LA County contractor accused of defrauding families in home remodeling projects

After saving for more than a decade to remodel her home, the last place Adriana Mcgowen thought her family would spend most of their time was the garage.

"For the last 14-15 months, this has been our living room, TV room, playroom," she said.

McGowen said she met contractor Rick Ramirez through her kids' preschool. She hired him in June 2024 to remodel her downstairs and kitchen. She said it was supposed to be done by November. 

"We've spent, to date, with Dezign Construction, close to $450,000," West Hills resident Andrea McGowen said. "We paid for appliances, Tesla wall battery, fireplace, other materials up front and they were never produced."

McGowen claims Ramirez started pressing her for large payments after she hired him.

"Here's the $77,000 that he invoiced us for our appliances," McGowen said while showing CBSLA invoices from Ramirez. "Here is the check we wrote to him in June 2024 for the appliances, and it was cashed at Jim's Check Cashing."

McGowen said the appliances never made it to her house. She also claimed Ramirez didn't pay workers.

"We would have a drywall person here for three days and then all of a sudden they would leave and not come back," she said. "When I would see them again, I would ask what happened, and they said, 'Well, Rick didn't pay me."

McGowen isn't the only one who says she was left devastated by Ramirez.

"I don't know how people like this get away with it, but there were no protections for my mother," Cynthia Rios said. 

Rios said her mother, Ana Fetterhoff, hired Ramirez in 2022 to build an accessory dwelling unit on her Burbank property. However, like McGowen, Ramirez allegedly began asking for large up-front payments.

"From the first initial visit, he requested $1,000," Rios said. "Then, I believe, it was $20,000 or $30,000 right after that. The following day, another $30,000."

Almost three years later, and more than $100,000 in cashed checks, she said the job remains unfinished and their driveway is covered in dirt. 

"We did a change order, and this was in May 2024, to put concrete and drains, and also do the driveway," Rios said. "To this day, that was never done. Check was cashed May 2024, and still nothing done."

Fetterhoff filed a complaint against Ramirez with the Contractors State License Board.

"Because of this, she was unable to fully retire," Rios said.

The California licensing board lists the Dezign Construction license as suspended since February and now expired. The board cities a lack of qualifier as the reason behind the suspension, meaning the business doesn't have someone who meets the experience and exam requirements set by the state.  

"There's an ongoing investigation in Dezign Construction Inc," Katherine White, a CSLB spokesperson, wrote to CBS LA. "However, it's early in the investigation, and CSLB is unable to provide any details."

Former clients have also filed complaints against the construction company with the Better Business Bureau, which stated that Dezign Construction is not BBB-accredited. The BBB gave the Ramirez's company a C- rating. 

Public records showed that Ramirez filed for bankruptcy in March. The office space listed for his company in Agoura Hills is now vacant. 

He told CBS LA in a text that he would not speak on camera because of pending litigation. 

Rios and McGowen said they had to spend more money to finish the work Ramirez never completed. 

"There's nobody I know that works harder than her," Rios said about her mother. "This is why it is frustrating. He does this. He has no empathy, none. No accountability has been taken."

McGowen filed a lawsuit against Ramirez. She said the toughest part about the ordeal isn't the money, but what the failed renovation has put her kids through.

"I get emotional," she said. "They cry every day. They want their house back, and they don't have it."

The CSLB recommended that customers check contractors' licenses on its website. It also recommended limiting the down payment for work to no more than 10% of the contract price or $1,000, whichever is less, and to never pay in full until the job is done.