating his Hutchinson Island home.
He said he contacted Family First Roofing earlier this year to put on a new roof, but the work never even started.
“At that time, I knew I was in major trouble. I didn’t know what to do,” Parker told me. “I’m out over $12,000.”
In Vero Beach, car wash owner Daniel Mulkey said he’s out more than $14,000. Mulkey said he made a down payment in March to Family First Roofing for a metal roof - and he’s still waiting for one.
“We paid the deposit and figured they had a huge obligation to fix our roof,” said Mulkey. “And they never even pulled permits for it.”
WPTV investigates received a total of 20 complaints across 3 counties.
“We’ve taken a lot of heat,” Family First Roofing co-owner Brandon Laverdure told me.
He claims his roofing company grew too fast and could not keep up with the demand for new roofs from insurance mandates and storm damage.
He told me he knows customers are mad at paying thousands of dollars for a product and service they never received.
“Yeah, the frustration’s real,” said Laverdure. “I would be frustrated as well.”
Jeff Salmons is frustrated.
He said Family First Roofing finished repairing his storm-damaged roof in Portofino Bay in late April.
Then bad news arrived via certified mail.
“I got a letter in the mail today which really infuriated me telling me I owed the dumpster company wanting $1,200 from me, wanting to put a lien on my house after all this,” said Salmons.
I analyzed records with the St. Lucie County Clerk of Courts and found 14 homeowners in St. Lucie County have liens on their properties totaling more than $164,000.
These kinds of liens potentially prevent homeowners from selling their homes and even allow lienholders to foreclose on homes.
"As far as the liens, my partners are handling that in the legal way,” said Laverdure. “And all of that should be taken care of in a timely manner.”
My investigation into Family First Roofing did not stop on the Treasure Coast.
Property owners in Sarasota County also claim the company didn’t finish jobs after they made down payments.
I talked with a group of Sarasota County homeowners about Family First Roofing.
“I would like to see everybody get their money back,” said homeowner Paul Gervais, who says he paid $4,500 for roof repairs.
“I think they all need to be prosecuted,” added homeowner Nadia Sawa.
You can see the damaged ceiling over Teri Salazar’s shoulder in our interview.
“Life is like, frightening when it rains,” she said of her mobile home, which she says constantly leaks.
Salazar adds Family First Roofing never fixed her roof after she paid the company $5,000.
“I don’t even know what the inside of the walls look like, because you can’t see them,” said Salazar. “But they have to be damaged”
On the company's website, Family First Roofing blames some of its financial problems when it quote, "placed our trust in the wrong individuals to manage new locations. This resulted in significant financial loss due to internal embezzlement.”
“And we started seeing some red flags,” added Brandon Laverdure. “So I traveled out there myself and traveled out to some of these job sites, started seeing none of this was done.”
But law enforcement agencies on both Florida coasts told me they have not arrested any former Family First Roofing employees for embezzlement.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Financial Services confirmed to WPTV in July it has launched a criminal investigation into Family First Roofing.
“I can tell you there is no fraud going on,” Laverdure responded. “It’s just been a big circle of bad luck you can say.”
Several weeks after I started my investigation into Family First Roofing, its doors in Port St. Lucie are locked.
And the company made an announcement on its website: “Family First Roofing Group LLC will no longer be accepting new business, as our full focus is now on completing all outstanding roofing projects we’ve already committed to.”
The statement added, "thanks to the collaboration of over 7 roofing companies, manufacturers, distributors and community leaders we are working diligently to ensure that all existing projects are completed with the same quality and care our customers expect.”
Ann McFate was able to find a new roofer willing to finish her job at a discount.
“Last night was the first night I had a good night’s sleep in six months,” she said. “After all this.”
But in Vero Beach, Daniel Mulkey still doesn’t have the metal roof over his car wash.
“We have to save up money now that we lost our deposit,” he told me.
Kevin Parker is suing Family First Roofing alleging Civil Theft and is seeking damages of $36,825.
In a handwritten note filed with the court, Brandon Laverdure responded, “This is a contractor’s agreement and not fraud.”
The document adds, “The customer also did breach his contract which resulted in a loss of 20%.”
No court date has been set for Parker’s lawsuit against the company.
“They need to be held accountable,” said Parker. “They can’t continue to do this and operate their business this way.”
As I was putting this story together, I learned Family First Roofing filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month. That means the company wants to liquidate its assets to pay its debts.
In its bankruptcy filing, Family First Roofing claims it is $1.7 million in debt.
The creditors include 71 customers.