Consumer Fraud Lawsuits Target Three Companies for Deceptive Business Practices Relating to Home Repairs

Three contractors are the targets of separate lawsuits filed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on behalf of consumers who were defrauded out of thousands of dollars in payments for home repair or remodeling work that was never performed or properly completed, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced today.

The lawsuits, which were filed today in the Circuit Court of Cook County, allege that the contractors defrauded consumers out of more than $15,000 for home repair and remodeling services. It further alleges that the businesses failed to start or complete work under contract and in some cases then failed to provide refunds to consumers following written demand by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“There is nothing more frustrating for a homeowner than to invest in a home improvement or repair project only to be bilked out of your hard earned money by an unscrupulous contractor or a deceptive contract,” said State’s Attorney Alvarez.

“As the summer home repair and remodeling season kicks into high gear, the State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Unit continues to investigate violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Home Repair and Remodeling Acts and we encourage homeowners to contact our office if they have been the victim of home repair fraud.”

Named in the lawsuits are: Juan Hurtado and company representative Michael Sanchez of Rinnovo Exteriors Inc., located at 1654 Hicks Road in Rolling Meadows; Jeffrey Wixon and his company, Fino Creative Enterprises Inc., located at 2967 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, and Dan Simmons and his company, Beverly Fence Company, formerly located at 2626 W. 111th Street in Chicago.

The first suit names Rinnovo owner Hurtado and claims specialist Sanchez, alleging that the pair accepted more than $7,400 for roofing, siding, and garage repairs that were never started. According to the lawsuit, Sanchez met the victims at their Round Lake Beach home in July of 2014 while soliciting customers after a hail storm and offered Rinnovo’s services to fix storm damage to the victims’ roof, siding, and gutters.

The couple eventually signed over an insurance claim check of $7,433.41 as a down payment on their contract and although they were shown sample books of roofing and siding materials to choose for their project, no work was ever even begun, despite repeated demands by the customers.

According to the lawsuit, the Rinnovo contract failed to provide statutory disclosure of the consumer’s right to cancel the contract as required by consumer protection law. In addition, the defendants offered to perform public insurance adjusting and roofing services without being licensed to do so, which is in violation of the Roofing Licensing Act as well as the Home Repair and Remodeling and the Consumer Fraud Acts.

The second suit, which names Wixon and Fino Creative Enterprises, alleges similar deceptive business practices for accepting monies from customers to refinish existing windows or to provide new replacement windows then failing to perform any of the contracted work.

In one case, Wixon is alleged to have failed to return a $3,500 payment for new windows that were never delivered or installed. The lawsuit also alleges that Wixon did not possess mandatory insurance coverage, and failed to provide customers with mandatory contractual language regarding their right to cancellation.

The third lawsuit targets the now defunct Beverly Fence Co. and its owner-operator, Simmons, who is accused of falsely representing his business as existing since 1929 and fraudulently claiming that Beverly was licensed and insured to install residential fences.

In actuality, Beverly Fence Co. was involuntarily dissolved in 2012, did not maintain a home repair license and had been ordered by the City of Chicago to cease and desist installing residential fences in Chicago without a license.

The lawsuit also alleges that Simmons took substantial deposits from two customers, failed to begin work on either project and caused a power outage due to the improper installation of a fence during a separate job. Simmons subsequently ignored numerous consumer requests for refunds.

All of the lawsuits filed seek restitution for the victims and a court-ordered prohibition against the defendants from further engaging in similar business practices, as well as reimbursements to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for the cost of investigating and litigating these lawsuits.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Unit offers help and guidance for consumers to help recover losses and State’s Attorney Alvarez encourages any Cook County resident with a home repair fraud complaint to call the Consumer Fraud Hotline at 312-603-8700.