L.A. Green Designs

Cannot say enough good things about Jose & Miguel at LA Green Designs. We purchased and also renovated our first home using them. After a year using another agent, we tried LA Green Designs. They met with us, then picked 3 houses to look at on a weekend with us. One was checked all of our boxes but needed some TLC. They got our offer accepted for $50K under the asking price. We were paying for the purchase and the construction using an obscure Fannie Mae HomeStyle renovation loan, which requires paperwork, headache, and rules for contractors. They didn't mind and went through all the requirements. With several frustrating holdups from our lender they still kept the home purchase deal alive and we closed escrow Jan 2020. They then began the renovation, some of which they started before receiving payments (such as ordering replacement windows and doors for the whole house). They took out a couple of walls, took the kitchen and a bathroom to the studs and fully renovated those, re-finished wood floors throughout, put in new AC, replaced all of the plumbing including drain and sewer lines, put in a new electrical panel and re-wired a good portion of the house, demolished, removed and replace unsafe structures outside, tested and removed asbestos popcorn ceilings throughout, put recessed lighting, repainted interior and exterior including stucco patching, re-did waterproofing on front porch and steps, and probably more that I am just forgetting. Including permits and city approvals. Anyway, they did all this so fast that we were able to move in in March 2020, 2 months after we began. There were a few loose ends after we moved in, but the bulk of it was done in 2 months. They have interior designers (Sara and Angela) who helped design the kitchen and bathroom, and they were awesome too. We were probably super annoying clients because it was our own home, and our first home, and we were obsessed with it. Because of our Fannie Mae loan we had to have a second valuation done after the renovation. We spent roughly $100K on the renovation and it increased the valuation of the house by more than $200K. So in a few months we had built in a huge amount of equity despite our minimum downpayment. Anyway, these guys are awesome. I would definitely use them again.

My husband and I contracted with LA Green Design in November 2019 for them to convert our garage into an ADU on our property. We were required to pay approximately $4,000 upon signing the contract so they could draw up our plans, which we gladly did. By January, they had their architect draw up very basic 1-D plans for the building itself only, even though our $4,000 was supposed to include a soil report, landscape design, structural design, green building documents, hardscape and decking, shoring plans, topographic survey, tree reports, and civil design reports. We NEVER received ANY other documents or reports that the contract agreed to provide and have still yet to (14 months later). Jose Martinez claimed to us that he had submitted our approved plans to the city in February 2020 for expedited review. Shortly after, Covid-19 became present and we expected there would be natural delays in the process and we were more than accommodating and understanding. We would check in with Jose about 1x/month for updates and he claimed still no word from the city. By October 2020, we were starting to lose patience and we expressed our frustration to Jose. He mentioned that he was still waiting for approval from LA Dept. of Water and Power which seemed strange to us considering he would have needed their approval to submit our plans to the city (which he said he had done in Feb). We were able to easily poke holes in his story and he was caught in a lie that he submitted to the city in February when, in fact, he never did so. My husband and I were left no choice but to do some investigating of our own. We contacted LADWP and immediately got ahold of an employee who confirmed that they gave approval in March 2020 and even forwarded us confirmation of their approval that they had sent to Jose back in March. Jose continued to lie and make excuses. From there, he became hostile and aggressive both over the phone and via email. The more we expressed concern that things didn't seem to make sense, the more aggressive he became. He threatened us that if we didn't pay the next installment of our contract (another $5,000) he was going to put a lien on our home within 24 hours. My husband and I agreed to pay once we got proof of the other reports and documents we had originally paid for and were never provided. LA Green has refused to provide us what we have paid for and have completely stopped responding to our inquiries. It has been a totally of 14 months and we don't even have a RTI from the city, let alone plans that we can use with another contractor, all while being out nearly $4,000. We have since found out that it is illegal, according to the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), for the client to pay more than 10% or $1,000 (whichever is cheaper) up front. Three different local contractors who have all confirmed how unethical/illegal their business is as well as anecdotes about their projects "falling apart". DO NOT CONTRACT WITH THEM. TOTAL SCAM.

My experience with LA Green Designs has not been favorable. I hired them in November 2019 to pull building permits and design a garage conversion to an additional dwelling unit. The agreed deposit was paid in order to design and draw the project to be submitted for building permits. In January 2021, no drawings have been created, no applications have been submitted and Mr. Martinez has stopped responding to my attempts to communicate. Proceed with caution and if you do decide to hire this company, meet in person at their physical location prior to signing or paying any money. Definitely negotiate to pay the majority of the project at the end.