At Terri Darr’s rental home on Manasota Key, Hurricane Milton took the deck that was once outside and forced it inside.
The storm destroyed her beloved oceanfront property.
“We are at about 4- to 5-foot elevation here, and I think the house was completely underwater,” she said. “It’s very sad. Very, very sad.”
But over the past several months, Milton wasn't the only storm she and her business partner were weathering.
RENTAL OWNERS, RENTERS OWED MONEY: ‘THEY JUST STOPPED PAYING’
Darr said the company they have used to manage the rental home on Manasota Key still owes them nearly $23,000 for bookings from 2024.
“We've gotten none of it. We got none of the $23,000. They just stopped paying,” she explained. “We feel like we've been scammed.”
And not just that.
The rental was booked for this year’s busy season, too, and people who paid ahead — like Ron Jewell — haven’t been able to get their deposits back.
He’s owed nearly $12,000.
“I have virtually no hope of getting any money back,” Jewell said. “But I'd like to see the 'perpetrator' suffer some kind of pain.”
South at Hickory Bay West in Bonita Springs, the condos are still intact after the storm.
But Alan Bush said he, too, is owed money from the same company. He never got the nearly $12,000 he was due for bookings at his condo in 2024.
“You lose faith in humanity,” Bush said. “You live your whole life, and you never experience things like this."
LAWSUITS, MORE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE COMPANY IN QUESTION
In each case, the company in question is Island Attitude near Manasota Key. Its office was also destroyed by Hurricane Milton.
Florida business records show Island Attitude was taken over in 2022 by Graham and Jamie Greene, who are listed as the CEO and president for other companies as well, including IPG Professional Management and IPG Franchising.
Those who’ve spoken to Gulf Coast News aren’t the only ones who allege they're owed money.
In Lee, Charlotte and Osceola County — where IPG is based — more than half a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the Greenes, their companies or a combination thereof, accusing them of owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in total.
That’s from just those three counties. Only some of the suits have been resolved.
Meanwhile, Florida's attorney general received eight complaints about IPG Florida Vacation Homes in 2024.
The Better Business Bureau has received even more complaints than that.
“We have 50 complaints over the past three years, 28 in the last 12 months,” Holly Salmons, president of that chapter of the BBB, told Gulf Coast News.
The BBB notes that IPG changed the name of one of its companies to Platinum Vacation Villas. Alternate names listed are IPG Professional Management Inc. and IPG Florida Vacation Homes. IPG Franchising is listed as a related business.
The company has an F-rating with the BBB, which revoked its accreditation in November, and has a 1-star review from customers.
“The common theme though, really, is a failed follow-through and a challenge in communicating with the business,” Salmons said.
COMPANY BLAMES PANDEMIC, HURRICANES FOR ‘SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL SETBACKS’
Gulf Coast News eventually was able to get in touch with the Greenes and even scheduled an interview to ask questions, but their attorneys stopped it from happening.
“With regard to the pending claims, suffice it to say that the recent pandemic coupled with the multiple hurricanes that have severely impacted Southwest Florida, our clients’ businesses have suffered significant financial setbacks and losses,” their attorneys wrote in an email to Gulf Coast News.
“Be assured that with regard to legitimate unpaid claims, our client is working diligently to make arrangements to satisfy those claims. Similarly, with regard to the pending lawsuits, our clients have instructed us to work toward amicable resolutions of those matters where the plaintiff’s have meritorious claims and to defend those where the plaintiffs do not.”
“Once again, our clients remain committed to amicably resolving those matters involving legitimate claims. Unfortunately, due to the severe losses our clients have experienced, an immediate full resolution of all matters is not possible. To the extent we have not done so already, our office will reach out to each of the individuals who have contacted you to attempt to reasonably resolve those matters.”
Those still waiting for money, like Darr, wonder what happened with the money they're owed. She remains doubtful they’ll ever be paid.
Her rental home is set to be demolished this week.
“I hope people realize, if IPG is selling franchises and continuing to do business, that people will choose not to use them,” Darr said.
“It's frustrating as can be,” Bush said. “Where else do you go? I've been to every government agency that I know of. Legally, I've pursued it that way. And we've done everything that we're supposed to do. And we're just losing money.”