Sarasota window company declares bankruptcy, owes more than $1.2M

The owner of a now-defunct Sarasota window and door company has filed for bankruptcy, and Sarasota County has revoked his ability to pull permits in the county following a disciplinary hearing. 

The two moves are the latest developments in the case of the company, Sash & Sill, and its owner, Todd Hoch, after he informed customers in mid-July he was going out of business. The unraveling of Sash & Sill led to dozens of upset customers who have lost thousands of dollars in deposits. Those clients sparked law enforcement investigations at the local and state levels.

Hoch and Sash & Sill filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida Aug. 14, court records show. The filing came more than a month after Hoch announced to customers by email that he planned to shutter and declare bankruptcy.

In a separate case, Hoch was found guilty Aug. 15 of fraud, abandonment and taking money for construction but not applying for a permit or starting work by the Sarasota County General Contractors Licensing and Examining Board.

Sarasota County brought the charges against Hoch after receiving a complaint from a homeowner who put down a $19,560 deposit for windows and doors that were not received. The board ruled the penalty for Hoch would be that he could no longer pull permits in the county.

After the board meeting, Hoch told the Business Observer he is not planning to work in construction again.

“This whole process has been a nightmare,” Hoch says of winding down his business. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done by far.”

Lost deposits

In July, Hoch says, he had to let go of the Sash & Sill staff, which ranged from 20 to 30 people, because the business had run out of money.

Part of the challenge was a cash-flow issue, according to Hoch. Usually, he says, he had been able to pay for windows and doors from distributors after jobs were complete. But recently, “we had to pay in full for new material” ahead of time, he says, which meant he had to use money from new jobs to pay for materials for older orders.

Eight people shared during the public comment portion of the licensing and examination board hearing that they lost up to $24,000 in deposits to Sash & Sill. Customers include: 

• Retired teacher Debbie Beck says she used a small inheritance from her father to put down the deposit on her windows. She signed a contract April 10 with Sash & Sill for nearly $6,500. Then, when she went to get her credit card, she was told she had to pay with a check. “Right away, I got a pit in my stomach,” Beck says. When her windows never arrived, she called and emailed to find out what happened. Ultimately, she says: ”I knew I would never see that money.”
• Gretchen Sauer, who owns Shasta Development on Siesta Key with her husband, had a similar experience. She wrote a check for $24,000 on March 13 as a deposit for three sets of sliders. When July rolled around, she says she had “such a bad feeling in my stomach that something was wrong" that she drove to Sash & Sill to investigate. She found out the exterior doors, which she described as the "big-ticket item," had not been ordered.
• A North Venice resident says work at his home was partially completed when he got a lien put on his house since Sash & Sill did not pay the distributor, Director Window & Door, for the products.

In his bankruptcy filing, Hoch lists dozens of customers from Bradenton to Punta Gorda who paid deposits for unfinished work. He says his clients spanned Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.

When asked what he would want to tell customers who lost their deposits, Hoch says: “It was never intentional. It was situational.”

Declaring bankruptcy

Although Hoch told customers in a July 10 email that he planned to file for bankruptcy, he said in an email to the Business Observer in late July that he was waiting so he could complete orders for outstanding work.

Photo by Elizabeth King

In a statement issued in mid-August, Hoch says he has done what he could for his customers.

“During the past weeks, I have worked diligently, without pay, to do as much as possible to help in every way possible,” Hoch says in an Aug. 15 statement he prepared to address customers. He wanted to read it at the general contractors licensing and examining hearing, he says, but he arrived after the public comment period had ended. “Both myself and the staff have managed to deliver almost all the material that was received in our warehouse. I issued the refunds with the remaining monies left,” he says.

In his bankruptcy filing, Hoch estimates he owes more than $1.2 million to 100 to 199 creditors. Most debts were from building materials and loans. 

Among his top creditors are the following:

• Direct Window & Door of Sarasota — $153,712 for business materials
• Fusion Funding of Miami — $253,159 for a merchant cash advance loan
• QFS Capital LLC of Albany, New York — $238,195 for a merchant cash advance loan
• U.S. Small Business Administration — $149,581 for a loan
• Woodgrain Building Products of Davenport, Polk County — $157,661 for business materials

A Zoom meeting of the creditors is planned for Sept. 18, court records show.

Hoch estimates in the bankruptcy filing he has about $442,098 worth of assets, including a 2020 Mercedes C43 he told the Business Observer he planned to surrender Aug. 16. (The price range for that Mercedes is $27,000 to $47,000, according to several auto sale websites.) He also says in the filing that he earned $90,000 each year in 2023 and 2022 from Sash & Sill and made $51,923 so far this year.

Hoch owns 62% of Sash & Sill, according to the bankruptcy filing. It does not say who the other owner is. However, a Sarasota man named Adalberto Salazar claims to own 38 to 40% of the company in a lawsuit he filed against Hoch in 2023 alleging breach of fiduciary duty. Hoch requested the case be stayed Aug. 14, given he has filed for bankruptcy. A civil jury trial is tentatively set for Oct. 21 in Sarasota County Circuit Court.

"Some of the factors that contributed to our closing were predatory lending, office floods and a frivolous lawsuit from my previous business partner," Hoch says in a statement provided to the Business Observer. "I asked the partner to match a portion of my contributions in efforts to save the business. He refused to contribute and instead filed a lawsuit. We operated at a loss for months last year due to a decrease in sales and circumstances outside my control."

Lawsuits, investigations proceed

The lawsuit involving the alleged co-owner of Sash & Sill is not the only case involving Hoch in the judicial system.

A couple in Palmer Ranch filed in small claims court after they said they paid $7,500 by check for seven windows that were never ordered. A pretrial conference held Aug. 14 is to be continued Sept. 25 in Sarasota County, court records show.

Hoch is also being sued in Monroe County, New York, where lender QFS Capital LLC alleges he owes more than $200,000. 

Meanwhile, both state and local agencies, prompted by disgruntled customers, have opened investigations into Hoch and his business.

As of Aug. 19, the Office of the Attorney General reports it has received about 50 complaints and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office had nine complaints against Sash & Sill and Hoch. The case could potentially be a criminal matter, officials say.

 "Currently detectives are still receiving and reviewing any complaints regarding Sash and Sill," sheriff's office spokesperson Dana Judge says in an Aug. 16 email. "They are waiting on requested documentation before definitively determining if there are criminal cases."

The investigations are ongoing.

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This article was updated to include the most recent information from the Office of the Attorney General.