http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... slocal-hed
5 home contractors are sued
Firms are accused of fraud, deception
Advertisement


By Stanley Ziemba
Tribune staff reporter

May 15, 2007

The Cook County state's attorney's office Monday sued five home repair and remodeling contractors, accusing them of collecting money from customers without doing the repair work or performing jobs without the proper licenses.

Named as defendants are Grzegorz Greda, also known as Greg Greda of Greda Construction in Hickory Hills; Samir M. Mansour of Precision Iron & Welding Inc. in Bridgeview; Milton Cole of Mel's Construction in the 5300 block of West Crystal Street, Chicago; Willie Clark of Clark's Mechanical Services operating from an unknown location; and James Rios and Marshall Brescia of Rios Construction that also operates from an unknown location.

The five are alleged to have violated the state's Home Repair and Remodeling Act and Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Businesses Practices Act, including provisions that require contractors to give out consumer rights brochures and notify customers of their rights to cancel contracts.

They're also accused of operating without liability and property damage insurance and failing to refund deposits owed to customers, even after the state's attorney's office demanded they do so. Greda, Rios and Brescia also are alleged to have violated the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act by doing roofing work without a license.

The suits, filed in Cook County Court, ask that the contractors be permanently prohibited from engaging in fraudulent and unlawful business practices and that those illegally doing roofing work be shut down. The lawsuits also ask that each defendant be fined $50,000 and ordered to refund the money they took from customers.

The suit against Greda alleges he failed to install vinyl windows for a Chicago woman and siding and a new roof on a building owned by a Country Club Hills woman with whom he had a contract. In addition, he is accused of having done roofing work without a license and passing out advertisements misrepresenting himself as an authorized roofer.

Mansour is accused of failing to install wrought iron fencing for a Chicago man, refusing to refund the man's deposit and failing to notify customers of an address change for his business.

Cole and Clark are accused of taking deposits from senior citizens for home repairs, then failing to perform the work or refund the money.

"Home repair fraud continues to be among the leading categories of consumer complaints made to our consumer fraud division," State's Atty. Richard Devine said in a news release. He also noted that the lawsuits were initiated after his office received numerous complaints about the contractors.

"There are Illinois laws that seek to protect consumers who purchase home repair and remodeling services, but these laws too often are ignored by some contractors," Devine said.

----------

sziemba@tribune.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

This doesn't say it's illegals or people who have illegals working for them but it's the same scam my dad fell for and illegals were involved. I know there are driveway repair and some landscaping contractors who are out here and illegal who have just started as lawn service and are now an illegal business. But....we're going on almost 5 years now with this class action suit and it looks less and less like I'll ever see a dime and 1000's of dollars work paid for that wasn't done that somehow I'm gonna end up paying for AGAIN.