Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a lawsuit against York County contractor, Eric Christopher Ward, and his business entities regarding advanced payments that Ward’s companies took before failing to honor contracts.
According to an Office of Attorney General investigation, which involved 30 consumer complaints, customers paid more than $151,000 in advanced payments. Ward’s companies — American Home Solutions Corporation, Elite Remodeling, LLC — then failed to start jobs or performed shoddy work.
The lawsuit seeks restitution for the consumer victims, to permanently ban Ward and his business entities from working as a home improvement contractor in Pennsylvania, and for any penalties and Court costs to be paid by Ward.
“This is one of the more egregious examples of customer harm by a home improvement contractor our Bureau of Consumer Protection has come across,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Time and time again, this contractor took large advance payments from customers, then walked away — or, when he did work, it fell well short of customer satisfaction.”
Consumers who may have been impacted by the business dealings of Elite Remodeling, American Home Solutions, or Eric Christopher Ward may file a complaint with the Office of Attorney General online, by phone at 1-800-441-2555, or by email at scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
In April 2023, Ward’s business operations were reduced to a “skeleton crew” because many of his employees allegedly quit due to non-payment of wages, but Ward continued to advertise and sign contracts for large home improvement projects.
In July 2023, a warehouse rented by Elite Remodeling in Maryland that housed tools and supplies for Ward’s businesses, burned down. However, Ward continued to sign contracts for home improvement projects, even though he had no means to complete this work. One consumer signed a home improvement contract for a bathroom remodel over one month after the warehouse burned down.
Customers awaiting work after the fire were not refunded.
Some consumers financed the cost of the home improvement projects with third party financing companies. When consumers notified the financing companies of the work being incomplete, some were still required to pay back the loans.
The lawsuit outlines charges against Ward as violating the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) for failure to begin or complete the contracted repairs or projects in a professional, workmanlike manner; violating HICPA and the UTPCPL for accepting payment to perform home improvements for which Ward knew or should have known he would not be able to complete; and, finally, for violating the UTPCPL for failing to register “Elite Remodeling” as a fictitious name under the Fictitious Names Act in Pennsylvania.
This lawsuit was filed in the York County Court of Common Pleas by Deputy Attorney General Mark W. Wolfe and is pending acceptance by the Court.
Original source can be found here.