Where is home? FOX 4 is investigating.

LEE COUNTY, FL. Families across Lee County are feeling lost and frustrated after placing their trust in Black Wolf Homes, a Fort Myers company that specializes in manufactured homes. Many paid large sums of money hoping to recover from Hurricane Ian or start over, but their homes were never built.

WATCH PART 1 OF THE INVESTIGATION AS ANVAR RUZIEV ON FOX 4 LISTENS TO FAMILIES REMEMBERING THEIR DEAL WITH THE BLACK WOLF HOUSES:

Families are left waiting: Black Wolf Homes takes their money, but does not build houses

WATCH PART 2 OF INVESTIGATION WHERE FOX 4’S ANVAR RUZIEV CONFROWS BLACK WOLF STAFF TO GET ANSWERS FROM CLIENTS:

Confronting the “black wolf” houses: searching for answers amid accusations of fraud

Greg and Zhanna Lazarev of Iona lost their mobile home to Hurricane Jan. Desperate to rebuild, they believed that the House of the Black Wolf was the perfect solution.

“When he told us that in eight months he could guarantee that we would move into our new flood proof home and you would never suffer from a flood again. You can imagine the relief for us, he was God, something sent from heaven, I mean that’s it, that’s all our answers,” they said.

Two years later, their lot remains empty. The Lazarevs claim they paid Black Wolf about $140,000, but the company never turned over the money to the mobile home manufacturer.

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“They said that the money would be sent tomorrow, so I released the money, and the manufacturer still hasn’t received the money,” they explained.

On Pine Island, Brenda and Walter Falk have a similar story. It took them almost eight months to figure out that Black Wolf never sent the money to the manufacturer. They hired a new contractor and things moved quickly.

“It just went into production today,” they said. When asked how long it took, they replied:

“Day? It’s going to take 4-5 weeks to build, but he came here this week, we gave him a deposit, he sent it in and it’s already started.”

To pay for the second building, Walt and Brenda had to retire.

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“We went back to work, we had to go back to work now because now we’ve lost all this money and now we have to pay again for someone to come out and do it – it’s like we’re paying for the house twice,” they they said.

In North Fort Myers, Joe Papini found his home partially built but far from complete. Almost a year after he paid for it, the house still doesn’t have electricity, running water or even stairs.

“I will retire soon and live comfortably in a house. I’ll have to collect all the money again, I don’t have any. Me and my son will both be homeless on the streets, thank you. Black Wolf,” he said.

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The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Black Wolf Homes is under investigation for fraud.

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Court documents show Black Wolf filed for bankruptcy in August, leaving customers like the Lazarevs feeling they would never see their money again.

“We didn’t build a mansion for the elderly, where we were going to come once a year, it was our permanent home, which we lost. We paid with our savings that we saved up for this house, and that’s it, it’s gone,” the Lazarevs said. said.

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On top of everything else, a mobile home corporation called Homes of America is suing Black Wolf for nearly $9 million. The lawsuit alleges that Black Wolf promised to deliver 240 used mobile homes but delivered only 29. The lawsuit also alleges that after owner Steven Game received the money, he and his wife Trista Carter used her company, GC Properties of Arcadia for purchase for nearly $7 million. real estate value.

When I went to the Black Wolf Homes office to get answers, a man greeted me at the door, telling me that he did not work for the company and that the employee inside would not come out to talk.

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I ended up talking to a staff member inside. Her name is Lana Dargay, and she says that Black Wolf is working on getting everyone’s money back. When I looked into her background, I discovered that she was arrested in 2015 on charges of fraud and theft. The Florida Department of Financial Services says she stole more than $700,000 in real estate funds.

Through Dargay, I was able to contact Black Wolf owner Steven Game. He didn’t want to talk to me, but he referred me to his lawyer, Justin Luna, who told me over the phone:

Bankruptcy documents show Black Wolf owes more than $11 million in unsecured claims. The largest project is by Homes of America, costing nearly $9 million.

Lee County residents say Black Wolf continued to attract new customers. The Hernandez family of Bonita Springs says they paid a company to build their first home, but it remained unfinished.

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“It’s hard for us because we have four kids and they’re on the bus home from school and they see their house and they get upset because at first it was exciting, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s my house!’ and he’s still just sitting there and they’re like, what’s going on? So it’s really hard,” said Shanna Presnell and William Hernandez.

In Lehigh Acres, Sean Philyaw and his wife have a similar story. He says they paid Black Wolf about $24,000 in bail almost two years ago and have nothing to show for it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get my money back, but I firmly believe that karma will come back in some form,” he said.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office also said they have received eight complaints against Black Wolf Homes since January.

Fox 4 will continue to investigate and bring you more updates as the story develops.