Jill Miles
CHARLESTON - West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw reached a settlement with a South Charleston contractor.
McGraw and Precision Windows and Doors reached an agreement that all consumers who filed complaints with McGraw's office prior to April 17, 2006, the date his lawsuit was filed against Precision in Kanawha Circuit Court, will receive full refunds.
Precision also agreed to provide refunds for consumers who filed a complaint by June 1 if they can provide written proof of their loss.
Also, the business and owners Jamie Crawford and Brian Lanham have agreed to cease doing business as home improvement contractors until all complaints have been resolved and post a bond of $10,000 with the Contractors Licensing Board before pursuing any future home improvement business.
Jill Miles, of the Attorney Generals' Consumer Protection Division, said she received several complaints starting last fall.
"We have a situation going on where people are paying anywhere between $500-2,000 -- and that's a lot of money to them -- and they're not performing the work," she said when the lawsuit was filed.
It was alleged that Precision Windows would take a down payment then not provide the proper amount of work on a project.
The affidavits of three individuals were contained in the lawsuit, as well as the complaint of Virginia Wehrle of Charleston.
Wehrle says she gave Precision a down payment of $1,436, while Diana Goff of Dunbar ($1,946), Cheryl Ord of Poca ($1,090) and Fred Oxley of Charleston ($562.50) also complained of handing over down payments and receiving no services
"Although we were very successful in our lawsuit against Precision Windows," McGraw said in a press release, "consumers must remember to thoroughly check out contractors before giving them any money."
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 06-C-699