{"id":183314,"date":"2024-09-07T00:22:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T05:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=183314"},"modified":"2024-09-07T00:22:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T05:22:29","slug":"lawsuit-filed-against-storm-contractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/09\/07\/lawsuit-filed-against-storm-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit filed against storm contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed suit against Magic Touch Exteriors and its two operators for allegedly defrauding homeowners across the Midwest of more than $460,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accuses the Hilliard-based company and individuals Joseph Slye and David Harvey of soliciting contracts for roof, gutter and siding repairs in the wake of severe storms but often failing to deliver the promised services. Slye lives in Galloway, Harvey in Columbus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"249\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Auditor-of-State-Dave-Yost-headshot-1-2018.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-97432\"\/><figcaption>Dave Yost<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis company preyed on homeowners during a highly vulnerable time and then walked away with their money, leaving them with only empty promises,\u201d Yost said. \u201cThis legal action will hold them accountable, so they don\u2019t take advantage of any other Ohioans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yost\u2019s lawsuit follows on the heels of a&nbsp;similar \u201cstorm chaser\u201d suit&nbsp;filed in August against Liberty Restoration and its owner, who are accused of pocketing $158,000 in payments from consumers but failing to perform the repairs and issue refunds.&nbsp; This lawsuit, too, was filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this week\u2019s case, Yost\u2019s Consumer Protection Section is aware of 38 consumer complaints against Magic Touch Exteriors, including 16 from Ohio residents, spanning June 11, 2022, to April 24, 2024. The complaints allege that the company entered into contracts for storm-related home repairs but performed little or no work and stopped responding to consumers altogether. In many cases, consumers also reported issues with payments and communications involving third-party insurance companies. The estimated damages from the 38 complaints exceed $460,000, with individual damages ranging from $2,000 to $30,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yost\u2019s lawsuit seeks restitution for affected consumers, civil penalties and injunctive relief to prevent the company and its operators from engaging in similar practices in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed suit against Magic Touch Exteriors and its two operators for allegedly defrauding homeowners across the Midwest of more than $460,000. The&nbsp;lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accuses the Hilliard-based company and individuals Joseph Slye and David Harvey of soliciting contracts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 17:54:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183314"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183356,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183314\/revisions\/183356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}