ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – An 83-year-old Central Florida woman battled a roofing company for nearly three years before she was repaid for uncompleted repairs. This comes months after several local companies saw her story on News 6 and came together to donate a new roof for her home.
"It's not raining in the house like it was," Lucille Kellom said. "I'm glad about that."
Kellom had been in a battle with a company that had her money but never fixed her roof.
"It was a headache I kept going through. I didn't want to have a stroke," she said.
In October 2016, Kellom contacted Day Roofing in Altamonte Springs.
She signed an assignment of benefits, a document that allows the company to deal directly with her insurance company and collect money on her behalf.
In November 2016, State Farm insurance issued Day Roofing a check for $11,429. The check was cashed but the company never fixed the roof.
"It was raining in here and the mold started coming in," she said.
News 6 contacted the company on numerous occasions and spoke to the owner at length during our initial report. Now, nearly three years since Kellom first contracted the company, it has returned most of the money to the insurance company and, in turn, State Farm has returned the money to Kellom.
The money was much needed.
The roof was just the start for repairs to Kellom's home as the inside was still in disrepair. Rain had been coming inside her home for months, damaging the ceilings and walls.
"I can get the inside fixed now," she said.
It was a long time coming, but Kellom and her son Robert said she is finally whole.
"It was a relief for me because it was a relief for my mother," Robert Kellom said. "I'll tell anybody: If you can't handle it by yourself, you call Louis Bolden, Channel 6, where you can get results."
The repairs have now been finished inside the home.
Yenifer Panizo-Reyes is the owner of the Altamonte Springs roofing company. She told News 6 the company turned the money over as soon as it could and that the company went through a difficult time and now has new management.