Local10, Chris Gothner, June 8, 2023
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Homestead police were seeking more potential victims after they said a husband-wife pair of unlicensed contractors defrauded an 80-year-old disabled Navy veteran out of $10,000 for a fraudulent remodeling job and left her kitchen in ruins.
Police arrested Mariby Martinez Rodriguez, 50, the registered owner of Yes Pro Services Inc. and Rodolfo Perez Sanchez, 51, an employee who represents himself as the second owner of the company, on Thursday, officials said. The pair reside in Miami-Dade County.
Police said Eileen Haran hired the pair to remodel her kitchen, was quoted $20,000 for the job, and paid Yes Pro Services a $10,000 deposit. The company is registered to a home in west Miami-Dade.
The process initially seemed promising, but “as time progressed, it became evident that Yes Pro Services Inc had deceived her, leaving her kitchen in a state of disarray and herself in financial distress,” Capt. Fernando Morales, a Homestead Police Department spokesperson, said in a news release.
Haran got nothing but “excuses or unanswered calls” and her kitchen was left in shambles for two years, Morales said.
She alerted police, who conducted a joint investigation with Miami-Dade County’s Contractor Licensing Enforcement Section, authorities said.
Morales said the couple, who also own a company called Yes Roofing, “misrepresented to the victim that they were a licensed company,” “swindled” her out of $10,000 and refused to return the deposit on multiple occasions.
The pair face charges of grand theft by a contractor, contractor fraud and falsely advertising as a licensed contractor.
He said Haran is “hopeful that she will be able to get her deposit back and find a trustworthy company who is able to help her complete her kitchen remodel and enjoy her retirement.”
Anyone who thinks they may have been victimized by the duo is asked to call Homestead police at 305-247-1535, authorities said.