BY FREDA MIKLIN
STAFF WRITER
On June 20, 2023, Danielle Braverman, a professional model, and David Reis, sued Hayley Louise Servatius and her company, HLS Designs LLC (Servatius), for repeatedly misrepresenting her training, prior design experience and current and former clients, as well as holding a license (certification) as an interior designer, which led Braverman and Reis to enter into a contract on May 13, 2021, hiring Servatius to perform design services in connection with the remodel of a home they had purchased at 6600 E. Ida in Greenwood Village. The contract included an estimate of 213.5 hours at approximately $100 per hour for the design fee, though the scope was expanded later to include adding a pool and “redoing the outside area at the property.”
The complaint alleges that Servatius failed to complete the work in the agreed time frame, forcing Braverman and Reis to incur rent for six extra months, and that when they were told the work was finished and they moved back into their home, Braverman and Reis “identified a number of problems with the work that was completed, including but not limited to poorly installed wallpaper, design flaws, unauthorized items and designs, missing items, and an overall poor presentation of the home.”
It further claims, “From September of 2021 through September of 2022, Servatius had made several unauthorized purchases using (Braverman and Reis’) credit cards for items that were never used to decorate the home,” and, “The whereabouts of these items are currently unknown.” It also claims, “(Servatius) authorized and directed changes to the approved design and architectural plans without ever consulting with (Braverman and Reis) and that (Servatius) had exhausted the entire furniture budget allowance in the contract in just a few pieces of furniture.”
The lawsuit summarizes, “In short, (Servatius) completely disregarded the budgets prepared for the project, disregarded protocols for approving interior design items, and absconded with items purchased using (Braverman/Reis’) credit cards for (Servatius) own use and benefit.
According to the suit, “Plaintiffs (Braverman and Reis) observed photographs on Defendants’ (Servatius) Instagram account that showed items purchased by Plaintiffs that were supposed to be included in the design of their home that were in Ms. Servatius’s home.”
Items the plaintiffs believe they paid for but were kept by the defendant include, “Mongolian lamb pillow cover…Raku hand knotted rug…Mara performance handwoven rug …Thaddeus marble rectangular console tab…Thaddeus marble side table…Truman Floor Lamps…Graydon Shagreen nesting tables…and a Parisian bar cart.”
As of the date they sued, Braverman and Reis say they “have spent over $6 million on the project,” which is incomplete and from which Servatius resigned on January 25, 2023.
Braverman and Reis bought the 1.25-acre property containing a two-story home with four bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and six fireplaces for $1,772,950 on July 17, 2020. According to county records, it has 5,434 square feet of living space on the first and second floors, along with 3,170 square feet of finished space in the basement, and is valued at $2,408,100.
HLS Designs’ website says that Hayley Servatius founded the company in 2021 after previously working in fashion merchandising for Old Navy and Banana Republic and as a lead stylist for Stitch Fix, an online personal shopper. The business address listed for HLS Designs is 6505 E. Dorado Place, which is a home on one acre of property, valued at $2,441,300, owned by Matthew and Hayley Servatius, and located two-tenths of a mile from Braverman and Reis’ home in the Greenwood Hills neighborhood of Greenwood Village.
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