Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is taking legal action against a Baltimore, Ohio-based company and its owner - Dwight W. Artrip, for accusations of defrauding homeowners out of nearly $12,000 in remodeling work gone awry. The official lawsuit filed seeks to hold Artrip and The Painting Co. Inc., also operating under TPC or The Preferred Contractor, accountable for a series of professional missteps and violations of consumer protection laws.
In the details that surfaced, The Painting Co., despite its name, primarily managed home-improvement tasks with a focus on kitchens and bathrooms. The complaints, numbering at least 12 as per the Attorney General’s Office, featured homeowners left out of pocket and stuck with substandard and unfinished work. Yost stated, "Ohioans deserve contractors who show up, follow through and do the job right — not one who provides an endless cycle of excuses, delays and disappearing acts," a sentiment echoed by the discontented voices of the customers.
The accusations laid out a clear pattern of alleged deceptive practices. Artrip reportedly took large upfront payments and either postponed the work for months or never started it at all. When the work did commence, it was often described as shoddy, and requests for additional payments surfaced before completion of the agreed tasks. Moreover, he's accused of misrepresenting the status of refunds and failing to notify his clients about their statutory right to cancel their contracts.
The state's lawsuit, filed in the Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas, includes demands for restitution on behalf of the impacted homeowners, alongside civil penalties and injunctive relief to prevent future occurrences. In an effort to educate and protect residents, AG Yost reminds Ohioans to take precautionary measures when hiring contractors: conduct thorough research, insist on written estimates, and understand their cancellation rights. The Attorney General’s Office encourages those who suspect a home-improvement contractor has wronged them to lodge a complaint via their website or by making a call to the provided hotline, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost..
