CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office recently won a lawsuit that prohibits a Northern Panhandle plumbing contractor from doing any future home improvement work.
The court order permanently blocks Charles P. Waterman and his company, Waterman Plumbing LLC, from engaging in any capacity of plumbing or contracting work. It also requires Waterman to pay $14,133.72 in restitution.
The lawsuit had alleged Waterman violated the state’s consumer protection laws by accepting thousands of dollars for deficient and unfinished work.
Morrisey
“Contractors who don’t follow the law must be stopped,” Morrisey said in a statement. “Consumers deserve to get the services they pay for in a timely manner and satisfactory condition. Our office works vigorously to investigate complaints in hopes of weeding out bad actors to increase trust and confidence in the countless other contractors who perform admirably.”
The complaint, filed last year in Ohio Circuit Court, alleged Waterman and his business victimized at least three residents in Wheeling, one of which paid $7,645 for a series of projects the AG's office described as substandard and incomplete.
The lawsuit tied Waterman and his business to Wheeling and a nearby address in Ohio. It alleged both defendants engaged in general contracting and plumbing work without a West Virginia business registration and operated without the required contractor or specialty plumbing license.
The lawsuit further alleged that the defendants did work for consumers without providing a written contract and failed to notify consumers of their three-day right to cancel service.
