Oak Park Contractors Sued Over Fraudulent Business Practices

Oak Park Contractors are facing charges of contractual malpractice. The sued are the President of Anthony Remodeling Painting and Decorating Inc., Sharon Shimek, and Anthony Taglia, who is the company’s business representative. The office of the Attorney of Cook County filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against the two on three grounds;

1. Nonrefundable hefty deposits

The lawsuit alleges that these contractors received hefty deposits from their customers. Additionally, they refused to refund the deposit in the cases where they failed to perform the contracted work. This is a breach of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act.

2. Masquerading as licensed contractors

The lawsuit alleges that the two contractors are not correctly licensed under the state’s law. It continues to state that they sold time limited discounted offers to unwary customers, despite the fact that they knew they could not meet that timeline. They allegedly reached out to these clients via the phone, email or over the internet.

3. Blackmailing clients

The third allegation against the defendants is that they blackmailed their customers into accepting new contracts changes by withholding services. They orchestrated the said changes to increase the cost of the contract. They are also accused of refusing to honor valid contract cancellations.

According to the state attorney’s office, six people have been affected by these fraudulent practices losing a total of $24,500. It points out that the complaints date to back to 2012.

Speaking on the lawsuit against him, Anthony Taglia pointed out that he has done nothing fraudulent. He claimed that he has been in the business since 1991 and has conducted over 100 deals annually and the six cases against him do not have any weight.

On the second account, he points out that there is no requirement for a permit when painting a house. Nevertheless, he has had a permit since 2012 that he only uses when doing construction jobs. On the third allegation, he explains that their actions were obligated by the situations their clients placed them into.

The aim of the lawsuit is to seek a refund for the customers and the banning of the defendants for the allegedly unfair and deceptive practices. The defendants face civil penalties of up to $50,000 if found guilty.