CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In January 2025, Ryan Thompson and his wife entered into a contract to have Evolve Construction & Restoration repair storm damage to their home. It had been hit by storms in 2023 and 2024, including the tornado that ravaged the Exit 1 area in December 2023.
Their insurance company paid Evolve around $6,400 in February 2025 to begin the repairs, but over a year later, Thompson said the national contractor has yet to begin the work while scarcely communicating with him.
“I’m a disabled veteran; I’m on a fixed income. I told them I don’t have excess money to do all of these repairs,” Thompson told Clarksville Now. “My wife and I filed for bankruptcy in 2025, and thank God we were smart enough to have the roofing/siding/fencing repairs added to our bankruptcy, so it is covered.”
Now, after leaving a set of reviews of what their experiences have been like with Evolve, the Thompsons have finally heard from Evolve, through a threatened lawsuit for defamation and breach of contract.
Thompson said the family has filed complaints with the Clarksville Police Department, as well as the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. CPD confirmed to Clarksville Now that the case is under investigation, but could not discuss details.
Thompson has also filed complaints with the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission, Tennessee Consumer Affairs, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which has begun an investigation, he said. An agent with the NICB confirmed to Clarksville Now that they are investigating, and it’s still in the early stages.
Along the way, Thompson has discovered he’s not alone. Clarksville Now found that Thompson’s is one of several similar complaints raised across the country about Evolve Construction & Restoration and related companies. This includes reported cases in Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, California and Michigan:
- Fairway woman concerned roofing company scammed her
- OKC woman says she hired a company to replace her roof, but work never started
- Metro couple face limbo as roofing company goes silent
- Roofer delivered supplies to Council Bluffs couple’s home months ago, but no repairs done
While Evolve Construction & Restoration is not a Better Business Bureau accredited business, they have 68 BBB complaints over the last three years.
Initial damage and plan of action, hiring of Evolve
Starting with the December 2023 tornado and continuing with wind and hail during 2024, Thomspon’s was one of several homes that suffered damage. “We had a lot of damage all over our property,” Thompson said. “We had a ton of hail damage to our roof and to our siding. We also had wind damage to our chimney and our fence.”
After researching different companies willing to do the repair work, the Thompsons selected Evolve Construction & Restoration for the job because they said they’d be willing to work on everything from the family’s roof to their fence.
This included one representative with Evolve visiting the Thompson home to plan out next steps.
“We signed the contract in January 2025 and paid them the initial payment in mid-February,” Thompson said. “During the process though, after the fact, the field adjuster never showed back up to meet the insurance appraiser.”
Five months later, in July, Thompson, through The Kennedy Law Firm, sent a letter with a list of demands to Evolve Construction & Restoration with the hope that they would begin communicating with him again. But the letter sent to Evolve’s listed address in Nashville, 40 Burton Hills Blvd., was returned to sender with no forwarding address.
Under Tennessee state law, a licensed contractor is required to keep their registered address updated. A licensee is expected to notify the office of the Tennessee Board of Licensing Contractors, in writing, within 30 days of any change of address. Violation of this law is considered a civil penalty, says the Department of Commerce and Insurance.
Currently, as of March 5, Evolve Construction & Restoration’s Nashville address is still listed as 40 Burton Hills Blvd., according to their website.
‘Here we are a year later, and they haven’t done anything’
The Thompsons said they repeatedly reached out to Evolve to determine the next steps, with almost no response. Until they posted the Google and Facebook reviews. “In the last 12 months, we’ve gotten a total of three emails from them, and two of the three emails we received last weekend (Feb. 14) because of their threats to slap us with a defamation lawsuit,” Thompson told Clarksville Now.
Thompson said he also spoke to Evolve a few times over the phone, and on one of those calls, he made it clear that the construction company has two choices: complete the work they signed up for or send the insurance money back.
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“Here we are a year later, and they haven’t done anything, haven’t delivered any materials, haven’t been to our property, I’ve called at least 15-20 times to get another field rep back out,” he said. “Then, with the second email I got, they gave me a timeframe to comply with removing my reviews, so they are now holding my job hostage. They can’t move forward until I remove the review.
“I said if you don’t want to put my roof on and don’t want to make the repairs on my property that is fine, just send my money back,” Thompson said.
Public adjuster listed as CEO of Evolve, accusations in two states
When Thompson first contacted Evolve about the repair work, they recommended a public adjuster to inspect the property. The adjuster they recommended was Alex Guldshtadt with Nationwide Insurance Claims Advocates (NICA).
It turns out, according to the State of Florida Division of Corporations, along with court filings in Michigan and in California, Guldshtadt is the registered CEO of Evolve Construction & Restoration, operating both companies: Evolve and NICA. Guldshtadt is identified in other court documents as Aleksandr Yefim Guldshtadt, Alex Gold, Gould or Guld.
Evolve has headquarters in Naples, Florida and Sherman Oaks, California.
Last year, the Department of Insurance in California moved to fine and revoke Guldshtadt’s public adjuster’s license, as well as NICA’s, according to Pasadena Star News, following activities after the devastating Southern California wildfires.
State investigators said Guldshtadt controlled NICA while having financial interests in at least three of the contractors hired using client insurance funds, one of them being Evolve. Guldshtadt denied the accusations. Clarksville Now has reached out to the Department of Insurance in California for an update.
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Also last year, in Michigan, an investigation by the Department of Insurance and Financial Services found that Guldshtadt “violated their code on numerous occasions, demonstrated a lack of good moral character, and engaged in a pattern or practice that poses a threat of financial loss and/or significant negative financial ramifications to the public,” said agency documents.
According to DIFS documents, it was reported that, “emergency action was necessary to protect the public.” DIFS said they had significant concerns that Guldshtadt diverted client’s insurance settlement proceeds, had an improper affiliation with a contractor, and made intentional misrepresentations to further his misconduct. Guldshtadt’s Michigan insurance adjuster license was summarily suspended.
Clarksville Now has reached out to Guldshtadt and to Evolve Construction & Restoration for comment.
Ethical rules for public adjusters under Tennessee law
In Tennessee, public adjusters are required by state law to abide by several regulations found in Tennessee Code § 56-6-917. Spokespersons for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office both pointed to the following sections:
- A public adjuster shall not refer or direct the insured to get needed repairs or services in connection with a loss from any person with whom the public adjuster has a financial interest, or from whom the public adjuster may receive direct or indirect compensation for the referral, unless the interest or compensation is disclosed to the insured.
- A public adjuster shall disclose to an insured if the adjuster has any interest or will be compensated by any construction firm, building appraisal firm, motor vehicle repair shop or any other firm that performs any work in conjunction with damages caused by the insured loss. “Firm” includes any individual corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company or legal entity.
When asked what the consequences could be for violating these rules, TDIC spokesperson Kevin Walters told Clarksville Now that while they cannot speculate about specific instances, violations could lead to criminal charges.
“If an activity is considered a criminal matter, then that would be handled by the local district attorney,” Walters said.
Clarksville Now has reached out to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Evolve email responses to Google review
Thompson left two reviews of Evolve Construction & Restoration, one on Facebook, and another on a Florida Google Business Profile. Evolve insisted that he remove the one on the Florida profile, as it was a Tennessee case. Thompson declined to do so.
In an email to Thompson demanding he remove all the reviews, Evolve said calling their operation a “scam, and warning others not to hire Evolve, along with claims about payment and non-performance,” is “false, misleading, harmful to their business’s reputation and constitutes a breach of the signed Customer Agreement and other contractual obligations, including non-disparagement and cooperation requirements.”
The company demanded that the reviews be removed, that Thompson cease and desist, “from publishing any false, misleading or disparaging statements about Evolve Construction,” while also demanding he cooperate with his contractual obligations.
Thompson said it’s important for people to speak up and seek help if they believe they aren’t being treated right by a contractor.
“I guarantee you for every one of me that’s out there, there’s 50 to 70 other families / consumers scared to speak up, or that have been taken advantage of and don’t understand that they have other legal rights or recourse to fight back against a contractor that they ultimately hired.”
Chris Smith contributed to this report.
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