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The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against a North Suburban Construction company and its owner for bilking a senior citizen couple who were attempting to have a construction project completed on a property that they owned in Chicago, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Named in the suit is George Zachary, the owner of Upscale Design Corporation and Value Built Construction with offices located in Lincolnwood and Deerfield.  According to the lawsuit, which was filed today, Zachary failed to refund down payments made by the couple for porch repairs on the building they owned even after demand was made by the State’s Attorney’s Office.

According to the suit, the victims, who are 75 and 74 years old, contacted Zachary to rebuild a two-story porch on an apartment building they owned on Chicago’s South Side in April of 2011. Their property needed this work to be in compliance with the City of Chicago’s building code.

Zachary met with the victims and they accepted his estimate of $7,000 for the job, of which they paid a total of $3,200 in two scheduled deposit payments. As part of their agreement, Zachary agreed to obtain all of the required permits, start the job within 30 days and complete construction within 7 days.

Two and half months later, Zachary arrived at the victims’ property with a work crew to demolish the porch. Apart from the minor demolition work, Zachary performed no other work under the contract. He never returned to deliver materials or start construction of the porch.

Over the next several weeks the victims repeatedly called Zachary to inquire when he would begin building the porch. The defendant did not answer any of their calls except when they called on a payphone from a different phone number.  When they did reach him, Zachery gave them numerous excuses, claimed to have been out of town on a family emergency and that he was experiencing personal financial difficulties.

In August of 2011, building inspectors fined the victim’s $250 and placed a stop work order on the project because their porch had been demolished without a permit, even though their contract specified that the defendant would obtain the permit.

When the victims went to pay the $250 fine as well as $200 for the permit, they were told by the Building Department that Zachary had applied for the permit but had never paid the fee. They were also told that the defendant’s license had expired.

The victims then contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Unit seeking legal assistance.  The State’s Attorney’s lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against the defendant from engaging in fraudulent and unlawful business practices in Illinois, refunds for the consumers, civil penalties of up to $50,000 and an additional $10,000 in civil penalties for each violation committed against a person 65 or older.

To guard against unscrupulous contractors during this spring/summer construction season, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez advises consumers to conduct research when seeking a contractor and go beyond just searching local telephone directory ads for home repair services.  The State’s Attorney’s Office urges consumers to take the time to check the Better Business Bureau website at www.bbb.org for a reliability report on any potential company.

Consumers should also conduct research on the internet by checking the name and background of the company through an online search engine such as “Google.”  Finally, ask for and follow up on the contractor’s local references.

State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez urges all Cook County consumers who have fallen victim to similar business practices to contact the Consumer Fraud Unit at (312) 603-8700 for assistance.  The Consumer Fraud Unit may be able to recover your losses and prevent other members of the public from falling victim to the same scheme.

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