Lexington Blue ordered to pay roofing customers restitution, AG says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge granted default judgment; damages hearing set Feb. 13.
- AG sued after reports company took $4.8M for 300+ 2024 projects.
- Chapter 7 bankruptcies and claimed no assets make recovery uncertain.
Failed roofing company Lexington Blue has been ordered to pay restitution and damages to customers in a civil case filed last May by the Kentucky Attorney General’s office.
Fayette Circuit Judge Diane Minnifield on Feb. 2 granted default judgment to Attorney General Russell Coleman.
Coleman announced the victory in a news release Tuesday, saying, “Finally, Lexington Blue’s predatory business practices have come to an end. So many Kentuckians have been taken advantage of by this company, and I’m proud our Office was able to step in to help,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Scammers need to know: Kentucky is not the place to do business.”
Coleman’s office moved for default judgment on Jan. 27 after Lexington Blue and owner Brad Pagel failed to plead or defend against the state’s complaint.
Pagel’s attorney, Adrienne Southworth, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Coleman’s office, Lexington Blue scammed more than 300 victims out of millions, accepting $4.8 million in payments for more than 300 projects in 2024 alone, most of which were never fulfilled.
To date, more than 332 Kentucky consumers have filed reports with the attorney general’s Office of Consumer Protection, with consistent complaints of customers paying substantial deposits for roof construction projects that never occurred, according to the news release.
According to a Herald-Leader investigation, customers frequently were pressured into contracts for new roofs and signing over insurance deposits that were meant to cover materials. Then the roof repairs were never done, and customers were unable to get their deposits back. Former employees of Lexington Blue said Pagel ran the company like a cult of fraud and intimidation.
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According to the judge’s judgment, Lexington Blue’s various companies, “unjustly enriched themselves through their unlawful conduct.”
A hearing to determine damages is scheduled for Feb. 13. Lexington Blue was ordered to pay restitution to consumers harmed, disgorge all funds received through unlawful conduct, pay civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation or up to $10,000 per violation if the consumer was 60 or older. Lexington Blue also must pay costs and expenses of the litigation and investigation.
It is unclear what, if any, money former customers may actually see, but according to the news release, this is “paving the way for the Office of the Attorney General to begin compensation efforts.”
The company, which closed abruptly in April, is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and Pagel and his wife, Courtney, are in Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy.
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Both the Pagels and the company claim to have no assets. The company filed for Chapter 11 reorganizational bankruptcy on June 16, 2025, and was converted to liquidation on Aug. 21.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 4:49 PM.
