A Berwyn home repair company is among five Cook County businesses named in a lawsuit filed Thursday, April 16, by Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
The 30-page complaint alleges the company, American Dream General Construction Co., and its president Carlos Villalvazo’s, defrauded customers out of thousands of dollars in down payments by performing substandard work or no work at all. The complaint also alleges the company failed to obtain proper permits before beginning work, had begun work on several homes and then disappeared for months, refused to return down payments, and failed to inform consumers of their legal rights.
Also named in the Cook County lawsuits are New Lenox-based Boss Construction and its president Steven R. Smith, Wilmette-based Alpine Glass Window Co. and its president Carol L. Bernahl, John M. Burow with Willow Springs-based John’s Home Repair, and Shane Rasmussen and Paul Haley of 123 General Construction Inc. in Frankfurt.
Outside of Cook County, Madigan filed two other suits. In Bureau County, Madison filed suit against Charles Templeton of Templeton Construction in Peru. The second suit was filed in McHenry County against Steven Tatgenhorst and his companies Precision Roofing Restoration, Inc., in Algonquin, and Xteriors, Inc., in Crystal Lake. Together, the companies are accused of defrauding customers of $476,000 in down payments.
Spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said the attorney general’s office received more than 2,700 complaints regarding construction or home repair in 2008. The category ranked third in all complaints filed. Consumer debt and mortgage issues ranked number one.
“It varies year to year but complaints against home repair businesses are consistently among the highest filed with the attorney general’s office,” Bauer said.
Attempts to reach American Dream and Villalvazo were unsuccessful. The complaint states the company abruptly moved out of its offices in the 2700 block of Ridgeland Avenue in Berwyn, and the company Web site, AmericanDreamGeneralConstruction.com, is mostly nonfunctional.
Attempts to reach the four complainants also were unsuccessful.
The lawsuits allege the companies violated the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Home Repair and Remodeling Act by accepting the down payments and then failing to provide quality work. The suit is seeking restitution for the companies’ customers, a civil penalty of $50,000 per defendant, a $50,000 penalty for each act committed with intent to defraud, a $10,000 penalty for each act committed against a senior citizens, and compensation for all fees incurred by the attorney general’s office.
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Report fraud ONLINE Additional home repair tips are available online at IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov under the “Consumer” tab. |
After a complaint is filed, Bauer said the defendants have 30 days to respond before a court date will be set.
The Attorney General’s office is advising consumers to ask for references before choosing a contractor and to visit a tip list on the office’s Web site. Potential victims of already-mentioned defendants could be added to the current lawsuit while other complaints could lead to separate lawsuits, Bauer said.
“I think one of the keys is that consumers are aware of what their rights are and what they’re entitled to,” Bauer said.
