CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against Xpert Tile & Hardwood Installation, seeking fines and restitution.
Morrisey wants to block the contractor from performing any future work in the area of home improvement sales and installation.
Morrisey filed the lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against Chad Akers, who is doing business as Xpert Tile & Hardwood Installation.
Patrick Morrisey
“Contractor fraud cannot be tolerated,” Morrisey said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. “When consumers hand over their hard-earned dollars for a service, they expect to receive what they paid for.”
Morrisey claims Akers violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act when he entered into unlawful contracts and failed to complete the work he was contracted to do.
The suit states that Akers failed to furnish property notice of the three-day right to cancel; failed to begin or complete work by the date he promised; and failed to substantially perform home improvement contracts.
“Our Consumer Protection Division is well-equipped to safeguard consumers—and their wallets—in instances where contractors defraud the public,” Morrisey said. “They take consumer complaints seriously and will thoroughly investigate and litigate, when necessary, any entity that violates West Virginia consumer protection laws.”
There were four consumer complaints filed with the Attorney General’s Office or the Better Business Bureau, against Akers’s business by consumers in St. Albans, Leon and Milton.
Akers ran his business out of his home in Fraziers Bottom, according to the suit.
Akers had agreed to install a shower and tile in a bathroom; hang drywall; replace a bathtub; install bathroom floor covering; remove carpet and install hardwood flooring; and other bathroom improvements.
Each project Akers was hired to do was valued at more than $2,500.
All four complaints alleged substandard work and work that was never finished.
When the Attorney General’s Office attempted to reach Akers regarding the complaints, he failed to respond to the inquiries.
The lawsuit also seeks a $5,000 fine for each violation of the state’s consumer protection law and judgment in an amount equal to the affected consumers’ contracts and additional costs necessary to repair, replace and complete the work Akers performed.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number: 18-C-1253