Attorney General John M. Formella announces that the Rockingham Superior Court has entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting Southers Construction and its owner, Ricky Southers, from collecting any consumer prepayment or deposit while doing business in New Hampshire. The order will remain in place until further order of the Court or the case is adjudicated.
The preliminary injunction prohibits Southers Construction and Ricky Southers from soliciting, accepting, or keeping any deposit or prepayment made for services not yet rendered, including any deposit made for materials to be used in connection with any services. It also prohibits them from soliciting, receiving, or keeping any payment made for partially or fully completed work without the customer’s written consent.
On April 18, the New Hampshire Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging Southers Construction and Ricky Southers violated the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act on at least 17 different occasions by entering into contracts to perform home improvements, taking customer deposits, knowingly failing or partially failing to provide the contracted-for services, failing or partially failing to refund the affected customers, and using deceptive representations and tactics in efforts to avoid performance under the contacts and dissuade the customers from seeking refunds.
In addition to the preliminary relief granted by the Court, the State will be seeking restitution for all affected customers and $170,000 in civil penalties.
The State is represented by Assistant Attorneys General Zachary Frish and Alexandra Sosnowski of the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau.
If you have been harmed by Southers Construction, you are encouraged to file a complaint online or in writing with the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau. Information about how to file a complaint can be found at https://www.doj.nh.gov/consumer/complaints/index.htm.
Original source can be found here.