After 8 On Your Side got involved, homeowner Ron Wineholt no longer has to worry about a $13,565 construction lien that mysteriously appeared on his home last month for roofing supplies that he neither ordered nor received.
The roofing supplier, Beacon Sales Acquisition, Inc. immediately removed the lien after 8 On Your Side pointed out that Wineholt did not purchase or receive a new roof from Tampa roofing company Summitwood Works LLC.
8 On Your Side has learned that 13 roofing customers of Summitwood, owned by Neal Scoppettuolo, have ended up with construction liens on their homes filed by Beacon, totaling $57,428 due to alleged nonpayment of roofing supplies by Scoppettuolo’s company. Scoppettuolo has not responded to calls for comment about Wineholt’s case and the 12 other liens.
Billed for a roof job that never happened?
All of those customers live in Collier County. Wineholt never even received a new roof from Scoppettuolo’s company or the shingles that went with it, contrary to documents filed by Scoppettuolo’s company indicating a roofing job commenced last October.
Ron Wineholt, 85, says he didn’t think his roof had any problem and did not agree to a new roof after one of Scoppettuolo’s salesmen claimed he had storm damage following Hurricane Irma.
Winehold’s insurance adjuster later said there wasn’t anything wrong with his roof. Wineholt thought that was that until January when he received a Claim of Lien notice in the mail from Beacon for shingles he never received for a roof replacement he never agreed to.
“Nothing,” Wineholt said. “Not a thing.”
Wineholt is in diminished health and has a full time caregiver who confirmed his story about the salesman’s claim and the fact that he never agreed to a new roof, nor did he receive one from Scoppettuolo’s company. Records show Summitwood filed for a permit and a Notice of Commencement but never started the job. The permit expired in April.
Wineholt and his caregiver both insist a “Notice of Commencement” for a roof replacement that never took place bears Wineholt’s forged signature. The document is notarized by Scoppettuolo.
According to Collier County Official Records Scoppettuolo’s company has filed 178 Notices of Commencement for roof work since Hurricane Irma.
Scoppettuolo’s response
Last week, Scoppettuolo asked 8 On Your Side to send all questions in writing to his email address but has not responded with any answers. He has refused repeated requests for an on-camera interview and will not return phone calls.
We started looking at Scoppettuolo’s company after Pasco Tax Collector Mike Fasano flagged what he thought were misleading mailers sent by Scoppettuolo’s company that were telling Pasco residents they had roof damage when there was none.
Scoppettuolo’s company was soliciting business under the government-sanctioned PACE program that lets homeowners finance energy-efficient home repairs and pay for them as part of their tax bill. Fasano considers the PACE program fraught with peril for homeowners who are struggling to pay their tax bills without the added burden of expensive home renovations.
Fasano forced Scoppettuolo’s company, Summitwood Works LLC, to stop doing business under the PACE program in Pasco, but Scoppettuolo continues to operate in Hillsborough, Collier and other Florida counties.
Scoppettuolo hired swindlers for sales and marketing
Last year, Scoppettuolo hired two former associates, Carlton Dunko and Martin Pureber, as consultants for his PACE-related businesses.
Both men served time in prison for organized fraud after an 8 On Your Side investigation revealed they had swindled nearly 100 homeowners in six Tampa Bay area counties with roof insurance fraud under their former company, NBRC Construction.
Before NBRC, Dunko and Pureber victimized homeowners in 11 states under their former company American Shingle, a scam that triggered a nationwide alert by the Better Business Bureau.
Dunko and Pureber still face prosecution for fraud in Missouri and Connecticut.
Carlton Dunko and his wife Stacy Dunko, along with Pureber, were ordered by the court to pay NBRC victims more than $631,000 in restitution as result of the NBRC scam.
They are paying it back at the rate of about $500-$600 a month.
Dunko tells his probation officer he’s earning as much as $12,000 a month working for Scoppettuolo.
Records show they share a luxury rental home in Cheval.
Curious business ties
Scoppettuolo insists that neither Dunko nor Pureber are involved in his roofing business because that would be a direct violation of their probation, an offense that could send them back to prison.
He says both men work as consultants on other types of home repairs under the umbrella of his Tampa company called Focus Group LLC. No such company is listed in state corporate records under Scoppettuolo’s name.
A few weeks ago, 8 On Your Side found Pureber selling air conditioning systems to homeowners in Hillsborough County while working for Scoppettuolo.
Dunko and Pureber have refused comment about their current business practices and current activities. Probation records indicate that both men claim to work for Scoppettuolo.
Scoppettuolo describes himself as a Christian businessman who hired Dunko and Pureber because he believes in second chances. Scoppettuolo says they are both “Godly men.”
