Another Colorado homeowner shares similar experience with contractor fraud following CBS Colorado reporting
Leesa Tori's Denver home has come a long way since she first embarked on a massive renovation project.
CBS Colorado's Gabriela Vidal speaks with homeowner Leesa Tori.
CBS
"It was the entire house, so about 2,500 square feet," said Tori.
The process of demoing and remodeling her home, however, became more of a nightmare than she could have ever expected.
The renovations started in June 2023 after she and her architect vetted multiple contractors. She ultimately went with Joel Cooner's Company, Cooner Construction LLC to handle the $350,000 renovation.
"Things seemed like they were moving along okay, but then things were seeming odd, like they brought a ton of lumber and it sat out in the weather for months," said Tori. "Then, nobody came, except for Joel every once in a while, over a weekend working by himself, and I started getting nervous."
Tori rented a trailer from a friend, anticipating only to be living in it for about 4-6 months while renovations inside her home were completed. Instead, however, she ended up spending about 19 months inside the trailer with uncertainty about when this project would finally be done.
At this point, Tori had already spent close to $300,000 on the project.
"Things that were completed, a lot had to be redone," she said. "One day I started trying to figure out how much would it cost if Cooner abandoned me.
It is only after she hired a new construction company that the project finally moved forward. However, it came at the expense of everything Tori had saved up.
"It cost me three times as much to finish the property, and all I could do was cash out on my retirement. I just didn't have any options," she said.
Leesa Tori claims a contractor failed to complete a renovation on her home, costing her hundreds of thousands more.
Leesa Tori
On top of spending more to finish her house, subcontractors tasked to fulfill some of the construction started popping up claiming Cooner never paid them for work done on the house.
"The framer put a lien on the property, tried to come here to collect it," said Tori. "Then, when I had to refinance the house to get whatever I could out of it, to pay to finish it, they're like, 'Oh, you have a $5,000 lien from the framer,' and I already paid that."
Tori ultimately filed a complaint against Cooner, but only reached a settlement that would have been enough to pay one of the subcontractors who never received the payment they were supposed to have.
"It's absolutely devastating. I'm 59, thought I'd be retiring in a few years, I have no retirement, no nothing," she said.
A sinking feeling that all came back to the surface when Tori learned through CBS Colorado's reporting there were others who suffered a similar situation as she did with the same construction company.
"I sobbed pretty hard when I first read it," said Tori. "It's not just me, he's defrauding other people, I just felt not so alone."
Cooner and his attorney still have not responded to multiple requests for comment over the last week about the cases in which his company allegedly took customers' payment and did not finish their construction projects.
"Nothing that's going to bring back the hundreds of thousands of dollars that I've lost, I don't have a plan for that," said Tori.
While her home is much more complete today, there are still aspects of the home that have yet to be completed, such as additional framing, adding shower doors, and filling in holes on her ceiling. However, finding the means to afford those things will be a challenge.
Piles of lumber outside of Leesa Tori's home.
Leesa Tori
She says she may even be forced to sell the property to ultimately pay off the debt she now has.
"It breaks my heart to think about that. I'm trying to really figure out another way," she said. "I just had visions of all five grandsons playing in the yard, my kids and their spouses together."
However, Tori hopes that by sharing her experience, other victims of contractor fraud can come forward as well and motivate policy changes that protect consumers.
"I kind of wish there was a bigger light being shown on it, because it's really truly devastating," she said.
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