'I'm in limbo': After house fire, Florida woman claims restoration company billed for work it never did

PASCO COUNTY, Fla — Christmas Day didn’t go as Patricia Freitag planned.

She planned on a quiet day at home, but that changed when she turned on a space heater in the front room she used as an office.

WATCH: After house fire, Florida woman claims restoration company billed for work it never did

“Just five minutes of your life can change things so drastically,” Freitag said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

The fire destroyed the office, which was the room where she kept memories of her late husband. Her two pet birds, one who she had for 35 years, died in the fire.

Patricia Freitag

“When the sadness hits it’s because of the birds,” Freitag said.

RECOVERING FROM THE FIRE

Freitag hired the Pasco County branch of the national restoration franchise Paul Davis to do the cleanup and rebuild. Freitag’s homeowner's insurance paid the company.

“Everything was fine for the first couple weeks and then week 3 they just fell off,” Freitag explained.

Freitag claimed Paul Davis sent her a bill for $53,234.64 in order to continue the work.

“I just paid it, I didn’t even really look at it to be honest with you,” she said. “I just wanted the project to keep going.”

Instead, Freitag said she didn’t see progress and months into the project Paul Davis hadn’t filed for permits with the county to start construction. That’s when Freitag said she took a closer look at the bill and found discrepancies with multiple line items for work she said was never done. She claimed one of those was hundreds of dollars for 24-hour air mover fans and filters.

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“They never did that because they didn’t have electricity but it was still on my bill,” she said. “That’s when I decided to terminate the contract.”

The Paul Davis branch owner turned down the opportunity for an interview. He claimed the delays were caused by Freitag's change orders, and construction permits couldn’t be pulled until those were finalized.

The remaining business order between the two was a final bill.

“They want another $24,000,” Freitag said. “I said can you please send me by email a PDF file of what you really are charging for so I can go line by line and see what you’ve done and what I need to pay out.”

Freitag said she kept getting pushback from Paul Davis and questioned charges for work she claimed was not performed.

“I feel like I’m in limbo constantly," she added.

"GAP" IN FLORIDA LAW

Attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith isn’t involved in Freitag’s case but represents clients in insurance disputes and with homeowner insurance claims.

Anthony-Smith said homeowners should always ask for a detailed estimate before hiring a company.

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“Read over the estimate and make sure you understand it,” Anthony-Smith said. “If there is anything on that estimate that you don’t understand and you ask your contractor about it and they can’t explain it, don’t go with that contractor.”

She also pointed to what she believes is a gap in Florida law. She said insurance companies should be required to give homeowners information about their rights when they file a claim.

“Maybe when somebody initially files a claim the insurance company should be sending them a letter, these are your rights, because remember your insurance company is also supposed to be your advocate, she added.

REACHING A RESOLUTION

After Susan Solves It reached out to Paul Davis, the company contacted Freitag. Both said they reached a resolution.

Freitag said Paul Davis cut nearly $12,000 from the final bill.

“I’m not here to fight I’m just here to get my life going,” Freitag said. “I’d just like to wash my hands of this, this is something I would not wish on anybody.”

Paul Davis wouldn’t address how much money was taken off the bill. The company owner sent the following in an email:

• It was a mutual decision between Ms Freitag and Paul Davis Restoration of Pasco to end the contract. There were delays in the beginning of the process, as there always are with a fire restoration project of this magnitude, because it takes time to wait for third-party engineering reports, compile a line-item detailed reconstruction estimate, submit it to the insurance adjuster and corroborate back and forth to get an agreed-to scope and cost. We were moving along as fast as possible, but we had not started with the reconstruction before terminating the contract and settling up with Ms Freitag for services and materials performed. When were in the demolition stage of the project, Ms Freitag had requested a substantial change order that would have affected the approved scope of work by her insurance carrier, (which included moving walls, upgrading windows and insulation rating). She had asked for several revisions to the change order along the way, which we obliged. This change order would have affected the permitting and engineering process, as revisions needed to be made, and thus more time before commencing reconstruction. Up until end of contract she still had not made a final decision on the change order.
  
• We did not start the reconstruction phase of the project, so we had not pulled a permit yet due to the pending change order(s). That would have been our next step in the process if we/she decided to move forward with the reconstruction of her home. She had requested to make adjustments to the rating of her insulation and structural changes, of which the energy calculations and adjustments to the scope of work would have affected what needed to be submitted for the permit. She never made a final decision.
  
• We addressed all of her billing concerns. Our final invoice reflected only work completed. This has since been resolved in the final invoices.
  
• We went through all of the line items with Ms Freitag, which were approved by her insurance adjuster and paid for by her insurance company, and we ultimately came to a final agreement with her. She signed a certificate of satisfaction.