{"id":418263,"date":"2026-10-04T05:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418263\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T05:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:20:17","slug":"florida-veteran-paid-in-full-for-hurricane-ian-roof-then-faced-fines-over-unfinished-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418263\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida veteran paid in full for Hurricane Ian roof, then faced fines over unfinished work"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North Fort Myers veteran says she paid off the cost of Hurricane Ian roof repairs, but the job still isn’t fully wrapped up \u2014 and now she could face fines, according to WINK News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know<\/p>\n

Sue Kuhns hired Veterans Roofing to fix storm damage at her North Fort Myers home.<\/p>\n

The company completed most of the roof work but never finished the soffits and eaves, and the permit later expired without a final inspection.<\/p>\n

Kuhns already made her final payment, but she is still scheduled to appear before a hearing examiner on Oct. 5. The code case, tied to the incomplete project, could lead to fines.<\/p>\n

Kuhns told WINK News that repeated efforts to contact the company were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

“[The owner] wasn’t answering any of my phone calls or my text messages off of either of her phone numbers.”<\/p>\n

In comments to WINK News, Veterans Roofing owner Melanie Hotle claimed she was renewing her county license and planned to arrange the final inspection afterward.<\/p>\n

But records cited by the station told a different story.<\/p>\n

More background<\/p>\n

Kuhns said she paid as if the repair job were complete, yet the consequences of the unfinished work and unresolved permit have fallen on her through code enforcement.<\/p>\n

“Why should I come out of my pocket when I’m not the one that messed up?” she told the station.<\/p>\n

“They’re the professionals. I’m not. I’m just a veteran trying to make it in the world.”<\/p>\n

Kuhns described that imbalance bluntly.<\/p>\n

“Now, code enforcement is trying to nail me because they didn’t do a final inspection,” she told WINK News.<\/p>\n

What can be done?<\/p>\n

Hotle maintained that she would “take care of it before Oct. 1.”<\/p>\n

However, county records the station reviewed still did not show an updated license or newly pulled permits.<\/p>\n

Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n

Storm-related home repairs can go sideways in myriad ways. These stories cover Florida insurance fallout after a storm, FEMA-related repair disputes, and battles over stronger replacement roofs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In Florida, Hurricane Helene raised fears of an insurance crisis for millions<\/a> after widespread damage.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A homeowner accused an HOA of not using FEMA funds<\/a> to repair hurricane-damaged roads.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Homeowners pushed back after an HOA tried to stop a hurricane-proof roof installation<\/a> on their property.<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Fort Myers veteran says she paid off the cost of Hurricane Ian roof repairs, but the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-418263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}