ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Attorney General's Office has filed a complaint against a Jacksonville-based construction company, after investigators said the company failed to complete the work for which it was paid.
The state has frozen the assets of Carlson Enterprises after the AG's office said it received more than 70 complaints about the company.
Last September, after Hurricane Irma, Jean and Charles Sheaves hired Carlson Enterprises to make roof repairs, the couple said.
The Sheaves agreed to pay the company a deposit of half the total estimated cost, totaling more than $6,000.
"When you've kicked them in the gut, and then walked away, and walked proud. How can you do that?" Jean Sheaves said. "You start to doubt yourself. How could I have been so dumb? How could I have been taken so badly?"
The Sheaves said that the work never began, with the company citing supply back-orders and permit delays.
"There was always something -- always some reason why they couldn't give us a date," Jean Sheaves said. "April 16 came and went (and) no one showed up. The website is down. The telephone numbers are all not in service."
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a criminal complaint, alleging the company collected money, but never fixed any roofs.
The Sheaves said they sent their receipt and contract to a state financial investigator.
The family said they've had no choice but to hire another company, therefore starting the process all over again, while waiting for state investigators to help recoup some of their losses.
"After you gave them the deposit, you lost all control," Jean Sheaves said.
Bondi's office said the exact number of victims remains unknown.