‘Enough stress’: Truck crashes into house, family complains about contractor fixing home

HICKORY, N.C. — Candas and Danny Sexton say their neighbor’s truck ended up in their living room in 2024.

“All of a sudden ... this big bam. Everything went black,” Candas said.

She told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke the vehicle ended up where their daughter usually sits.

“It would’ve killed her ... it makes me weak all over. I mean she’s my baby,” she said. “I would have died if something would’ve happened to her. I mean God was definitely looking out because it would’ve killed her.”

She hired a company to fix the house -- First Restoration America -- and says insurance cut the check, almost all of it. The company did a lot of work inside. But 15 months after the accident, the outside still wasn’t.

Even worse: Sexton says the business didn’t pay a subcontractor, so the subcontractor got a lien on their home.

“I’ve got enough stress,” Candas said. “Every day. Every day. Every day. I mean, it’s unreal.”

Things sped up after Action 9 got involved. On April 20, Sexton reported back the work was almost done.

The Company’s Response

First Restoration emailed Action 9 multiple times over several weeks. They said the Sextons hired a company to “board up the property,” then hired First Restoration. So that was “the first delay.” Then First Restoration “encountered challenges scheduling asbestos testing” and “with [the Sextons’] billing.” Then “there were additional delays due to the mortgage company’s slow release of funds.” The business also “faced complications with the door installation.” First Restoration says they were “funding the remaining work out of our own resources to ensure the project moves forward” and they were “committed to completing this project.”

Here are all of the company’s complete emails to Action 9:

The business emailed Action 9 on February 16, saying: “For starters please rest assure we’ll be in touch with Mrs.Sexton today to try and get a game plan to move forward. Her situation is a little different and was very difficult to get the funds needed to move forward. She had a previous company that needed to be fired by her because they didn’t move along correctly. Although it took some time for the insurance to fund the project, the holdup has been her mortgage company. She has a very unique mortgage and every payment takes up to 2 months or more to be released. This is something she’s very frustrated with also. We re in the final stages of her project and we re trying to reduce the time her mortgage company releases funds when completed. We re a small company and to wait for our payment after completion over or around 2 months is difficult. This isn’t something she can pay out of pocket so we have to make be careful that the project is covered and all funds get released. That aside, we want to finish this for her also. We will reach out this morning, and get a good schedule setup with her.”

The business emailed Action 9 on March 3, saying: “We ve been in communication with her and have a schedule setup. She needed to contact her mortgage company to get the (inspection) and final moneys. As a company we can’t move forward without that ironed out. It’s been a struggle with the length of time it takes. We also have been back to her home, but she was unfortunately sick and her husband didn’t have the correct information. Mrs. Sexton only received information the other day from her mortgage company. Not sue why she’d say this isn’t progressing forward. I’ll once again reach out to her to see what’s going on.”

The business emailed Action 9 again the same day, saying:

“Just so you’re aware. Every inspection goes as follows.

*Mrs.Sexton calls in (5days to setup from mortgage)

*Inspector is contacted. ( 14 days to come out)

*Inspector has 14 days to submit report

*Mortgage company has 14 days to review

*7 days to release funds.

We be had to go through this I believe 3 or times. Unfortunately Mrs Sexton doesn’t have the funds and we have to wait till she gets them to proceed. We start prior to her getting money so it saves times in an effort to help. But it will takes a while. Just wanted you to understand the dynamics."

The business emailed Action 9 on March 20, saying: “She has money that the insurance carrier is holding as depreciation and the mortgage company is holding also. I’ll send this to you to share with Mrs.Sexton. We had shared this with her also. I’ll send to you what’s been done and paid for and what’s left on work itself. This will be compared to moneys owed.”

The business emailed Action 9 on March 24, saying: “Thank you for reaching out regarding the project timeline and our progress to date. I want to provide a clear overview of the circumstances that have impacted the schedule and clarify the current standing of the work. First, it is important to note that we were not the initial company engaged on this project. The homeowner previously contracted another company to board up the property; however, after their work was completed, they did not respond to her further inquiries, which caused the first delay. When we took over, we encountered challenges scheduling asbestos testing with one of our sub-contractors. These scheduling issues led to further delays, and we also experienced complications with their billing. I am pleased to report that these billing matters have now been resolved. Subsequently, there were additional delays due to the mortgage company’s slow release of funds, which was beyond our control and significantly impacted our ability to proceed in a timely manner. Additionally, because the customer preferred not to pay for any expenses out of pocket, we were required to wait for funds to be released before continuing with certain aspects of the project. We also faced complications with the door installation. The homeowner initially selected a door and provided a screenshot to us and her insurance company. After the door was ordered, she changed her preference. Fortunately, we were able to return the original door and secure the correct one she wanted. However, this change created compatibility issues with the existing lockset and deadbolt. Insurance had only approved a detach and reset for these items, but they are not compatible with the new door, so the homeowner will need to purchase a new lockset and deadbolt at her own expense. According to the attached highlighted insurance estimate, there is only $6,853.68 of work left to be completed (with the brickwork scheduled for completion on 03/25/2026). However, we are still owed $10,092.68. As a result, we are currently funding the remaining work out of our own resources to ensure the project moves forward. We are committed to completing this project and have worked diligently to overcome each challenge as it arose. While there have been delays outside of our direct control, we have continued to prioritize the homeowner’s needs and the quality of the work being performed.”

The business emailed Action 9 on March 25, saying: “Mrs. Sexton has a reverse mortgage on her home and are the lien holders for the property. So when the insurance company releases money it’s in Mrs. Sexston name and the mortgage company’s name. She received funds at her home. From there it has to be sent to the mortgage company. We have to send paperwork from First Restoration to get money released. They’ll only release money if work is completed to a point. This is the process I had explained that takes almost 2 months. Between insurance release, Mrs. Sexton mailing , mortgage company reviewing and receiving , inspection , then payment mailed back out to Mrs Sexton, then she pays us from there. We as a company have about 100 hours in office staff work. This is mostly dealing with her mortgage company that we can’t even bill for. I know she’s calling you complaining but we ve done so much helping through this !! Mrs. Sextons fully aware of all this process as it’s been explained countless times. She just wants her home finished and we can completely understand that. We just have to be sure funds are there for the work we re doing. Her project is extremely unique on the back end. Please let us know if anything else is needed.”

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Advice for seeking contractors

Stoogenke says if you’re hiring a contractor:

• Do your homework. Ask people for recommendations. He likes asking real estate agents if you know one. They’re great resources.
• You may want to talk to a lawyer.
• You can report the company to the state licensing board.
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• If you exhaust all your other options and live in N.C., there’s always the N.C. Homeowners Recovery Fund.

What to know about the North Carolina Homeowners Recovery Fund:

• The project has to involve your home, not a commercial building.
• It can be your primary residence or a second home, as long as you don’t rent that home out.
• The project has to be attached to your home, so not a pool or detached garage, for example.
• The contractor has to be a licensed one or one pretending to be licensed.
• You have to exhaust all your other legal remedies first. That means you have to sue the contractor and win a judgment, and the contractor still doesn’t pay.
• Where does the fund get its money? $9 of every permit pulled in the state goes into the fund.
• The maximum you can get is 10% of the total. But the Board has to maintain $250,000 in the pot at all times.
• The Board has hearings twice each year.

South Carolina has a surety bond requirement for all licensees whereby the board can sieze and award some or all of the bond if a licensed contractor is found to be in violation.

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