Local News 8 investigates – Local contractor shares his side

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Local News 8 is getting answers about a local contractor who left jobs unfinished and then shut down his business. You can view our first story HERE.

We've spoken with the contractor in question, and taken the complaints of 10 Eastern Idaho homeowners directly to him.

On Jan. 12, Local News 8 received an email from a group of 10 Idaho Falls homeowners who say they are owed money by Re-Lived Construction.

The homeowners on up to the Idaho Attorney General were unable to get in touch with the company's owner and contractor, Brandon Cook.

Even though they were unable to contact Cook, Local News 8 was.

Not only does he admit that his business spiraled out of control, but he says he wants to pay everyone back.

"I'm completely sorry," Brandon Cook told Local News 8 while holding back tears.

"I can't sit here and say, 'you know, be patient...' Even though that's you know, basically that's what I'm asking for... this was never the outcome that I wanted."

Brandon Cook's story begins with his time as a dedicated professional, working 12 to 14 hour days as an RV technician; eventually, he was ready to start his own business so he could spend more time with his family. 

"I started my own thing, and I called it B&B Customs Painting," said Cook.

"...I didn't do a lot of advertising except for on Facebook...basically customers that would contact me was because they were referred to me...from another customer that I had done work for."

Years later, Cook began to work under the company name Re-Lived Construction.

But unlike his first business, Re-Lived Construction was never registered as a contractor with the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.

When we asked Cook why he never registered his company, he said, "I filed the documents that the Secretary of State or the contractors board lady emailed me. I turned those in for that information into them and then I never got anything back."

From there he hired his youngest brother and a friend.

He told Local News 8 they were doing well for a while, but then things took a turn for the worse.

"On February 15, 2020, I was in a snowmobile snowmobile wreck in Preston," Cook told Local News 8.

"Doctors told me if it wasn't for me riding or wearing a protective vest, that I probably wouldn't have survived just because I had cracked a vertebrae in my back. I shattered my left tibia and fibula and I think they counted like 19 pieces."

For more information on Cook's accident, click HERE.

For the next three years Cook says he tried to work with his injury.

 The problem worsened when his brother and his other employee went to work for a different contractor.

Cook told us that was the point where he became unable to keep up with the work, and started using deposits from previous jobs to finish other jobs. 

"My biggest thing was we were trying to bid jobs to be competitive," said Cook.

"...It was costing us more on jobs than what we originally estimated. And trying to cover those was basically using a deposit from our next customer."

That's when he says the civil lawsuits began.

Afterwards, he says his accounts were closed, and he no longer had the money to pay people back.

Holding back tears, he gave us this apology.

"We've listed the house," Cook told Local News 8. "We we just had a showing on Saturday, and my agents told to get back with us today, so hopefully we can get an offer.

"...From there, it's basically once we get an offer, it's basically from there it's like 30 days and we can close and give people their money... and I can I can move on."

Days after our interview, Local News 8 spoke with a non-profit, Life Center for Independent Living. 

They provided us with financial documents, showing Cook took more than $200,000 for a large renovation project, but never showed up. 

Local News 8 called Cook again to ask him about the money.

He told us he never received the funds due to an issue with an online transfer.

However, according to the documents provided by the non-profit, not only did he receive the funds, most of it was paid in a check. 

Coming up tomorrow, Local News 8 sits down with the Bonneville County Prosecutor to highlight the hoops and confusion consumers have to go through when seeking to get legal action.

Watch the full story Friday on Local News 8 at 6 p.m.