Committee recommends upholding suspension of Helping Homes solicitation license after residents reported misrepresentation

The Safety and Licensing Committee recommended 5-0 that the City Council uphold the city sealer’s suspension of Helping Homes’ commercial solicitation license after staff presented repeated complaints that the company’s door‑to‑door representatives misrepresented themselves as city employees.

Eric Maggio, the staff member who approved the original license, told the committee he received a string of calls starting in late 2024 alleging that solicitors claimed a city affiliation, did not display city‑issued badges and, in at least one instance, refused to leave a residence after being asked. “They were saying they were with the city of Appleton,” Maggio said, describing separate complaints in September, December and February.

Representatives from Helping Homes, including Lance Murdoch, told the committee they did not intend to mislead homeowners and apologized for failures in practice. Murdoch said the organization has a marketing arm (Helping Homes) and a separate install arm (Altitude Efficiencies), and that they are a trade ally with Focus on Energy. He said the combination of state and federal funding — “there’s about $4,000 in funding that’s available for homes” — can make a one‑minute doorstep interaction seem implausible to homeowners and create confusion about legitimacy.

Committee members pressed Murdoch about specific steps taken after complaints, including whether the employee involved on Feb. 19 faced discipline and whether the company had changed its solicitation script or contact information. Murdoch and his partner, Zach Murdoch, described internal note systems and said they would update badges and training; Maggio said he expected to see an updated script and a new point of contact before approving any future license.

A motion to uphold the suspension through the current license period — which staff said runs Oct. 1–March 31 for the season in question — passed unanimously. The committee’s recommendation will go to the full City Council next week; staff told Helping Homes they may reapply after the suspension ends but should be prepared to show corrective steps during review.

The committee framed the action as protective of homeowners and emphasized training and script clarity as the principal remedies, while sending the formal decision to the full council for final action.