A group of homeowners has sued a Central Florida congressional candidate and his home services company, accusing them of installing subpar components in new homes that didn’t meet state and federal safety codes and put residents at risk.
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Joe Strada, a Republican running to represent Congressional District 11, and his company, Strada Services, are the subject of the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Osceola County Circuit Court.
Strada, who lives in Lake Mary, is a political newcomer who made a splash when he entered a local congressional race and then immediately loaned his campaign $5 million, committing at least $1 million to a TV ad campaign called “Full of Crap,” which is his view of Washington, D.C.
The 31-page complaint obtained by the Orlando Sentinel alleges that, during the COVID-19 building boom, contractors faced a shortage of a variety of materials, including federal code-compliant grounding electrode conductor wiring for new homes. The wire is intended to provide a safe path for electricity to travel to earth in the event of a fault or surge. The lawsuit says it “functions as the last line of defense when other safeguards have failed.”
Strada Services substituted a steel core, copper-clad conductor that is not approved for that use, the lawsuit says.
The company used the inadequate material in homes across Central Florida, and the state, “to avoid delays, increase profits, and obtain a market advantage over other electrical contractors by completing projects more quickly than otherwise possible,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The wire looks like copper. It is not,” the complaint reads. “That impostor wire can overheat, arc, and fail — leaving families and property unprotected.”
Homeowners must bear the cost of replacing the subpar wiring, according to the civil class action lawsuit, which seeks payments in excess of $5 million.
Strada and a consultant for his campaign didn’t respond immediately to messages seeking comment on Thursday.
His campaign website says he operates the largest privately held, family-owned air conditioning, electrical, security, and plumbing company in the country, with more than 4,000 employees and annual revenue exceeding $1.1 billion.
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The substitution was concealed from homeowners and building inspectors, the lawsuit says, and impacted thousands of new homes, including residences by well-known builders like Lennar, KB Home, D.R. Horton and Toll Brothers. The properties are located in more than a dozen counties across the state, including Orange, Seminole, Lake and Volusia.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the owners of four homes. One of the homes is in Osceola and two of the others are in Polk County. The address of the fourth residence is redacted from the complaint. The homeowners are suing on behalf of everyone who owns a newly constructed residential home in Florida for which Strada furnished and installed the grounding electrode conductor between Aug. 1, 2020 and May 31, 2022.
Attorney Michael Kelley said the problem came to light when his firm was contacted by three former Strada Services employees. He said he has spent more than a year investigating their concerns, including working with a forensic electrical engineer. The engineer said the unlawful substitution was a problem, but he didn’t think the homes with the subpar wiring were at imminent risk of catching fire.
Kelley focuses on construction litigation and is a shareholder with Lawson Huck Gonzalez. One of the firm’s founders is former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson, a political ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Strada is running in Congressional District 11, currently represented by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster. The district includes much of Lake County, part of west Orange County and all of Sumter County. Strada lives outside the district in Seminole County.
Kelley said the suit was not politically motivated and the timing of its filing was tied to the statute of repose — the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit after an event occurs or is discovered. He said Strada was named in the suit because he is the company’s qualifier, a licensed professional who allows a business entity to legally perform trade work.
“I’m not suggesting he did anything wrong,” Kelley said, adding it is possible he didn’t know his company was completing work that didn’t meet federal and state codes.
Thanks to his loan, Strada, whose campaign website boasts he is a “100% supporter of President Trump,” has more to spend seeking office this year than most candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives across the country, including many incumbents, according to Federal Elections Commission reports.