Lynne Brabo and daughter Wendy Manke

Lynne Brabo and daughter Wendy Manke

A North Alabama homeowner says she is out nearly $20,000 after a roofing company cashed her insurance check without doing any of the work.

"They ruined my life, basically, for the last three or four years, because nothing has been done here," said Lynne Brabo.

She has been living under a leaking roof since 2018, when Camko Roofing started doing some home repairs.

"It just went south immediately. It went crazy south immediately," said Wendy Manke, Brabo's daughter. "He owes my mom money."

It started when Brabo's insurance company wrote her a $19,074.11 check for house repairs. She enlisted Camko Roofing to do the repairs laid out by the insurance company.

"This was the agreement ... 'All repairs per insurance company estimate, including siding, doors, miscellaneous, etc.,'" said Manke.

She said the company started repairing her mother's roof, then suddenly stopped all repairs.

"Gutters were not done, windows not done, doors not done," she said.

They had already taken the insurance money. Somehow, someone at Camko Roofing was able to cash the $19,000 insurance check that had Lynne Brabo's name on the front.

"How did you cash this through your bank? Because your name wasn't on this. Somebody signed a check fraudulently and deposited a check fraudulently," said Manke.

She has tried contacting Camko Roofing, but she said "the company is shut down. There is nobody there. You call Camko, and there's nothing."

The personal number she had for the owner, Will Payne, is also disconnected.

"Winter is coming on again, and I'm gonna have to tape it up so the cold air doesn't come in, and the front door doesn't work. It's got to be replaced. I got two broken windows still," said Brabo.

Manke looked at her mother and said, "Right now, you're gonna have to save up every stinking penny and dime you can to build up what you can and start replacing one thing at a time — which the insurance company won't do anything, because they cut us the check. They cut her the check, and Will Payne took it."

Manke has physical documents showing she has been in contact with the Huntsville magistrate, the sheriff's office and the attorney general's office trying to look for help. Their advice has mainly been to get an attorney, but Manke has been struggling to find someone who specializes in this type of home repair fraud.

All she wants is the insurance money back from Camko Roofing so her mom can get the much-needed home repairs she has done without for years.

WAAY 31 tried contacting Camko Roofing, but the number listed online has been disconnected, the website can no longer be found and the personal number for the owner is out of use.

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