Contractor Faces More Than 60 Fraud Charges

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- A Boca Raton man remained in jail Thursday night after being accused of swindling more than $100,000 from people who wanted remodeling work done.

Doug Livingston was facing more than 60 charges of ripping off customers in Broward County. Now he's facing larceny and fraud charges in Palm Beach County, and more people have come forward saying they've been scammed.

Heather Simmons said she hired Livingston's contracting company, Home Team Advantage, to work on an addition to her house. She said they spent two and a half years doing nothing.

Simmons said she hired Home Team Advantage of Delray Beach in May 2006, giving $30,000 in checks to Livingston. She said it took the company an entire year to get the permits to build.

"Then he tried to blame it on me, telling me that I never told them what type of a roof we were going to use," Simmons said.

She said the pace only dropped off from there. Simmons said she felt like she'd been had, and she's not alone.

There are so many people with complaints about Home Team Advantage that one man started a Web site titled HomeTeamDisadvantage.com.

Dan Sutton said he discovered the Web site after losing $6,000 to Livingston.

Sutton said he was thrilled to see his case play prominently as Delray Beach police arrested the 41-year-old when he arrived for work this week.

"There's a lot of people out there that do business the right way and make a good living," Sutton said. "He could have, but he chooses to scam people."

Sutton said he hired new contractors, and so has Simmons.

Since Livingston's been in jail, his $50,000 bond was raised to $100,000.

Home Team Advantage's president hasn't returned WPBF News 25's calls or e-mails in several weeks.