Alachua county commissioners denied the reinstatement of a company they say misled many homeowners in the county

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -Homeowners in Alachua county aren’t sure what the future holds after the county denied the reinstatement of a company that was responsible for their home improvements.

The company “Ygrene” had an agreement with the county to offer many homeowners financing for home improvements aimed at conserving energy.

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Those improvements came with tax liens but, homeowners weren’t happy with the final results.

“I had a roof and my roof actually failed inspection 3 times before the city approved it,” said homeowner Jennifer Steshin. “I’m not happy with the quality of it but that’s what I have. So when we talk about the value of what I have, I don’t think I got the value of what I paid for.”

The company teamed up with contractors who vet homeowners in the area.

The county started the program back in 2015 but later discontinued it in august of 2021 after multiple complaints about the company’s aggressive sales tactics and poor home improvements.

However, the company continued with projects on 47 additional homes.

“Well that was really the issue, at the time some of the folks were mistakenly thinking that Alachua county was involved in this financing and we aren’t, said county commissioner Ken Cornell. “We have certain standards and they weren’t meeting them, so we ended the program. I don’t want to say taken advantage of but they were operating under a program that no longer existed.”

‘Ygrene’ asked commissioners for the reinstatement of the program and help with the 700 thousand dollar bill-- but the request was denied.

Commissioners say the county’s attorney will send letters to homeowners involved to answer any unresolved questions.

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