North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has filed suit against an Illinois contractor who came to the state after Hurricane Florence in 2018, convincing homeowners to assign insurance benefits to his companies.
Dennis Daugherty and his Green Lantern Services and Green Lantern Roofing went door to door after the storm. The companies accepted advance payments from insurance claims but then provided shoddy and unfinished work and failed to pay subcontractors, leaving a number of homes exposed to the elements, Stein’s office said in a press release.
Because customers had already signed over their insurance payments, they were unable to obtain additional relief from their insurers to complete the repairs, and were forced to pay out of their own pockets, Stein said. The state Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division received nine complaints from customers who paid a total of $250,000 to the defendants.
Daugherty’s companies claimed they were licensed contractors, but they weren’t, the AG said.
“In short, defendants were deceptive in their dealings with consumers, and defendants’ business practices violate North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” reads the complaint, filed in Wake County.
Stein is asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the defendants to prevent them from doing business in North Carolina as the lawsuit continues. He is also seeking restitution, injunctive relief, civil penalties, and attorney fees.
The information did not say if criminal charges also will be filed.
Topics Lawsuits Catastrophe Natural Disasters Hurricane North Carolina Contractors
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