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Anita Alvarez
Cook County State's Attorney
Communications Department
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 603-3423
saomedia@cookcountygov.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 29, 2010

A Mount Prospect landscaping company and its owners have been named in a lawsuit for violating consumer fraud and deceptive practices laws by failing to complete renovation and repair work on driveways, patios and retaining walls on landscaping projects in the northern suburbs, according to the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Named in the suit were Edward E. Wood and Jennifer Wood, co-owners of Pondscapes, Inc. and The Landscape Artist, Inc., operating in Mount Prospect.  The Woods are accused of defrauding consumers, some of whom were senior citizens, in Chicago, Lake Zurich and Libertyville, of more than $20,000 in payments in connection with at least four contracts for landscaping services. 

The lawsuit alleges that the Woods accepted down payments for landscaping work that they started and did not complete.  In one instance the work was never started, even though a down payment was made to the Woods.  In two instances, excavation work that was performed caused damage to the exterior of the homes, causing seepage and mold to form in one of the basements.

The lawsuit is seeking financial restitution for the victims and also seeks to permanently bar the Woods from operating a home repair business in Illinois.

“Homeowners who enter into a contract and make a good faith down payment with a business expect and deserve to have the work completed and the terms of that contract fulfilled,” said Alvarez. “The State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Unit is dedicated to prosecuting these unscrupulous business owners and others like them and to helping the victims receive restitution and relief in these matters.”

Alvarez also reminds residents of a few precautions they can take to protect themselves from dishonest business operators:

• Get at least three different quotes for any repair or remodeling work
• Ask for references and check them out
• Check the company’s rating on the Better Business Bureau website: www.bbb.org
• Check the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s website, www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org, to see if the contractor has ever been sued
• Read the pamphlet, “Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights,” before hiring a home repair contractor. All home repair contractors are required by law to provide this pamphlet before asking a homeowner to sign any contract over $500.

Cook County residents who have complaints about fraudulent home repair contractors are urged to call the State’s Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Hotline at (312) 603-8700.

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