Attorney General's News Release

December 8, 2006

St. Louis remodelers pay $56,949 in restitution for home repair fraud under agreement obtained by Nixon

Clayton, Mo. — The owners of a home repair and remodeling business in the St. Louis area that fraudulently took tens of thousands of dollars from homeowners for work that was shoddy or never completed today paid more than $56,000 in consumer restitution under an agreement with Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 against Affordable Roofing and its former owners, John Boggs and Michael Ellis, to recover restitution for dozens of consumers who did not receive the services they paid for.

"We are pleased that homeowners who were ripped off by these defendants after they paid them thousands of dollars for roof repair will be getting their money back," Nixon said.

The assurance of voluntary compliance, signed today by Judge Sandra Farragut-Hemphill in St. Louis County Circuit Court, stipulates that the defendants must pay a total of $56,949 in restitution to 26 consumers who entered into contracts with Affordable Roofing but did not receive quality workmanship or any work at all. That amount was paid today.

Consumers were defrauded out of $3,000 to $4,000 on average, with one homeowner losing more than $15,000. Boggs and Ellis also failed to provide, or refused to provide, refunds to their customers. Consumers who attempted to contact the Boggs and Ellis were unable to because the defendants kept changing phone numbers and business addresses. Boggs now lives in Louisville, Ky., and Ellis lives in Seymour, Ind.

In addition, the agreement requires the defendants to pay $15,000 in penalties and $10,000 to the Merchandising Practices Revolving Fund to cover the costs of the investigation and prosecution of the case. The defendants paid the $10,000 today as well.

Consumers who believe they have been victims of home repair fraud may call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-392-8222 or visit his Web site at www.ago.mo.gov.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818