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State's Attorney Anita Alvarez Names Cook County
Contractors In Home Repair Fraud Lawsuits

Four local home repair and remodeling contractors are accused of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Home Repair and Remodeling Acts in separate lawsuits filed today by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Division, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced Wednesday.

The lawsuits allege that the contractors defrauded consumers of thousands of dollars in down payments for home repair and remodeling services, and then failed to start or complete the work under contract and failed to provide refunds to consumers following written demand by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. In addition, the contractors are alleged to have violated numerous consumer protection laws by failing to disclose consumers’ rights before entering into contracts.

Together the four contractors are alleged to have defrauded consumers of nearly $24,000 in down payments for promised work.  The lawsuits seek permanent injunctions against the Defendants from engaging in fraudulent and unlawful business practices in Illinois, refunds for consumers, and civil penalties of up to $50,000.00 in each case.

“The last thing a homeowner needs in these difficult economic times is to be ripped of by an unscrupulous contractor who is ignoring their legal and contractual obligations to consumers,” Alvarez said.  “There are Illinois laws that protect consumers from this type of fraud and the State’s Attorney’s Office will continue to go after contractors who violate these laws.”

The four contractors named in the suit are:

Paul Ripley a/k/a Paul Dryndrozyk, of 5438 N. Northwest Highway in Chicago and his company, Allstate Contracting, are accused of failing to perform a contract to install, gutters, fascia, soffits and a garage door for a customer in Oak Forest, Illinois and failing to provide a refund following written demand by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.  According to the lawsuit, Ripley told the customer that his company, Allstate Contracting, was affiliated with the Allstate Insurance Company and displayed that insurance company’s “You’re in Good Hands” corporate logo on his contract and business card, all to create a false impression of insurance company affiliation or sponsorship. In addition, Ripley failed to provide a three-day right of cancellation notice and a copy of a consumer rights pamphlet to his customers as required by law. It is further alleged that Ripley failed to maintain mandatory liability and property damage insurance and repeatedly moved the office location of Allstate Contracting without notification to customers. Link to PDF of Ripley Complaint.

Joseph P. Salinas of 2712 East Avenue in Berwyn, doing business as J.P. Salinas-Designs, is alleged to have failed to perform a window installation job for a Chicago woman and a garage/family room conversion for a Park Forest woman. In each case, Salinas-Designs failed to return the customers’ down payments as demanded by the State’s Attorney’s Office. Salinas is also charged with failing to provide required consumer rights disclosures for his contracts and failing to notify customers in writing within ten days of a change in business address. The Park Forest customer hired Salinas to convert her garage into a family room after seeing his listing on a website, reliableremodelers.com; however, Salinas was listed as having an unsatisfactory rating on the website of the Better Business Bureau.
Link to PDF of Salinas Complaint.

Inner City Builders and Investments, Inc., and its President Michael Rivera of 7035 Grand Avenue in Chicago, are alleged to have misrepresented its qualifications to perform contracted work.  Additionally the company and Rivera are accused of taking deposits on contracts that were contingent upon financing; of failing to obtain the promised financing, and of keeping customers’ deposits claiming these monies, which totaled $14,600.00, as liquidated damages.  Inner City Builders, Inc., and Rivera allegedly failed to perform the contracted work, deliver materials, and honor consumers’ cancellations of their contracts in these cases.  Additionally, the company and Rivera are charged with numerous violations of consumer protection laws, including failing to provide a written contract for a home repair project valued at $55,000.00. Link to PDF of Rivera Complaint.

Luis Patino of 7007 W. 19th Street in Berwyn, doing business as Thermal Window Designers, is alleged to have misrepresented himself as a licensed home repair contractor, and to have retained consumers’ deposits after failing to perform the contracted work.  The lawsuit also alleges that Patino took a substantial deposit from a homeowner by acting as a roofing contractor even though he was not licensed to do the work, and later failed to subcontract the work to a licensed roofer and refused to refund the deposit.  The suit accuses Patino and Thermal Window Designers of failing to list a business or residential address on his contracts, and of disconnecting his business telephone number, leaving consumers with no way to cancel the contract or find him or his business. Link to PDF of Patino Complaint.

As the spring home repair and remodeling season begins, so do increasing complaints about consumer complaints about fraud and deception, according to State’s Attorney Alvarez. “Home repair fraud continues to be among the leading categories of consumer complaints made to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,” Alvarez said.  “Consumers should remember that education is the first line of defense in preventing home repair fraud.”

The State’s Attorney’s Office reminds consumers to use care in choosing a contractor. Before hiring a contractor, homeowners should request local references and be sure to check out the Better Business Bureau website, www.bbb.org, for a reliability report

Consumers are also encouraged to conduct an online search at the website of the Cook County Circuit Court at www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org to find out if the contractor has been sued, perhaps by unsatisfied customers. In addition, a simple online Google search may reveal a wealth of information about a contractor at various consumer sites.

Cook County residents who have a complaint about a fraudulent home repair contractor are urged to call the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Consumer Fraud Hotline, at (312) 603-8700. The Consumer Fraud Division may be able to help you recover your losses, prosecute the person or business responsible for the fraud, and prevent other members of the public from falling victim to the same scheme.

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