BELGIUM — Mary Vella, 76, and her husband Joe were looking for a trusted contractor to remodel their bathroom. They wanted to refresh the space and replace the old tub and countertops with modern updates.
They decided to work with PL Innovations, a business they found through Home Depot's Pro Referral program earlier that year. The owner, Perry Lindsey, had visited their home before to fix the hood on their oven.
"We thought he did good work at a fair price," Vella said. "We treated him like family."
But after giving the bathroom project some thought, she decided Lindsey's quote was too high and canceled the project.
From there, Vella said, the relationship quickly soured. By then, Lindsey had already cashed a $2,500 check that she had given him as a deposit, though no labor had been done. According to Vella, Lindsey said he would return the money, minus a $100 consultation fee.
Instead, she said Lindsey held on to the funds for two months and stopped responding to her texts and calls.
Vella and her husband rely on a fixed social security income. The sudden loss of funds overdrafted her bank account, said Vella, who reached out to Public Investigator for help in April.
Unknown to her, PL Innovations has faced a long list of lawsuits from disgruntled customers alleging the company left projects incomplete, damaged property and stopped responding, Public Investigator found. Most of them are homeowners and small business owners, such as Niche Book Bar, which hopes to become one of the state's only Black-owned bookstores.
“If we would have known that, I never would have associated with him, ever,” Vella said.
In addition to its legal troubles, PL Innovations twice presented a false certificate of insurance to the city to renew its contractor license, Public Investigator found —a matter that was brought to the Common Council's attention in 2022.
In two interviews in April and May, Lindsey denied disputes with other customers and said he was going to refund Vella her money imminently.
However, the funds never arrived.
"I don't know what else to do," Vella said. "We're stressed out to the limit."
PL Innovations has recent history of negative customer experiences
A brief scroll through the Wisconsin Court System website shows that PL Innovations has a list of unhappy customers and is deep in debt.
In their lawsuits, homeowners and small business owners — almost all of whom are women —said they paid hefty deposits to PL Innovations, but the jobs were never completed and Lindsey stopped responding to their messages.
In most cases, neither Lindsey nor a representative from PL Innovations showed up in court.
According to court records, Niche Book Bar hired PL Innovations in the summer of 2022 to renovate the future bookstore. Lindsey estimated the project would cost about $132,700 and asked for a security deposit of $5,000, which would be returned once the small business paid an installment of around $66,000, the suit alleges.
In the lawsuit, Niche Book Bar owner Cetonia Weston-Roy said she paid the security deposit and the installment.But in October 2022, Lindsey stopped responding to her, leaving the project incomplete, she said.This case is still ongoing, according to attorney Elise Ashley.
“This has been one of the biggest setbacks for us,” said Weston-Roy, who launched a crowdfunding campaign to try to recoup some of the losses.
Natasha Dotson, another former customer, said in her lawsuit that she lost about $31,000 to Lindsey and spent another $40,000 fixing the damage and incomplete work he did to her daycare.
Lindsey busted a water pipe in the daycare bathroom twice while trying to hang up a mirror, according to court records. His eight months of shoddy work caused Dotson's daycare to fail several city inspections, she said.
"His work looked like a kindergartner did it," Dotson said.
Dotson said she dropped her lawsuit in 2022 once she heard of Lindsey's debts, and after the lawsuit became too costly. According to her, the ordeal delayed her business from opening by a year.
Court records show that Lindsey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2023. He was also ordered to pay $38,896 in delinquent taxes, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and PL Innovations owes another $92,073 to the Department of Workforce Development for delinquent worker's compensation, according to court records.
The Department of Safety and Professional Services is revoking Lindsey's dwelling contractor license due to delinquent taxes, said spokesperson John Beard. Lindsey has held the license since 2016.
More:Are you hiring a contractor in Wisconsin? Here's what you should know first
PL Innovations submitted false insurance certifications to city and state
As a last resort, some former PL Innovations customers considered suing the company's insurance company, only to discover that PL Innovations didn't seem to carry any.
On two occasions, Lindsey showed false proof of general liability and property damage insurance to the city, Public Investigator found.
Milwaukee requires proof of insurance every two years to renew a home improvement contractor license. General liability insurance typically covers instances of negligence and injuries on the job.
Licensing records show that PL Innovations submitted documents showing it was insured by Billy Brown Insurance, formerly called William Brown Insurance Services Inc., in 2016, 2017 and 2022.
However, the insurance company confirmed to Public Investigator that PL Innovations was insured by them only for 2016.
PL Innovations has worked on at least 35 projects in the city between 2017 and 2022, according to the Department of Neighborhood Service’s permit records.
In October 2022, a former customer of Lindsey's reported his false insurance documents to the Common Council licenses committee and asked members to revoke his license. But at the committee hearing, Lindsey insisted he had valid insurance and promised to send proof.
Council members voted to delay a decision.
Marissa Milano, license coordinator for the city, said it is not the license division's practice to verify that insurance documents are valid. Lindsey's license expired in May and he hasn't applied to renew, she said.
"It certainly does create the possibility where someone could forge something, but that's definitely going to be the exception and not the rule," said Jim Cooney, the city's license division manager.
The license division did not respond to several requests to confirm whether or not Lindsey ever submitted valid proof of insurance after that committee meeting.
Ald. Milele Coggs, chair of the licenses committee at the time, confirmed that the committee never scheduled a follow-up hearing. She said requiring city staff to verify contractors' insurance documents could be burdensome.
"I think we would have to evaluate the level of resources that will have to go into verification to see if it'd be worth it," Coggs said.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa became chair of the license committee in April. She said that going forward, the committee will take action if notified that a contractor doesn't have insurance. But Zamarripa shared Coggs' concern about the license division's capacity to verify insurance.
"Unfortunately, workers are oftentimes stretched thin," Zamarripa said.
A month after the committee hearing, Lindsey submitted valid proof of liability insurance to the state, which requires a separate license, according to Department of Safety and Professional Services records and Next First Insurance Agency.
However, the proof of insurance he sent to the state in 2020 was again invalid, Public Investigator found. According to Cornerstone Insurance Services, the insurance Lindsey listed only covered his trucking company, not his contracting company.
Lindsey claims money is returned and denies previous customers’ complaints
In interviews with Public Investigator, Lindsey repeatedly insisted that he planned to return Vella's money.
In an April 22 phone call, Lindsey told Public Investigator that Vella’s money would be returned to her by April 29. He blamed the delay on Vella’s bank and his vacation to North Carolina, and said he was annoyed because Vella had been rude to him.
“I said, ‘To hell with her. I'll handle it as soon as I get back,’” Lindsey said.
But another month passed and Vella's money was not returned.Public Investigator reporters visited Lindsey’s home on May 17 to get an update.
At the start of the conversation, Lindsey told reporters he “sent the check off the other day" and would provide evidence of the money order.
Forty minutes into the interview, Lindsey admitted that Vella's check had not been sent. He said he assigned another person to deliver the check but didn't know when Vella would receive it.
Lindsey denied ever having disputes with previous customers, and said all lawsuits against PL Innovations were settled, even though at least one lawsuit is open.He asked reporters to contact his lawyer, James McCann, regarding ongoing lawsuits against PL Innovations.
Lindsey added that he plans to move his business operations to North Carolina.He added that he wanted to “wash [his] hands” and leave the situation in the past.
In response to a request for an interview, McCann said: "I do not have any comment on any past, present or potential future litigation on any claim about the client. I would refer you to the court records for any questions that you may have."
The Vellas take their case to law enforcement and U.S. Bank
Like other customers, Vella said a lawyer discouraged her from taking the issue to court due to Lindsey and PL Innovations' growing debt.
In an attempt to get her money back, Vella contacted anyone else she thought could help her — the police, the FBI and a couple of news outlets. She filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and the Federal Reserve.
“Maybe $2,500 is not a lot of money for some people, but it is for us,” Vella said.
Vella also called U.S. Bank's customer service line to report fraud. One piece of evidence she shared: According to Vella and her husband, Lindsey introduced himself to the family as “Perry Tisdale.”
In messages reviewed by Public Investigators, Vella addressed Lindsey as “Mr. Tisdale” in a text two days prior to his visit to their home. It was the name she wrote on their down payment check as well.
Lindsey signed the check as “Perry Lindsey” and denies telling the couple any other name.
U.S. Bank opened a fraud investigation, but has not issued any updates on Vella's case as of June 14.
Vella also reported Lindsey to the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office. After “several attempts” to resolve the matter with Lindsey, the department referred the case in May to the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s Office to pursue criminal charges of theft, said Marshall Hermann, undersheriff for the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
The district attorney's office said it is still reviewing the information but takes the matter seriously.
Home Depot agrees to compensate Vella
In the end, help came from an unlikely place.
After Public Investigator reporters contacted Home Depot about Vella's situation, the company followed up with Vella on her complaint.
In an email to Public Investigator, spokesperson Terrance Roper said Lindsey had reassured Home Depot that he intended to refund her.
Roper said Home Depot monitors its contractors “periodically” and will remove them from its referral list if they don’t meet the requirements. For contractors to be a part of the program, Home Depot requires a background check, insurance and a license, if the state requires it.
“It's out of our power to guarantee the quality of work or materials, and we make this clear in our customer FAQ,” Roper said in an email.
Home Depot checked if PL Innovations met its requirements in November 2023 and didn’t see any issues, according to Roper.
But on May 23, after no follow-up from Lindsey, Home Depot decided to compensate the Vellas the $2,500. Home Depot has since ended its relationship with PL Innovations and removed the business from its database, Roper said.
“This is not the experience we want for any of our customers,”Roper said.
Vella remains a little bothered that Lindsey "got away with it," but said she was surprised and grateful for Home Depot’s offer and Public Investigator’s help.
“I’m glad I’m getting my money back," Vella said.
She added: “You really opened the doors for us."
Gina Castro is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be reached atgcastro@gannett.com. Tamia Fowlkes is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her attfowlkes@gannett.com.
About Public Investigator
Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams.Public Investigatoris a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips atjsonline.com/tips.
