Home improvement projects turn into nightmares with local contractor | 3 Investigates

BOSSIER CITY, La. – Imagine paying $60,000 to have some work done on your house and months later the only thing you have to show for it is a house with parts of the roof ripped off and your home exposed to the elements.

“This spot right here in the living room area is due to them falling through the ceiling,” said a south Bossier resident, who asked not to be identified. “This is water damage. Also, they fell in and as you can see they didn’t even cover the entire thing back up. … They fell through this area right here. Where this area is cut out, that entire area is due to water damage.”

But it’s not only the inside of her house that looks bad. The outside still looks like a construction zone.

“I gave this company, which is called Peoples Choice Flooring and Remodeling, I gave them the money on Aug. 31, 2021. I gave them $60,000 up front,” said the south Bossier homeowner.

That was supposed to be payment for a couple of second floor room additions.

The workers came out for two days in August and basically tore off huge portions of her roof, exposing the inside of her house. The job was supposed to be done by Nov. 15.

Then the company told her she needed to buy the materials to get the job done. That was an additional $3,100. Those materials are still sitting in her front yard.

And now, “One of the workers there at Peoples Choice said we will not be able to finish your job because we no longer have any money. The guy Todd, he was like, ‘I’ve been to jail for this and I don’t want to go back to jail and I just wanted you to know what was going on,'” said the homeowner.

KTBS confirmed local contractor Todd Coleman has been convicted of home improvement fraud twice. The first time was in February 2019. Judge Parker Self gave him three years of probation.

But, that didn’t slow him down. About two and half years later, Coleman pleaded guilty to home improvement fraud again. Self once again gave him probation.

“Todd Coleman is the mastermind behind everything. He’s the one that’s calling the shots,” said Shreveport resident Tommy Wimbley, adding he and his wife Linda are living a nightmare of their own.

“I hired People’s Choice May 1 to finish up a building. The project manager, Todd Coleman, after writing up the contract, said he needed a deposit of $11,000. I paid him by check,” said Wimbley.

And, this is what they got: “Holes in the roof, water leaking. All the wiring will have to be ripped out and redone, everything,” said Wimbley

The owner of People’s Choice Flooring and Remodeling, also known as Rick’s People’s Choice Flooring and Remodeling, is Rick Paul. 

Here’s what Paul said to Wimbley in his office” “It’s $21,000 for the total job. You put $10,000 down.”

During the conversation, an unidentified woman said, “He put $11,000 down. In the file it says $11,000.”

“I put $11,000 down,” Wimbley said.

KTBS talked with Paul twice on the phone. An on-camera interview was scheduled, but he canceled the morning it was supposed to happen. Paul said he couldn’t do it on the advice of his attorney.

Wimbley’s repeated attempts to get his money back or get the job done right have been unsuccessful as well.

Including this conversation Mr. Wimbley recorded with his phone: “The plumbing hasn’t been finished! The electrical hasn’t been finished! The job is sub-standard, guys got wire running across metal pieces.”

Paul said: “You addressed that to me Friday and what did I say? We’re gonna take care of it. Did I say that?”

Wimbley responds: “You been telling me that for the last five months.”