Are you the victim of a home repair and/or remodeling scam? Are you being sued by a home repair or remodeling company? The attorneys at DeBlasio & Gower settled a case on behalf of a husband and wife who were the victims of a home repair and remodeling scam. In 2012, a storm caused significant hail damage to the exterior of their home. A few days later, the homeowners were approached by a home repair company. The company promised to negotiate with the homeowners’ insurer on their behalf and use the insurance proceeds to repair the storm damage. After entering into a written contract with the homeowners, the company performed shoddy work, and demanded that the homeowners sign over all checks from their insurer. When the homeowners refused to pay until the work was performed correctly, the company sued them for the unpaid balance of the contract. That’s when the homeowners contacted us.
After reviewing the written contract between the parties, the experienced attorneys at DeBlasio & Gower identified several violations of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act (815 ILCS 513/1 et seq.) and other statutes, committed by the company, including, but not limited to:
(1) Failure to provide the homeowners with the “Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights” pamphlet prior to the execution of a home repair and remodeling contract;
(2) Failure to provide a contract with a total cost for labor and materials;
(3) Failure to provide a contract with an address other than a P.O. Box;
(4) Failure to include an Illinois State roofing contractor license name and number on all contracts, bids and advertisements involving roof work;
(5) Advertising and offering roof work despite having no licenses to perform such work;
(6) Illegally representing, offering and advertising to represent the homeowners on their insurance claim in violation of the Illinois Public Adjusters Law;
(7) Illegally offering home repair or remodeling services to be paid from the proceeds of a property and casualty insurance policy without notifying the homeowners of their right to cancel the contract within five business days after receiving written notice from their insurer that all or any part of the claim or contract is not covered; and
(8) Failure to maintain adequate insurance.
These violations entitled the homeowners to recover their actual damages, fees and costs from the company. After bringing these violations to the company’s attention, our attorneys negotiated a successful settlement for the homeowners. The home repair company agreed to drop all of its claims against the homeowners and paid them to have the work finished properly.
The attorneys at DeBlasio & Gower LLC are experienced in construction litigation, consumer fraud litigation, and prosecuting violations of the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act. To schedule an appointment to speak with one of our attorneys, call us at (630) 560-1123 or contact us via our website at http://dd-lawfirm.com/contact.php.
DISCLAIMER: This blog post is not legal advice and should not be relied on by anyone as legal advice in their particular situation. Furthermore, while DeBlasio & Gower welcomes communications via its website, please be aware that communicating any information to DeBlasio & Gower or any of its attorneys through its web site or via any other method without a formal engagement with the Firm does not constitute or create an attorney-client relationship between you (or any other users, senders or recipients) and DeBlasio & Gower or any of its attorneys. For your protection, please do not send us confidential information until you have spoken with one of our lawyers and received authorization to send that information to our Firm. Thank you.