WAUKESHA, Wis. — Sun Badger Solar, a Waukesha-based company, is now in the process of liquidating its remaining assets through the court system. New court documents show the company's been out of business for several months.
Thursday, additional court documents were filed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Attorney General. They're representing the Department of Workforce Development after several former Sun Badger employees filed wage claims.
This all comes after dozens of lawsuits from customers who claim they paid Sun Badger Solar for work that was never finished.
The I-Team's been reporting on this story since February and is now working to find out if people can get their money back.
Geoff Greulich signed a more than $28,000 contract with Sun Badger Solar in May of 2022. He paid more than $14,000 upfront.
"They started doing electrical work, and they were here for a day doing that, and we thought that's okay, this is step number one, going to move on, and didn't hear anything from them after that," Greulich explained.
Greulich said months went by with no communication and no additional work completed.
"Our neighbors told us to watch Channel 4, that there was a story about Sun Badger. I watched it, and that's how I found out," Greulich said.
Greulich's one of many customers who have filed small claims lawsuits against the company. Last month, a judge ordered Sun Badger to pay him back more than $10,000. Greulich said he doesn't think he'll get a cent.
"We won't. They can't make them pay us," Greulich added.
And he's right.
"The judgment is just a formal document that says the person owes you money and you have the right to collect it, but you have to find that upon yourself to find those assets and collect it," Robert Welcenbach said.
Welcenbach's a consumer and injury attorney. He said in order to actually collect assets, a consumer would have to file even more lawsuits. He also said, from his experience, it's rare customers get their money back because typically businesses in this situation don't have money.
Sun Badger operates in four states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Florida.
Since April, Wisconsin courts have ordered the company to pay customers back nearly $210,000.
At the end of May, Sun Badger filed for a voluntary receivership, appointing an attorney to all of the company's assets.
"They're essentially wiping out their liability from the corporate structure, and whatever assets they have will be distributed to the creditors and shut down the corporation," Welcenbach explained.
Welcenbach said this is a way for Sun Badger to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
In the last week, about two dozen customers and businesses that have lost money, have filed to be creditors. Meaning, they want a portion of whatever money Sun Badger has left.
"I think in this case, there seems to be a very limited amount of money to recover. That's going to go to payments of attorney's fees and receiver's fees," Welcenbach said.
New court documents show Sun Badger has been out of business for several months and has few assets. Documents also show the company hasn't paid rent for months, so money made through auctioning items will go to the landlord first.
Welcenbach said anything remaining could go to customers who lost money.
"I'm not expecting anything, really," Geurlich said.
"You're not optimistic at all?" I-Team's Jenna Rae asked.
"No," he responded.
Welcenbach said even though customers likely won't see large sums of money from Sun Badger, it's still worth filing a proof of claim for the receivership. You can do that through the Waukesha County Circuit Court.
We made multiple attempts to reach out to the receiver who's responsible for Sun Badger's assets but never heard back. The company continues to have no legal representation in any of its cases.
Sun Badger's expected in court next Friday. A judge will need to authorize the auction of the company's assets. TMJ4's I-Team will be there.
If you have a question or concern regarding this story, email Jenna Rae at Jenna.Rae@TMJ4.com.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.